I will be traveling for work and have the opportunity to spend the weekend in Frankfurt. I know little about Germany but plan on reading up before the trip. Any suggestions on what to accomplish for the 3 days? It doesn't have to be in Frankfurt as I could rent a car, etc. but I would think that the weekend would not be enough time to make it to Paris, etc. Open to ideas though.
Frankfurt Germany - 3 days
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I spent very little time in Frankfurt but I don't remember it being that special. What I suggest is taking the train to Cologne (Koln) and/or Duesseldorf. If you catch the ICE then they are about 2 hours away. Easily doable for a weekend and the nightlife in either of those cities is outstanding. I spent almost 7 months in Duesseldorf and the Altstadt area is incredible. Lots of bars and restaurants and sitting on the Rhine and having beers is very nice this time of year. Koln and Dusseldorf are only 30 mnutes apart by train so you could do both ciities. If you go to Duesseldorf, I suggest you stay in the Hafen (harbor) and you can walk to the Altstadt while enjoying the view along the Rhine.
zork
2,500+ Posts
if you have a couple hours for art this place is pretty good:
The Link
I had taken a dutch baroque art history class as an elective at UT so it was cool to see some of the stuff live. Not near as good as Amsterdam or Paris or Berlin of course but still pretty cool.
Frankfurt is a fairly centralized spot in terms of making 3-5 hour train rides to and from a lot of cool places if you planned it right. good luck.
The Link
I had taken a dutch baroque art history class as an elective at UT so it was cool to see some of the stuff live. Not near as good as Amsterdam or Paris or Berlin of course but still pretty cool.
Frankfurt is a fairly centralized spot in terms of making 3-5 hour train rides to and from a lot of cool places if you planned it right. good luck.
HORN_FAN_86
100+ Posts
My 2 cents worth after living in that area for 3 years. Gotta agree that Frankfurt is nothing special. However you are within a couple hours of some facinating places. You mention getting a car. Not a bad idea as you won't be dependent upon the train schedule. Heideberg is only 90 minutes to the south. Just outside Heidelberg the small town of Schwetzigen has a beautiful palace grounds to see. Next to Schwetzigen is the Hockenheim F1 race track, if you're into that. About 90 minutes west of Frankfurt you can follow the Rhein river from the Mainz - Rudesheim - Bingen area up to Koblenz. There are numerous castles and wineries to visit. Just up stream from Koblenz is Remagen if you are a WWII buff. For a three day weekend I would choose one place and soak it up.
si se puede
100+ Posts
I used to think Frankfurt was such a heroin addict, hooker-filled ******** that I once hopped a train to Darmstadt to avoid staying in the city for a weekend. But on my last day the last time I was in Germany, I tried to be touristy, and it proved to have some redeeming qualities.
My itinerary that day:
Wandered through the Altstadt (Old City) on the Main.
Went to the tallest building in the city and rode an elevator to the top.
Gawked at the skyscrapers. Frankfurt's architecture is pretty badass.
Went to the German stock exchange. It will be closed on the weekend, unfortunately.
Bought some European versions of CDs at the big mall downtown.
Ate a doener kebap (a Turkish creation, lamb stuffed in a pita) from a street vendor.
Bar-hopped in Alt Sachsenhausen, on the other side of the Main and behind the youth hostel.
Ended the evening by burning the last of my hash with some on the banks of the Main, the lights of the city reflecting on the river.
If you're determined enough, any city can not suck. But Heidelberg isn't a bad choice, either.
My itinerary that day:
Wandered through the Altstadt (Old City) on the Main.
Went to the tallest building in the city and rode an elevator to the top.
Gawked at the skyscrapers. Frankfurt's architecture is pretty badass.
Went to the German stock exchange. It will be closed on the weekend, unfortunately.
Bought some European versions of CDs at the big mall downtown.
Ate a doener kebap (a Turkish creation, lamb stuffed in a pita) from a street vendor.
