Vienna or Riga or Vilnius or Frankfurt or Bratislava

We did a Russian River cruise with time in Moscow and St. Pete, then at the end of that we did a six day tour of the three Baltic Countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

It was a wonderful trip and we loved the people. They all go out of their way to tell you how they got their freedom after the Soviet Union collapsed. Also, they will tell you of the horrors of Soviet rule as well as how much they love their new freedom.

All three countries are far more modern than the other former Soviet states and there is a lot of history to see. Two days in each country is a good minimum.

Frankfurt was pretty much bombed out in WWII and there really isn't so much to see in that city. The German Rhineland does have a lot to see, Heidelberg on up the river past Rudesheim to Cologne. Frankfurt is far down the list of places to see in Germany. Better to do the Rhineland, Berlin or Bavaria.

Having only been to Vienna, I would recommend it. I think it has everything that you’re asking for. If you go, watch the the movie “The Third Man” before you visit. Then take a ride on the Wiener Riesenrad - the 122 year old giant Ferris wheel - enjoy the Third Man Sewer tour! Great restaurants and bars, fantastic food and an easy to use tram to get around the city.

Very true that Frankfurt was pretty much plastered by Allied bombs but Frankfurt-Höchst was not, or hardly touched, if you want to see a place where the post-war 1950s and early-60s rebuilding style does not dominate. I've seen plenty of the rather bland, ugly post-war rebuilding style in Hannover, Duisburg, Hamburg, Kiel, Hamm, Dortmund,

Given your choices I would choose between Vienna or Frankfurt for historical and cultural reasons...numerous sites on that. Bratislava I would reject outright, have not visited Vilnius or Riga.

If you do choose Frankfurt, across the Main in the district of Sachsenhausen is more interesting pertaining to taverns, bars, etc.

I think any one of them would meet your needs, but keep in mind that Frankfurt and Vienna are rather large cities so they will have a different feel than the others. I would personally pick the one that's least expensive for all of you to get to, so you have more spending money on the ground. You really can't go wrong because you can find something interesting to do in any one of them. You should know that this forum is the opposite of you age-wise (most folks here are quite older than 27 and have children older than you) so I'm not sure I would get great advice for places with good bars or clubs, etc. By the way, Berlin would be great for that, I went there while in college for study abroad.

Why do people think the entire city of Frankfurt was plastered or flattened? It simply is not true. The inner city got bombed with phosphor bombs which are deadly on wooden buildings, which is why these types of bombs were used in March of 1944. All of the neighborhoods that are outside the 5 km park ring that surrounds the inner city survived quite nicely. The city is full of turn of the century neighborhoods, Westend, Nordend, Bornheim, Sechbach, Bergen, Sachsenhausen, the Bahnhof quarter and then you have Frankfurt Höchst which is on the Half-timbered route that goes through Germany, with about 400 half-timbered buildings as well as one of the oldest churches in Germany.

Frankfurt was the center of Jewish culture for centuries and has a wealth of Jewish heritage sites. It was the site for the elections and coronations for centuries as well as the first parliament. We have many ancient churches, a gorgeous botanical garden, a lively festival season, fantastic Farmers markets and only Berlin has more museums. Spend a Sat. night or Sun. afternoon walking along the river or sitting at the Farmers Market at Konstablerwache on Thur. evenings to see that Frankfurters know how to party. We have the most diverse population and probably the most liberal. Frankfurt is also the birthplace of techno music and a museum is supposed to open soon featuring this.
Events in the Rhein Main region and in Frankfurt
* 20-23 June Magic Bike Harley Fest, Rüdesheim
* 21-24 June Johannis Nacht Fest, Mainz
* 26 June-5 July Opera Square Fest, Frankfurt Alte Oper
* 29 June SaTOURday, Frankfurt Free Museum Day
* 29-30 June Latin America Weekend, Frankfurt Bockenheim
* 30 June European Ironman Championship, Frankfurt
* 30 June Tal Total, Rhine Valley Car-free Day Tal Total (no traffic on the Rhein)

Travel Man and Fred,
I served in Frankfurt with the US Army for four weeks and pretty much did the few highlights while there. The region across the river was the most interesting with night clubs, but still in my opinion would not be in the top 20 cities in Germany to visit.
Also, I lived in Augsburg, Germany for four years and loved Bavaria. Also, spend some time in Stuttgart, which was more interesting than Frankfurt, but not as much as Bavaria.

