Any thoughts on what to reasonably try to do with a wonderfully long layover? The rest of the flight will take us on to Vienna, from which we will be making our way through Austria and (southern?) Germany and finally into Switzerland. I despise 'backtracking', but I really wanted to be able to get to Mainz, Rothenberg and maybe Trier or Baden-Baden at some point in the trip. Do I run a massive risk in trying to access perhaps Mainz or Rothenberg while on the long layover? This is only my second European jaunt, and figuring out travel times is still a new skill! Or should we either accept that it'll have to be another trip OR accept that there will be backtracking back up that area at some point during the trip. This will be in late May, and our interests lie in the food/beer/culture areas.
I searched the forum and found threads either very old for much shorter time periods... thanks in advance!
Posted by
Chicago
7837 posts
That is a low risk; see if you can buy an escorted day tour from Frankfurt that include the places you want to go to during the layover.
Posted by
Green Bay
20085 posts
From what time to what time? Mainz is a piece of cake. Direct trains from the airport in about 20 minutes. Not so much Trier or Rothenburg.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
I wouldn't risk Rothenburg for a few reasons. Because it's several hours away by both public transportation and road transportation, there's too many links in the chain that could cause an unexpected delay in returning. And despite all the attention travel books give it, Rothenburg really is not nearly as unique as advertised, unless your goal is the largest possible selection of trinket shops. Also, same deal with Baden-Baden. It's just one of about a hundred officially designated spa resort towns in the country. All it offers that the others don't are extremely high prices, lots of Russian oligarchs, and bling shops to serve their expensive mistresses.
Mainz is easy to reach from the airport.
Posted by
OP
17 posts
I welcome all these thoughts! I was wondering about Rothenburg being too glam... isn't that where the night watchman tour is? Shame. Frankfurt will be from 830a on a Friday though 630a Saturday, if anyone has any additional ideas!
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8942 posts
Rather than Rothenburg, you can easily travel to closer, well preserved medieval towns that are close to Frankfurt. Consider Büdingen, only an hour by train with just one switch in Gelnhausen.
http://www.buedingen.info/en/
You could also see the Rhine. Visit some lovely towns like Eltville, Bacharach, Ober-Wesel or St. Goar.
This is what is happening in this area in late May:
- 13-20 May Green Sauce Festival, Frankfurt Hauptwache
- 19-22 May Wine Fest, Kiedrich
- 21 May-1 Oct. Blickachsen, Bad Homburg & Frankfurt
- 25-28 May Schlossgraben Fest, Darmstadt (Palace Moat Fest)
- 26 May Riesling Fest, Bad Homburg
- 26-28 May Spectaculum, Worms (medieval fest)
- 27 May SaTOURday, Frankfurt free museum day
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
You could easily get to Mainz, Speyer or Worms (choose one) from Frankfurt. I would check into an airport hotel for that early flight the next morning.
Posted by
Cincinnati, OH, USA
768 posts
My two cents worth. Upon arrival drop your luggage at a hotel at the airport. Take the S-bahn to Weisbaden (yes, I know there are 20,000 US military in the area), spend the day and into the late evening there, then take the S-bahn back to Frankfurt. The trains run frequently with no intermediate stops. You might want to visit Henkell, a producer of sparking wine; while there, with a reservation, you could visit Sektkellerei . For food/beer see [https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurants-g187346-Wiesbaden_Hesse.html][2]
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Think about Heidelburg.