Bar-hopped in Alt Sachsenhausen, on the other side of the Main and behind the youth hostel.
Ended the evening by burning the last of my hash with some on the banks of the Main, the lights of the city reflecting on the river.
If you're determined enough, any city can not suck. But Heidelberg isn't a bad choice, either.
Mike Honcho
25+ Posts
If I had a weekend to spend in Frankfurt I would get on a train and go somewhere else. Unfortunately I had to spend a weekend there to meet a friend who was flying into that airport. I have spent the night in 16 European cities/towns and Frankfurt was my least favorite.
We stayed there for a week for our honeymoon. We took a Rhine river cruise by taking a train to Mainz, taking the boat to Koblenz then taking a train back to Frankfurt.
We also visited the old city and some of the churches. A cool place we went to was the Palmengarten.
We did take a train to Heidelberg for a day and saw the University, old town and old castle.
We also walked around Frankfurt, took the subway to a local mall and just explored the city to see what life was like in another country. There are also several museums there to see too.
We also visited the old city and some of the churches. A cool place we went to was the Palmengarten.
We did take a train to Heidelberg for a day and saw the University, old town and old castle.
We also walked around Frankfurt, took the subway to a local mall and just explored the city to see what life was like in another country. There are also several museums there to see too.
This article from the NY Times lays it all out for you.
36 Hours in Frankfurt
By MARK LANDLER
FRANKFURT no longer dreams of replacing London as Europe's financial capital, a 1990s ambition that collided with 21st-century realities. Sure, there are still plenty of Porsches and bankers in chalk-stripe suits. But shorn of its master-of-the-universe pretensions, the city has rediscovered its essential charm, as a user-friendly Hessian town with big-city accouterments. Its museums are the best in Germany, after Berlin's, and its opera and ballet are top notch. Frankfurt's population is the country's most international — dozens of nationalities, including a large Turkish contingent. Meanwhile, the glittering skyscrapers along the Main River still earn the city the goofy nickname Mainhattan, a reminder that high finance hasn't left.
Friday
3 p.m.
1) ERSATZ CHARM
Get in the old-world mood with a stroll through Römerberg, the heart of what used to be the largest medieval quarter in Germany. The half-timbered houses are picture-perfect, and well they might be, since they were meticulously rebuilt after being flattened in World War II. There are several starkly modern galleries and museums nearby; the effect is deliberately jarring. Stop for a cold one at Haus Wertheym (Fahrtor 1, 49-69-281-432), a quintessentially German joint with brusque service and steins hanging from the ceiling.
4:30 p.m.
2) MUSEUM KILOMETER
Seven of Frankfurt's museums are strung conveniently along the south bank of the Main, a graceful tree-lined promenade that can be reached from the north bank over a pair of pedestrian bridges. If your interests run to Mies van der Rohe or Stanley Kubrick, stop at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (Schaumainkai 43;The Link 49-69-212-388-44) or the Deutsches Filmmuseum (Schaumainkai 41;The Link 49-69-961-222-0). But save the most time for the Städel-Museum, (Dürerstrasse 2; 49-69-605-098-200;The Link one of Germany's finest galleries, with works by Botticelli, Dürer and Holbein.
8 p.m
3) MASTERPIECE DINING
Frankfurt is synonymous with link sausage, but when Frankfurters go out, they crave anything but German food. Trattorias, tandoori places and Thai cuisine are all well represented. One lovely option is Holbein's, in the courtyard of the Städel (access from Holbeinstrasse 1; 49-69-660-566-66). With its soaring glass walls and stylish décor, it is a contemporary jewel box amid the old-master paintings. Try the Holbein's-Freshness drink (8 euros, or $11.28 at $1.41 to the euro), a mix of Kombucha tea and prosecco on ice, then splurge on Argentine filet mignon and grilled Canadian lobster in vanilla foam (28.50 euros).
10 p.m.