Travel Man, why don't you just elaborate as to all the things to do in Frankfurt.

Travel Man
I never said there is nothing to do in Frankfurt, but compared to other places in Germany it's not the place.
Here is TripAdvisor's things to do in Frankfurt:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187337-Activities-Frankfurt_Hesse.html

You can see most of the things to do are do trips somewhere outside the city.

The historical sites in the city name a few interesting place. I saw some of these when I visited. One includes the Opera House, which is a fairly new building. The Germans in WWII hit the main train station and made opera house appear to be the train station so the allied bombers blasted the opera house many, many times. Yes, the new Opera House is nice, but it is not really a historical site.

Most of what I did when in Frankfurt was visit the Rhineland, Weisbaden, Heidelberg and Rothenburg on the Tauber (not so near).

Here is TripAdvisor's things to do in Berlin (lots more in the city)
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187323-Activities-Berlin.html

I've been to all those cities except Frankfurt. For what you describe I think Riga or Bratislava would be best.

Here's my photos of those places, maybe they will help you decide.
https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/f408399438
https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/p981659813

The Opera House is not a fairly new building. It is 90% original. They put a new roof on it, just like they put a new roof on the Kaiserdom.

Trip Advisor is selling Viator tours and none of the decent tour operators in Frankfurt sell their tours with Trip Advisor/Viator as they don't want to pay the 30% commission, nor be associated with the crappy tours they DO sell.

This is my list of things that one should see in Frankfurt. And please do NOT do the walk through Frankfurt that Ricks posts in his book. It is awful and makes me cringe.
- The Roemer and the Römerplatz, City Hall and old town square
- The New Alt Stadt, including Frankonoford archeology
- Book Burning Memorial, site of the Nazi book burning, 10 May, 1933
- Alte Nikolai Church, Gothic church built in 1290
- St. Leonhards, built in 1219, stop on the Camino route that goes through Frankfurt
- House Wertheim, the inner city's only original half-timbered house left at the end of WWII
- Eisener Steg, pedestrian bridge on the Main River, covered with Love Locks, & offering a great view of the skyline and the many, varied museums lining the riverbanks of the Main.
- St Bartholomew, better known as the Kaiserdom. An Imperial Church and site for the elections (1356) and coronations (1500's)of the Holy Roman Emperors
- Joerg Ratgeb's wall paintings in the Karmeliter Kloster (Carmelite Cloister), the largest religious wall paintings north of the Alps, painted in the early 1500's (closed on some holidays)
- Stumble Stones (Stolper Steine), a sobering way to commemorate the many victims who lost their lives under the Nazi regime
- Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall, a very personal memorial that the city of Frankfurt has created, to honor the memory of the 12,000 Frankfurt Jewish Citizens who lost their lives during the Holocaust, including Anne, Margot and Edith Frank
- Medieval Jewish Cemetery on Batton Str., one of the oldest and largest Jewish cemeteries in Germany
- Jewish Ghetto Wall, (Staufenmauer) once part of the city's defensive walls built in 1180, it later became one of the walls that surrounded the 1st Jewish Ghetto in Germany
- Klein Markt Halle (little market hall), a tour favorite, this is a wonderful market hall filled with fruits, vegetables, chocolates, pastries, cheeses, breads, meats, fish, and delicacies from around the world (closed on Sundays and holidays)
- Eschenheimer Turm, an original guard tower from the city's outer defensive wall, built early 1400's
- Alte Oper, one of Europe's classic opera houses(1880)
- The Goethe House, where Frankfurt's' favorite son was born
- The Frankfurt City Model at the City Planning Office (not on weekends & holidays)
- Paulskirche, the location of Germany's very first democratically elected parliament in 1848
- Farmers Markets at the Konstablerwache, Schillerstrasse, Bergerstrasse, Höchst
- Deutsche Ordenkirche, (Teutonic Order of Knights) built in 1309.
- The Judengasse Museum, unique for having 5 of the original cellars of the Jewish Ghetto, 1462-1800
- November 9th Initiative, located in an old bunker built on top of the ruins of Friedberger Synagogue, Jewish Ostend History
- Palmengarten, Botanical Gardens
- Städel, world-class art museum
- Other museums: Film, Architecture, Archeology, Bible, Icon, Sculpture, Applied Arts, Modern Arts, the Schirn, World Culture, Jewish Museum re-opening in Nov. with the Frank Family Center
- The Bull and the Bear & the Frankfurt Stock Exchange
- the Hauptbahnhof, built in 1888
- The Thurn and Taxis Palace, a lovely reconstruction of 18th Century Baroque architecture
- Friedberger Warte, Bockenheimer Warte, Sachsenhausen Warte, Gallus Warte - All guard towers built middle 1400-1500

