Short flight to airport near town

Depending on the time of year - Edinburgh would be an easy flight. There is a quick and easy bus to city centre and it's a compact city with lots of things to see, but doesn't feel overwhelming. Another idea would be Berlin. It's a short cab ride to town from Tegel and a great place to visit for 24 hours. Of course, he'll want to go back to both places. ; ) Pam

Within Germany, either Berlin or Munich would be great choices. Outside of Germany, there are many good choices - such as Amsterdam, Paris, Venice, Florence, Ljubljana, Budapest, Viena and Rome. Frankfurt is a great location from which to take this type of trip.

I know the Munich airport is a good 45 minutes out of town, and the Paris one is about that. Any of the other places with airports closer to town? He's looking for a quick in and out.

Where is Jo? With only 24 hours to spend wherever he goes, I would go to Trier. He could take the train and it would be a shorter ride than trying to fly anywhere. RS has a tour that begins there. A town with lots to see.

Yeah, I don't understand why he has to "fly" somewhere. There are plenty of great cities within a few hours by train. And when you add in the inconvenience of arriving at the airport early for security, getting out of the destination airport, getting a car, driving where you're going, etc, it doesn't seem worth it. Germany probably has the most efficient train system in all of Europe, and he's in THE hub of travel in Germany. If you take a train, you can arrive five minutes before it leaves, and when you get to where you're going, the train station is never more than 15 minutes from most places in the center of town. Case in point: There ares trains from Frankfurt to Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Brussels, Luxembourg City, Strasbourg, and all are under 4 hours (some only a little over 2 hours.) But if he insists on flying, you can fly almost anywhere in Europe! Can you tell us if he prefers cities or scenery? That may help us with suggestions....

Maybe he's been visiting Frankfurt for business for several years and has visited the nearby spots? He may have a very valid reason for flying. The question as stated, is, "What are some cities within a 1-2 hour flight range that have airports that are within a half hour of the city centre. Pretty straightforward question in my mind. Pam

"Pretty straightforward question in my mind."
Ouch. Forgive my insufficient answer. At the end of my post I specifically addressed the question about flying and then asked what type of place he was interested in seeing, city or scenic town. The nice thing about this website is we can offer all kinds of suggestions, even if it wasn't exactly what was asked. If the advice isn't what someone wants, they can dismiss it. And you nor I know what cities he's already seen (you're assuming), so my answer may give Maureen a chance to elaborate on that info.

So just to elaborate and clear the air a bit, he has family in Germany and has visited there a lot, and visits Frankfurt about 2x/year for work, so the only city that appeals to him in Germany for the short visit is Berlin. He flies standby cheap, so it'll cost about as much for him to catch a short flight somewhere as it would to take a train for an hour or 2. He'd love to branch out and visit somewhere outside of Germany.

Gosh, from Frankfurt you can be in a lot of different cities by plane in 2 hours. Edinburgh, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Vienna, and so on. A lot of it depends on what he is interested in seeing and doing and if he can get a good price on such short notice. August might be tough for Edinburgh due to the Tattoo and the Fringe. So maybe one of the other cities.

Both Amsterdam and Brussels are served frequently by air from FRA, and have trains under the station with an easy run into town - AMS is the best sited. With less frequent service but with good quick service to city centre is Geneva.

He's going in October, so Edinburgh might not be a bad idea. He'd probably like the idea of Vienna, too.

Nice, the airport is practically in the city... 1:30hr flight time.

I'll second the Krakow suggestion (James, pick your jaw off the floor...). It's a very atmospheric city - lovely and compact. You could walk virtually every street in the old town, then walk the park ring all the way around easily in a single day. Prices are cheap, too.