4) NIGHTS OF SACHSENHAUSEN
Frankfurt's left bank, Sachsenhausen, is its most beguiling quarter. Its warren of cobblestone streets is lined with cider taverns that serve an apple wine, sometimes called Ebbelwoi. To say it is an acquired taste doesn't quite do it justice. Few other cities in Germany would want to claim this tangy brew, which is made with fermented apple juice and served in glazed jugs known as Bembel. Adolf Wagner (Schweizer Strasse 71, 49-69-61-25-65;The Link a cheerfully raucous tavern, is the best place try it. Don't be put off by the roaming bachelor parties: apple wine, unlike more easily digested beer, doesn't lend itself to long nights.
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) CRUISING THE MAIN
Few European cities are as defined by their skylines as Frankfurt. Get an ant's view from the deck of the Goethe or one of its sister vessels (Mainkai 36; 49-69-133-837-0;The Link> The sightseeing boats leave every hour from the north bank, offering 50-minute (6.70 euros) or 100-minute excursions (8.70 euros). Frankfurt's two tallest towers, Helmut Jahn's pyramid-topped Messeturm and Norman Foster's jagged Commerzbank, anchor an urban forest that overlooks the nearby Kaiserdom, the Gothic church where Holy Roman emperors were once crowned. The boat also sails past the Grossmarkthalle, the abandoned wholesale market that will soon be part of the new headquarters of the European Central Bank.
Noon
6) FROM GROSS TO KLEIN
The Kleinmarkthalle (Hasengasse 5-7), the centrally located little brother of the wholesale market, teems with life on Saturdays. Locals converge on this two-story covered market for fresh fish, cheese, bread, olive oil and, yes, an artery-clogging assortment of sausages. From there, it's a short hop to the retail district, which features a full complement of designer boutiques on Goethestrasse, among them the Mercedes-Benz of eyeglass shops, Rainer Brenner (Goethestrasse 24; 49-69-299-908-0;The Link If the shopping makes you peckish, head for the neighboring Fressgasse (literally, feeding street), where the first stop is Zarges (Kalbächer Gasse 10), a pricey but out-of-this-world delicatessen. Order a wind Beutel, a lighter-than-air, creamed-filled pastry with strawberries (4.40 euros). Then have mango ice cream at Australian Homemade (Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse 44; 49-69-920-203-55;The Link
3 p.m.
7) URBAN JUNGLE
Though known for steel and concrete, Frankfurt has a sublime botanical garden. The Palmengarten (Siesmayerstrasse 61; 49-69-212-333-91;The Link admission 5 euros), is in the middle of the fashionable Westend and has 50 acres of tropical trees, orchids and ferns. Many are tended in greenhouses, like the Tropicarium, which has a mini-rainforest. A children's train wends its way past the park's lake and gardens. Grown-ups flock to jazz concerts there in August, and the Café Siesmayer (49-69-900-292-00), on the edge of the greenery, offers a delectable brunch.
5 p.m.
8) BOOKISH PURSUITS
The Frankfurt Book Fair (www.buchmesse.de), the world's largest gathering of publishers and literary agents, is in early October. But literature has a gracious year-round home at the Literaturhaus (Schöne Aussicht 2; 49-69-756-184-0;The Link a club in a refurbished 19th-century library on the north bank. There is a full calendar of book signings, readings and lectures — mostly in German — by writers like Mario Vargas Llosa and Amos Oz. Have a coffee or a glass of wine at the club's Paris' Bar Café, where you can also dine (reasonably) on eclectic fare, like sautéed halibut with lemon risotto and baby corn.
8 p.m.
9) DINNER IN BED
The Austrian chef Mario Lohninger shook up the city's dining scene three years ago with Silk, where patrons eat while reclining on white leather daybeds draped in gauzy curtains (Carl-Benz-Strasse 21;The Link It recalls ancient Rome, as filtered through “2001: A Space Odyssey” — not least when you're greeted at the door by an elegant, seven-foot man in drag. Mr. Lohninger, who has cooked at Guy Savoy in Paris and Danube in New York, serves a rarefied, 10-course set menu (88 euros).
