We will have two days left in a two week itinerary before flying home from Frankfurt. We will train from Paris and make our way back toward Frankfurt. We made a reservation for our last night by the airport, but the day/night before we are looking for a stop over place that is easily gotten to from the Paris train but close enough to Frankfurt as to not make it a long travel day the following day. Any suggestions?
Posted by
Maryland
909 posts
I am not clear to me what you mean by "easily gotten to from the Paris train."
You can look trains and their intermediate stops up on the DB website (https://www.bahn.com/en/view/offers/index.shtml).
Paris to Frankfurt trains may go direct, or stop in Karlsruhe or Koln (and perhaps other places, I haven't checked all the trains).
It is only 4 hours by train from Paris to Frankfurt direct. It is 4.5 to 5 hours Paris to Koln by train, or it is 5 hours by train Paris to Koblenz. The best use of limited time might be the direct train to Frankfurt, and go out and back from there.
An obvious side trip is to the Rhine Gorge just northwest of Frankfurt.
Koblenz is on the Rhine at the north end of the most picturesque bit of the Romantic Rhine. It is about an hour by train to Frankfurt from Koln and a bit less from Koblenz. You can take trains between towns or use one of the ferries, such as KD Rhine Ferries (https://www.kdrhine.com/rhineschedule.htm) . RS likes to stay in St.Goar in the Rhine Gorge. I really like Bacharach a bit further south. A bit north of St. Goar is Braubach which has one of the finest intact medieval castles in Europe - the Marksburg.
Posted by
Green Bay
21184 posts
Strasbourg is another possibility.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9224 posts
There is so much to see in Frankfurt, consider just staying there. World-class museums, wonderful Farmers markets, historic medieval churches including one of the oldest churches in Germany, beautiful neighborhoods filled with turn of the century architecture as well as half-timbered houses, and many Jewish cultural sites.
If you still want a small town to visit, head to Büdingen, Gelnhausen, Limburg, or Marburg, or go to the Hessen Park Open Air Museum or the Saalburg Roman Fort. All of these are an hour or less by train from Frankfurt.
Why are you staying out at the airport when the city is only 11 min. away by train? With a train every 15 min. starting at 04:15 in the morning.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15794 posts
The two suggestions that immediately occurred to me are both here already, so I will reinforce them.
Strasbourg is on the German border and is an interesting mix of French and German cultures. Though it's been French for close to a century, it's gone back and forth often enough. I knew someone who's grandfather was born in France as he was, but his father was born in Germany. The family was always in Strasbourg. It's about a 2 hour train ride from Paris and another 2 to Frankfurt. Depending on your flight time and your tolerance for risk, there's a Lufthansa shuttle bus from Strasbourg right to the airport.
Frankfurt is one of the most underrated tourist destinations I've ever been to. It's old town medieval center is more of what I imagined I'd find in Germany than most other towns I visited there. There are hotels at various levels 5 to 10 minutes' walk from the train station, and a 15-20 minute walk or a tram ride takes you to the center. If you don't find enough to delight you there, it's a short local train ride to Mainz - stunning cathedral, church with wonderful Chagall windows, and more.