Frankfurt exploration/day trips Help!

Frankfurt has a website aimed at tourism that you can refer to for ideas:
https://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de/en/
I went solo to Wurzburg and the highly touted Rothenburg ob de Tauber on a daytrip from Frankfurt by train. It may be easier to accomplish that for you if you go solo. There are some other towns that I person in Germany named Lubitsch may give you advice to go to that are more authentic than my suggestion.

I’d plan a couple day trips. My opinion is that Frankfurt is worth a couple days at most. Consider visiting Mainz. It’s a good day trip. Others who have spent more time in that area will hopefully have more suggestions.

If you tell us when you will be here, we can tell you what kind of festivals will be happening in Frankfurt and the Rhein Main area. Also, what are your interests? There are lots of really cool towns around Frankfurt, places like the Saalburg Roman fort, Hessen Park Open Air Museum, medieval walled towns like Büdingen, and towns filled with half-timbered houses like Marburg, Limburg, Idstein. There are ancient monasteries and churches in places like Eltville, Eberbach and Seligenstadt. Thermal baths in Bad Homburg, Wiesbaden or Bad Soden. Celtic sites in Glauberg. Castles all along the Rhein but also in Kronberg and Gelnhausen. For Jewish history, Worms, Speyer, Mainz and Frankfurt.

Frankfurt itself has a lot to offer, from dozens of museums, to Farmers Markets, medieval churches, botanical gardens, and a lot of festivals. It has been a major player on the stage of German history over the last 1000 years and there are many sites to visit that reflect that. If you are interested in Jewish history, the city has a lot of sites to see.

There are so many wonderful places within a day trip by train or car. You don't say what time of year you are going, but depending on weather I would definitely recommend an all-day trip to the Rhine. Take the train from Frankfurt to Bingen, boat from Bingen to Boppard, then train from Boppard back to Frankfurt.

A lot of the time in Germany you don't really need a car and the train makes more sense. Cologne, for instance, is just a little over an hour by train from Frankfurt, the drive would take quite a bit longer. Heidelberg is less than an hour by train. Wurzburg and Rothenburg ob der Tauber might be better by car.

I did a 1/2 day trip by train to Budingen and I loved it. It's a small town which still has some of it's city walls, many fachwerk buildings, a few good restaurants for lunch and it's just a nice town to walk around.

Yes I def want to travel a few days while I'm here. So I'll be coming in mid-april. Im assuming the weather is similar to the states (50s? and a little rainy). I'm really interested in anything historical, WWII related would be neat, good food/unique german food, i love the outdoors so any parks/hiking nearby would be awesome. I would like to see the european style of germany as I have heard frankfurt is very modern. I love good wine and beer too if theres any good towns to venture for that! I also read a few things about cruising down the river I think that would be pretty near. I'm open to adventure! Thanks so far for all the help, I feel a bit overwhelmed by the options and transportation. Is train the best way to get around?

also yes! castles would be amazing to see! the architecture is stunning in some places I'm very interested in experiencing that.

The Middle Rhine Valley is where you need to go.

WW II museum in Remagen

Marksburg Castle

Rheinfels Castle, St. Goar

Bacharach

Oberwesel

Lots of interesting stuff in Frankfurt. Absolutely no need to go to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, it's a very long way. If you just want to see timber-framed buildings, there are some genuinely old surviving ones in the Frankfurt neighbourhoods of Hoechst and Bornheim. Do try the local cider, Frankfurt is one of the very few areas in Europe where cider is more popular than beer.

I am also spending 5 days in Frankfurt this year, though not until June. I followed some similar questions on this forum a few months ago. They contain some good, very detailed information that guided my further research. Here are some threads I bookmarked, though there are many others:
Jo Travels Through Germany;
Frankfurt 19-26 Nov

My choices at the moment are arrival day in Frankfurt (half-day just wandering); one day in Marburg; one day in Eltville; then the final two days in Frankfurt proper, focusing on Bornheim, Höchst, and Sachsenhausen. I'm planning to go to an opera one evening, take a few walking tours, try the cider (though I'm told it's much more sour than our ciders.) I'm staying in a lovely old half-timbered hotel and plan to just enjoy near-by surroundings thoroughly. But I have lived and traveled in Germany before, so I don't need to cram as much in. I understand your desire to see more than just the Frankfurt area. I would be careful not to make choices that require more than 90 minutes travel each way, but do your own research and see what you can manage. Hope you have a great time!

Hotel rates vary according to demand & can be more than you might expect in Frankfurt. For example here are rates for one typical hotel (Premier Inn) for one week in April. Sometimes it's worth looking at rates before you get too far along on your planning.
Sun 8 Apr Room 1 €46.50
Mon 9 Apr Room 1 €222.50
Tue 10 Apr Room 1 €222.50
Wed 11 Apr Room 1 €222.50
Thu 12 Apr Room 1 €183.50
Fri 13 Apr Room 1 €49.00
Sat 14 Apr Room 1 €42.00
Sun 15 Apr Room 1 €35.00

There are two big trade fairs happening in April which will raise hotel prices a lot. The Pro-Light & Sound ,10-13 Apr. and the Music Messe, 11-14 Apr.
Festivals in Frankfurt and surrounding towns.
* 7-8 Apr. Spring Fest, Marburg
* 13-15 Apr. Medieval Market, Schiffenberger Kloster - Giessen
* 14-15 Apr. Spring Market, Seligenstadt (shopping Sun.)
* 15 Apr. Cider World, Frankfurt
* 16-29 April Frankfurt Liesst ein Buch (Frankfurt Reads a Book) The 7th Cross by Anna Seghers
* 20-22 Apr. Medieval Fest, Speyer
* 21 Apr. Organ Matinee, Frankfurt Kaiserdom, 12:30, free
* 22 Apr. Frog Parade, Büdingen

Hi,

If you're into history, I suggest Marburg, Koblenz, and Bad Ems (near Koblenz)...all very doable by train from Frankfurt as day trips.

"...any good or must see things in Frankfurt!" I would suggest also the Goethe Museum, the museum of Germany's greatest poet. and the Opera House. In 2016 I went back to see the Goethe Museum, hadn't seen it since the first time in 1973.

This BBC broadcast might be interesting to some:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3csvppc

Can Frankfurt Become Europe’s New Financial Capital?
A small German city with a population of under a million has big ambitions. It wants to beat Paris to the top spot of financial centre of Europe. But can the city of Frankfurt attract the international bankers and their support work force when the UK leaves the European Union next year? Several international banks have already confirmed that staff will be moving to Frankfurt. Office space is secured and the international schools say banks are block booking places for pupils. But what will this mean for Frankfurt and its own residents who face soaring rents and property prices? And given a choice would the financial community really choose a regional German city over the French capital? Caroline Bayley heads to Frankfurt to find out.

Several of the locations in the BBC broadcast were also included in the older Guardian article:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/nov/17/frankfurt-brexit-germany-uk-eu

Frankfurt am Main is already Germany's main banking city. As such, there is a "pun" in German used to describe Frankfurt.."Bankfurt"