Midnight
10) COCOONING
The 88 euros at Silk doesn't just buy dinner but also a plastic bracelet and line-cutting privileges at one of Frankfurt's hottest dance spots, the Cocoon Club (15 euro cover without dinner). Sharing space with Silk in a warehouse in east Frankfurt, the Cocoon Club is run by Sven Väth, a D.J. who specializes in techno music. It throbs on weekends from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. with a lithe, young crowd, plus a few aging interlopers.
Sunday
11 a.m.
11) A LAST BLAST OF CULTURE
Like somuch else, the original Goethe House was destroyed in the war. Still, the 1950s reconstruction (Grosser Hirschgraben 23-25; 49-69-138-80-0;The Link provides an evocative feel for the early life of Goethe, who was born into a wealthy Frankfurt family and later forsook his hometown. A few blocks east is the Museum of Modern Art (Domstrasse 10; 49-69-138-80-0;The Link in a wedged-shaped building known as “the piece of cake,” and its neighbor, the Schirn Kunsthalle (Römerberg, 49-69-299-882-0;The Link Intimate and rarely crowded, it feels like a secret find in a city full of such unexpected discoveries.
The Basics
With one of the largest airport hubs in Europe, Frankfurt is served by many major airlines. Lufthansa has round-trip flights from New York, starting at about $650 for travel in mid-September. Taxis are plentiful, but the S-Bahn to the central train station is only 2 euros, or $2.82 at $1.41 to the euro. Public transportation is efficient and cheap.
Hotels vary radically in price and availability. To find a good deal, check for weekend rates and try to avoid the city during the book fair (Oct. 10 to 14) or the International Motor Show (Sept. 13 to 23). For an affordable place near the city center, try the Turm Hotel (Eschersheimer Landstrasse 20; 49-69-15-40-50,The Link Rooms start at 131 euros; there are special weekend rates at 82.50 euros (all without breakfast).
A more stylish option is the Radisson SAS, a new 428-room hotel that looks like a giant vertical disc (Franklinstrasse 65; 49-69-770-155-0;The Link Rates start at 195 euros to 250 euros. Check if the weekend rate of 135 euros, including breakfast, is available.
The pinnacle is the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof (Am Kaiserplatz, 49-69-215-02,The Link a dowager queen with 321 rooms and suites. It was recently renovated. Rooms start at 165 euros on weekends. During the week, prices are around 290 euros.
36 Hours in Frankfurt
By MARK LANDLER
FRANKFURT no longer dreams of replacing London as Europe's financial capital, a 1990s ambition that collided with 21st-century realities. Sure, there are still plenty of Porsches and bankers in chalk-stripe suits. But shorn of its master-of-the-universe pretensions, the city has rediscovered its essential charm, as a user-friendly Hessian town with big-city accouterments. Its museums are the best in Germany, after Berlin's, and its opera and ballet are top notch. Frankfurt's population is the country's most international — dozens of nationalities, including a large Turkish contingent. Meanwhile, the glittering skyscrapers along the Main River still earn the city the goofy nickname Mainhattan, a reminder that high finance hasn't left.
Friday
3 p.m.
1) ERSATZ CHARM
Get in the old-world mood with a stroll through Römerberg, the heart of what used to be the largest medieval quarter in Germany. The half-timbered houses are picture-perfect, and well they might be, since they were meticulously rebuilt after being flattened in World War II. There are several starkly modern galleries and museums nearby; the effect is deliberately jarring. Stop for a cold one at Haus Wertheym (Fahrtor 1, 49-69-281-432), a quintessentially German joint with brusque service and steins hanging from the ceiling.
4:30 p.m.
