Local Information

Karlsruhe

Aerial view of Karlsruhe

Palace of Karlsruhe	Karlsruhe, founded 1715 as the capital of the German dukedom Baden, lies in the south west of Germany. Situated between the banks of Germany's most famous river, the Rhine, and the northern foothills of the beautiful Black Forest, Karlsruhe enjoys a mild and pleasant climate. Other important cities of the French-German cultural area, like Heidelberg and Strasbourg (France), are easily reachable within an hour.	Marketplace with the famous pyramid
Palace garden	Being built from scratch for Margrave Karl-Wilhelm, Karlsruhe was designed to express the sovereigns attitude. From the very start, Karlsruhe was conceived as a city without walls, open for friends and guests. Its principal layout - radial in shape, similar to a fan - focuses the city on the palace and surrounds the city-heart with gardens and forests.	Friedrichsplatz
University of Karlsruhe	Today, Karlsruhe has more than 250.000 citizens. Its Technical University (founded 1825) is renowned as being one of the leading technical universities in Germany. The Federal Supreme Court and the Federal Constitutional Court make Karlsruhe the center of the German administration of justice. Various other scientific and cultural institutions emphasize the city's role as place for intellectual exchange.	Federal Supreme Court

More information about Karlsruhe and the surroundings can be found at the website of Karlsruhe. There is also a map of Karlsruhe available.

Travel

The nearest airport is Frankfurt Airport (FRA), approximately 140 km (~85 miles) north of Karlsruhe. An hourly train directly connects the airport to the city of Karlsruhe (journey time: 1 hour, fare: 25-30$). The train station (called Fernbahnhof) is located inside the airport building. All connections below are direct connections, so no train change is needed.

Please note that Frankfurt Airport has two railway stations which are both directly connected to Terminal 1: One for regional trains, which basically means the connection to downtown Frankfurt. And one for long-distance trains (the Fernbahnhof) where the trains to Karlsruhe depart. This station is located at the AIRail Terminal, right next to Terminal 1. Trains arrive at and depart from platforms 4 to 7. If you happen to arrive in Terminal 2 you will find the so-called Sky Line monorail that will take you to Terminal 1.

The current timetables for trains from station "Frankfurt a. M. - Flughafen Fernverkehrbahnhof" to station "Karlsruhe - Hauptbahnhof" can be found here. If you need more detailed information about travelling by train in Germany, you can also visit the page of "Deutsche Bahn AG".
There are also Tips For Visiting Karlsruhe Inexpensively From North America available.

Conference venue

The conference takes place at the campus of the University of Karlsruhe which is located directly in the city center. The map shows the location of the campus and all conference hotels. The campus can be reached from all hotels easily by tram within at most 10 minutes. The detailed map of the campus shows the main conference venue, the University of Karlsruhe's brand new lecture auditorium, and all other important locations including nearby tram stops.

Hotels

SIGCOMM has arranged special room rates with several hotels. The deadline for room registration depends on the hotel and ranges between June 24 and July 12. Please book rooms via email or phone using the group name "ACM SIGCOMM 2003 / University of Karlsruhe". All prices below include VAT, taxes and service. A map with all hotels is available here.

Dorint Kongress-Hotel Karlsruhe Festplatz 2 76137 Karlsruhe Phone: +49 721 / 35 26-0 Fax: +49 721 / 35 26-100 E-Mail: info.KARKON@dorint.com The following rates are valid through July 12: SR 99,- Euro DR 99,- Euro including breakfast In 246 rooms and suites the hotel is welcoming you with bright and warm colour combinations and a friendly atmosphere. Our rooms are fully equipped with air-condition, ISDN telephone, modem-connection, internet-access, mini-bar, electric room-safe, bath / shower, WC, cosmetic-mirror, hair dryer and air-conditioning. A la carte restaurant "Majolika", Restaurant "La Brasserie", Newsbar, Beerbar "ANNO 1516". A modern conference area, which can be extended nearly arbitrarily through the direct connection to the Fair- and Congress centre (KMK). 320 qm Fitness & Wellness area.
Renaissance Hotel Mendelssohnplatz 76131 Karlsruhe Phone: +49 721 / 37 17-0 Fax: +49 721 / 37 17 333 Email: rhi.reservierung.karlsruhe@renaissancehotels.com The following rates are valid through July 31: SR 105,- Euro DR 105,- Euro Breakfast 15,- Euro The hotel is located in the city centre, within a 5-minute walk to one of the largest convention centres in Germany, the Kongresszentrum. The hotel's 215 elegantly furnished rooms provide service of the highest international standards, as well as acclaimed catering and meeting facilities.
Queens Hotel Ettlinger Straße 23 76137 Karlsruhe Phone: +49 721 / 37 27-0 Fax: +49 721 / 37 27 - 170 E-Mail: reservation.qkarlsruhe@queensgruppe.de The following rates are valid through July 12: SR 80,- Euro DR 106,- Euro Breakfast 14,- Euro The Queens hotel offers 147 comfortable single and double rooms that are all fitted out with bath/WC, mini-bar, self dial telephone, cable TV, pay TV, radio, hair dryer and a shaving mirror. On request, we will supply you with non-smokers' rooms. In the neighbouring underground garage there are 350 parking spaces available to our guests at special rates. The hotel's own bicycles are at the disposal of our guests, free of charge. Elio's Bar is a popular point in Karlsruhe, attracting not only hotel guests.
Schlosshotel Karlsruhe Bahnhofplatz 2 76137 Karlsruhe Phone: +49 721 / 38 32-0 Fax: +49 721 / 38 32-333 E-Mail: mail@schlosshotel-karlsruhe.de The following rates are valid through July 10: SR 85,- Euro DR 110,- Euro including breakfast The Schlosshotel Karlsruhe has 96 comfortable rooms. All rooms with bath/shower, WC, TV, telephone, ISDN, modem access and minibar. There are two restaurants, Zum Grossherzog, which is open daily and serves fine cuisine, and the Schwarzwaldstube, which serves typical Baden cuisine and is open daily. The appropriate atmosphere for any occasion.
Hotel Residenz Ringhotel Karlsruhe Bahnhofplatz 14 - 16 76137 Karlsruhe Phone: +49 721 / 37 15-0 Fax: +49 721 / 37 15-113 E-Mail: info@hotel-residenz-ka.de The following rates are valid through July 6: SR 80,- Euro DR 90,- Euro including breakfast This is a family run 4 star hotel. All our rooms are equipped with shower or bathtub/WC, colour TV, minibar, radio and some with hairdryer. Parking spaces are available for our guests. Restaurant "Ketterer" offers regional and international cuisine. Bistro "Unter den Arkden" has it's own patio and our hotelbar "le Petit" is open all year.

If you are a student and really want to keep costs down, consider staying at the Karlsruhe Youth Hostel (JH Karlsruhe, Moltkestr 24, 76187 Karlsruhe, Fax +49 721/27647). It charges under $30 per night.

Currency

The currency in Germany is called "Euro" and is abbreviated with the symbol "€". One Euro is divided into 100 Euro-Cent. The international currency symbol is "EUR". The exchange rate as of May 26, 2003 is:

1 USD

=

0.85 EUR

1 EUR

=

1.18 USD

A currency converter can be found here.