I have more if you are truly interested. Rick and other guide book writers have never taken the time to actually see what is here.

@ geo...If it's a list of the top 20 cities in Germany only, then I would absolutely include Frankfurt on such a list. as it is crucial to the understanding of German history and the movement to unification from 1848 to 1871. This is in addition to the cultural aspects.

For a first time visitor going only to Germany interested in cultural history and Prussian-German history, I would tell him to go Frankfurt, plus Berlin, Munich, Heidelberg, Augsburg, ( I don't "love Bavaria.") and 15 other towns and cities. It all depends on one's emphasis, focus, interests and depth of interest. I have my own list of top 20 towns/cities in Germany.

I would tell him too that he should forget consulting Trip Advisor as a means of planning out his German itinerary.

Now, if that list of 20 cities includes all of Europe including Prague, Milano, Paris, Florence, etc, etc, then maybe I would have Frankfurt omitted. I went to Frankfurt, ie really visited it, as opposed to passing through, the first time in 1977 on my 3rd trip over, even though time-wise I could have visited it in 1971.

My "first brush" with Frankfurt was in the beginning of August 1973 when at the end of this 2nd trip I was in Frankfurt as part of "passing through" but still had a bit of time. The first place I wanted and went to see was the Goethe Haus/Museum, which was top priority; the other place was the Zoo.

Riga or Bratislava, either will be so fun! Riga has the beautiful Art Nouveau architecture and cafes PLUS a day trip to the white sand beaches of historic Jurmala for hiking and swimming.

Bratislava has so many castles and great historic restorations, plus natural areas for hiking.

Both have serious Saturday night bar options, as well as casual restaurants and outdoor cafes.

Wherever you decide, have a great weekend!

Travel Man - I used to do my drill weekends at the 21st Replacement Mess Hall in the late 80's.

Frankfurt has changed soooo much since the 70's and 80's. It truly is nothing like it used to be. Have been here since 86' and it has been amazing to watch the improvements. This is where the problem with the guide books lays. They were all written decades ago and other than a few updates, still give this impression that there is nothing to see or do here. They should toss what has been written and start out all over again.

I agree with “other” Barbara. Bratislava is small, walkable, and the people we saw there were all very young. They have enough to keep you busy for 3 days without feeling rushed.

I just returned yesterday from my trip that included 3 nights each in Tallinn—second visit there and still my favorite—Riga and Vilnius. I think I preferred Vilnius over Riga but both were wonderful cities to explore, lots to see and do, pretty parks, excellent food and in Riga there’s the Art Nouveau district while Vilnius is more Baroque. Friendly and helpful people in all 3. I’ll be writing individual trip reports in the next few days.

I also love Vienna, visited 3 times & as others mentioned, I’m a total Third Man freak—but there’s much more to do than things related to that.

Very true on Frankfurt having changed so much since the 1970s and '80s with its new street contours, Kaiserstrasse like Chinatown, and a good deal spruced up. Obviously, one can tell the dramatic changes since the '70s and '80s. I was there close to a week in 1977, a day or two in ;84, then a few more days in July 1987 flying in and out on Condor from SFO.

Now, I always stay a night or two in Frankfurt as it is very convenient before back tracking to Paris or flying out from FRA.

Thank you all for the advice! We have chosen Vilnius. 🙂