2) MUSEUM KILOMETER
Seven of Frankfurt's museums are strung conveniently along the south bank of the Main, a graceful tree-lined promenade that can be reached from the north bank over a pair of pedestrian bridges. If your interests run to Mies van der Rohe or Stanley Kubrick, stop at the Deutsches Architekturmuseum (Schaumainkai 43;The Link 49-69-212-388-44) or the Deutsches Filmmuseum (Schaumainkai 41;The Link 49-69-961-222-0). But save the most time for the Städel-Museum, (Dürerstrasse 2; 49-69-605-098-200;The Link one of Germany's finest galleries, with works by Botticelli, Dürer and Holbein.
8 p.m
3) MASTERPIECE DINING
Frankfurt is synonymous with link sausage, but when Frankfurters go out, they crave anything but German food. Trattorias, tandoori places and Thai cuisine are all well represented. One lovely option is Holbein's, in the courtyard of the Städel (access from Holbeinstrasse 1; 49-69-660-566-66). With its soaring glass walls and stylish décor, it is a contemporary jewel box amid the old-master paintings. Try the Holbein's-Freshness drink (8 euros, or $11.28 at $1.41 to the euro), a mix of Kombucha tea and prosecco on ice, then splurge on Argentine filet mignon and grilled Canadian lobster in vanilla foam (28.50 euros).
10 p.m.
4) NIGHTS OF SACHSENHAUSEN
Frankfurt's left bank, Sachsenhausen, is its most beguiling quarter. Its warren of cobblestone streets is lined with cider taverns that serve an apple wine, sometimes called Ebbelwoi. To say it is an acquired taste doesn't quite do it justice. Few other cities in Germany would want to claim this tangy brew, which is made with fermented apple juice and served in glazed jugs known as Bembel. Adolf Wagner (Schweizer Strasse 71, 49-69-61-25-65;The Link a cheerfully raucous tavern, is the best place try it. Don't be put off by the roaming bachelor parties: apple wine, unlike more easily digested beer, doesn't lend itself to long nights.
Saturday
10 a.m.
5) CRUISING THE MAIN
Few European cities are as defined by their skylines as Frankfurt. Get an ant's view from the deck of the Goethe or one of its sister vessels (Mainkai 36; 49-69-133-837-0;The Link> The sightseeing boats leave every hour from the north bank, offering 50-minute (6.70 euros) or 100-minute excursions (8.70 euros). Frankfurt's two tallest towers, Helmut Jahn's pyramid-topped Messeturm and Norman Foster's jagged Commerzbank, anchor an urban forest that overlooks the nearby Kaiserdom, the Gothic church where Holy Roman emperors were once crowned. The boat also sails past the Grossmarkthalle, the abandoned wholesale market that will soon be part of the new headquarters of the European Central Bank.
Noon
6) FROM GROSS TO KLEIN
The Kleinmarkthalle (Hasengasse 5-7), the centrally located little brother of the wholesale market, teems with life on Saturdays. Locals converge on this two-story covered market for fresh fish, cheese, bread, olive oil and, yes, an artery-clogging assortment of sausages. From there, it's a short hop to the retail district, which features a full complement of designer boutiques on Goethestrasse, among them the Mercedes-Benz of eyeglass shops, Rainer Brenner (Goethestrasse 24; 49-69-299-908-0;The Link If the shopping makes you peckish, head for the neighboring Fressgasse (literally, feeding street), where the first stop is Zarges (Kalbächer Gasse 10), a pricey but out-of-this-world delicatessen. Order a wind Beutel, a lighter-than-air, creamed-filled pastry with strawberries (4.40 euros). Then have mango ice cream at Australian Homemade (Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse 44; 49-69-920-203-55;The Link
3 p.m.
