3 days in Frankfurt June 22-25, What to do?

In August I was in the Mosel Valley about 1.5 hr west from Rhine valley but a car is a must. It is a scenic wine river valley with lovely towns, villages and fairy tale castles. ck Ricks book for details.

I highly recommend Speyer about 15 minutes west of Heidelberg. Locals in Heidelberg recommended we see go it. Central to its fame is the UNESCO Heritage designated Cathedral. It was built in the 9-10th century. It is very nice Romanesque construction. There are crypts of Kaisers from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries (don't quote me on the centuries).

It is set in a quiet family oriented park and a preserved/conserved 17th or 18th century town square area. It will take you back in time (maybe that is just me during my first trip to Germany).

There is, what have heard, a wonderful museum. We didn't have time to visit it.

We did, however, have time to have a meal at the Cafe am Museum. It sits right behind the museum looking out onto the park. Excellent food and even better pastries and desserts. All for a very reasonable price.

Well, don't miss Speyer. It's an excellent way to spend a day.

Hello Curt. You did not say that you went to any place in between Koln and Frankfurt. I suggest ride in trains from Frankfurt airport to St. Goar (at the Rhine River). A decent inexpensive hotel there is Hotel Hauser. June 23 : ride in train from St. Goar to Bingen. And ride on big boat (K-D) from Bingen to St. Goar. And do a quick visit at Bacharach that day, either before going to Bingen, or later in the day after the boat ride. Ride in trains. If you leave St. Goar early in the morning, you might have time to also ride on a ferry across the river from Bingen to Rudesheim : ride the chair lift up hill to the Niederwald Monument, and return to Bingen for the boat ride. June 24 : train from St. Goar to Koblenz, bus or train from Koblenz to Braubach : visit Marksburg. Return to St. Goar to pick up your bags, train to Mainz for the night in a hotel. June 25 : train from Mainz to Frankfurt airport. Read about all of that in book "Rick Steves' GERMANY & AUSTRIA, 2008". -Auf Wiedersehen.

Curt, have you visited hessenpark.de, the roman castle of Saalburg near Bad Homburg, the Bad Homburg castle where you can visit the private rooms of the last German emperor's (Kaiser's) wife's private rooms that look like she'd just stepped outside? It's all in the greater Frankfurt area. Also the great and charming Rhön area with Fulda as capital is just an hour from Frankfurt (www.rhoen.de). And yes, a daytrip to Speyer, Deidesheim (Wine Road) and Bad Dürkheim is also quite worthwhile.

Mosel valley will be pretty in June. You can see the Roman ruins in Trier and visit Rick's favorite castle (I really liked it and the hike to it, but favorite? maybe). The train works fine, you can get off/on for a couple of wine tastings.

You didn't mention Munich or Salzburg which are both great visits. Trains will get you to these locations easily enough.

Some special tickets are available for groups of five on the local trains. I'm not sure if it's for four adults, they were perfect for my wife and I with three kids.

If not, price a rental car. It may be cheaper than four train tickets and driving in Germany is easy.

Marburg is about 90 minutes north of Frankfurt, in Hesse. Lovely old walled university town. You could combine this with the Hessenpark, which is near Hanau. Both accessible by train.

If you go to Marburg, be sure to have some wine and a snack at the Weinladl, at the top of the market square--look for the white picket fence. We like to eat upstairs, but any part is nice.

Curt, listen to Andreas. He's the master of what to see and do around Frankfurt. The Mosel is there, and Wurtzburg is a short train ride in the other direction, but you've been to those places before.

Try getting down to Baden-Baden or Freiberg im Breisgau. If you think Regensburg is close enough to Frankfurt then Baden-Baden is certainly close enough.