7) URBAN JUNGLE
Though known for steel and concrete, Frankfurt has a sublime botanical garden. The Palmengarten (Siesmayerstrasse 61; 49-69-212-333-91;The Link admission 5 euros), is in the middle of the fashionable Westend and has 50 acres of tropical trees, orchids and ferns. Many are tended in greenhouses, like the Tropicarium, which has a mini-rainforest. A children's train wends its way past the park's lake and gardens. Grown-ups flock to jazz concerts there in August, and the Café Siesmayer (49-69-900-292-00), on the edge of the greenery, offers a delectable brunch.
5 p.m.
8) BOOKISH PURSUITS
The Frankfurt Book Fair (www.buchmesse.de), the world's largest gathering of publishers and literary agents, is in early October. But literature has a gracious year-round home at the Literaturhaus (Schöne Aussicht 2; 49-69-756-184-0;The Link a club in a refurbished 19th-century library on the north bank. There is a full calendar of book signings, readings and lectures — mostly in German — by writers like Mario Vargas Llosa and Amos Oz. Have a coffee or a glass of wine at the club's Paris' Bar Café, where you can also dine (reasonably) on eclectic fare, like sautéed halibut with lemon risotto and baby corn.
8 p.m.
9) DINNER IN BED
The Austrian chef Mario Lohninger shook up the city's dining scene three years ago with Silk, where patrons eat while reclining on white leather daybeds draped in gauzy curtains (Carl-Benz-Strasse 21;The Link It recalls ancient Rome, as filtered through “2001: A Space Odyssey” — not least when you're greeted at the door by an elegant, seven-foot man in drag. Mr. Lohninger, who has cooked at Guy Savoy in Paris and Danube in New York, serves a rarefied, 10-course set menu (88 euros).
Midnight
10) COCOONING
The 88 euros at Silk doesn't just buy dinner but also a plastic bracelet and line-cutting privileges at one of Frankfurt's hottest dance spots, the Cocoon Club (15 euro cover without dinner). Sharing space with Silk in a warehouse in east Frankfurt, the Cocoon Club is run by Sven Väth, a D.J. who specializes in techno music. It throbs on weekends from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. with a lithe, young crowd, plus a few aging interlopers.
Sunday
11 a.m.
11) A LAST BLAST OF CULTURE
Like somuch else, the original Goethe House was destroyed in the war. Still, the 1950s reconstruction (Grosser Hirschgraben 23-25; 49-69-138-80-0;The Link provides an evocative feel for the early life of Goethe, who was born into a wealthy Frankfurt family and later forsook his hometown. A few blocks east is the Museum of Modern Art (Domstrasse 10; 49-69-138-80-0;The Link in a wedged-shaped building known as “the piece of cake,” and its neighbor, the Schirn Kunsthalle (Römerberg, 49-69-299-882-0;The Link Intimate and rarely crowded, it feels like a secret find in a city full of such unexpected discoveries.
The Basics
With one of the largest airport hubs in Europe, Frankfurt is served by many major airlines. Lufthansa has round-trip flights from New York, starting at about $650 for travel in mid-September. Taxis are plentiful, but the S-Bahn to the central train station is only 2 euros, or $2.82 at $1.41 to the euro. Public transportation is efficient and cheap.
Hotels vary radically in price and availability. To find a good deal, check for weekend rates and try to avoid the city during the book fair (Oct. 10 to 14) or the International Motor Show (Sept. 13 to 23). For an affordable place near the city center, try the Turm Hotel (Eschersheimer Landstrasse 20; 49-69-15-40-50,The Link Rooms start at 131 euros; there are special weekend rates at 82.50 euros (all without breakfast).
A more stylish option is the Radisson SAS, a new 428-room hotel that looks like a giant vertical disc (Franklinstrasse 65; 49-69-770-155-0;The Link Rates start at 195 euros to 250 euros. Check if the weekend rate of 135 euros, including breakfast, is available.
The pinnacle is the Steigenberger Frankfurter Hof (Am Kaiserplatz, 49-69-215-02,The Link a dowager queen with 321 rooms and suites. It was recently renovated. Rooms start at 165 euros on weekends. During the week, prices are around 290 euros.
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