Looking for suggestions, we will arrive in Frankfurt Saturday June 21, and will depart from Frankfurt Tuesday June 24.
Open to renting a car or traveling by rail.
After Tuesday the 24th, we will be in a conference in Wetzlar and Cologne, just want to fill those first 4 days!
Any and all suggestions welcome.
Thanks in advance!
=======
If it were me, I'd just head for the Rhine River, and go downstream in the direction of Cologne. Can be done all by train, or include a segment cruising on the Rhine. That the best, most scenic part of the river, and plenty of towns to choose for a stay. So that way you end up in Cologne and not having to backtrack.
Thank you.
To be clear, we need to end up in Frankfurt on the 24th to coordinate with others arriving at that time.
Ok well I guess I would still recommend the Middle Rhine for its scenery, castles, and wine. Other choices - south to Heidelberg, Strasbourg, or east to Wurzburg, Bamberg, Rothenburg. Kinda depends on your interests.
The Middle Rhine is close to Frankfurt, if you wind up in Koblenz, the far point of the scenic part of the Rhine, you are only 1 1/2 to 2 hours away from Frankfurt by train.
Besides the small towns along the Rhine, you can also head up the Mosel river valley for more quaint towns on the river and good wine.
Every town in the segment of the river that stan is suggesting is less than 2 hours from Frankfurt by train; it is known as the Upper Middle Rhine Valley or Rhine Gorge... It's the area between Koblenz and Bingen on the linked train-line map below. You will not have the slightest trouble returning to Frankfurt from this area. And if you were to travel all the way to Cologne during that time, you could return in about 1 hour using high-speed rail.
https://www.vrminfo.de/fileadmin/data_vrminfo/PDF/RLP-Ticket_streckennetz.pdf
You'll get tips that are directed toward your personal travel interests if you tell us what those are. Otherwise, you may get lots of suggestions that would send you places you would never choose to go.
It really depends a lot on your interests. There is a lot to see in Frankfurt itself, so since you are there, spend a couple of days sightseeing. If you read any of my posts, you will find a lot of suggestions, from medieval churches, Jewish cultural sites, markets, etc.
This is what is happening in the area while you are here:
Magic Bike, Rüdesheim – 19-22.06
Johannis Night, Mainz – 20-23.06
Schweizerstrasse Fest, Frankfurt Sachsenhausen – 21-22.06
Rüdesheim and all the near-by towns will be packed with bikers, but this is a friendly bunch of bikers, not Hells Angels types.
Near-by towns that you might enjoy - Büdingen, Seligenstadt, Limburg, Marburg, Gelnhausen, Idstein, and my favorite town on the Rhein is Eltville combined with a visit to Eberbach Monastery.
Most American tourists will go down the Rhine, and be perfectly happy with that. But that's because they don't know about the options. The weekend you're looking to fill is full of options. For example there will be a major festival in Mainz, the Johannisnacht. https://www.mainzer-johannisnacht.de/
There will be dozens of wine tasting events at local vinyards. https://www.rheinhessen.de/weinfest/4?tx_sfdeskline_pi3%2525255Bseoid%2525255D=Mainzer-Weinsalon_Mainz5&dateFrom=01.01.2024&dateTo=31.12.2024&eCategoryIds%5B0%5D=23&eCategoryIds%5B1%5D=12
There are small towns that are not on the Rick Steves routes that are really nice. This last weekend I took a carload of newcomers to Germany to several and, while it's not in season, we were the only Americans in town. We stopped at one place in Neuleiningen, got a glass of wine each, and the owner brought in some pork he had on the grill just so we had something to go with it. Nobody goes there, but the view from the castle ruins is spectacular.
Freinsheim is a medieval walled town that still retains it's wall. It's small, you can walk from one side to the other in 15 minutes. But you can also walk completely around the wall. We were there for the Saturday morning market, spent some time watching the storks nest building on the church roof, and had a great meal in an uncrowded hole in the wall.
Deidesheim is another excellent place to spend an afternoon. It's neat, clean, historic, and has three Michelin restaurants and numerous wine cellars and bars.
There are a lot of small towns that are easy to reach by train, and even some of the bigger ones like Bad Durkheim, Neustadt, & Bad Kreuznach don't get much love from Americans. That's too bad, because they are a lot more interesting than the places along the Rhine, and they all have castles.
Looking for suggestions, we will arrive in Frankfurt Saturday June 21,
and will depart from Frankfurt Tuesday June 24. Open to renting a car
or traveling by rail. After Tuesday the 24th, we will be in a
conference in Wetzlar and Cologne, just want to fill those first 4
days!
Am I close in that this is the trip?
21 mid afternoon arrive Frankfurt after a long arduous trip. So stay in Frankfurt?
22
23
24 Probably want to wake up in Frankfurt so you can meet your group and start the next leg of the trip fresh.
If I am correct work with Ms. Jo (becuase she really is the expert) and spend the time in Frankfurt or very, very close to Frankfurt. There is a lot to see. Maybe just do day trips so you dont have to pack and unpack. Or an overnight someplace but maybe keep the Frankfrut room too. I bet Ms. Jo knows sorme at reasonable cost.
Whether or not you rent a car, you have a million options in the general area of Frankfurt that do not need to be either Frankfurt or the standard Rhine River destinations. With all due respect to Ms. Jo and her pitching for Frankfurt, it would never appear on my personal list of destinations in Germany, not even for a night. My opinion is based on having been back and forth through there for over 60 years (how time flies), regular visits there for the 35 years of my working life and even a visit last fall where my wife and I were treated to the spectacle of watching the local police attempt to herd the significant numbers of homeless and drug users that frequent that city....a population of people who do not appear all that often in the surrounding towns or even other German cities. Even when I was 6 or 7 years old, I always preferred a day in Gelhausen or Hanau to any time spent in Frankfurt.
Mary Jo does make other suggestions that merit consideration as does KGC. First and foremost, to decide, what are your interests? Do you want to see museums (of what?), castles, go for a boat ride, visit a fest or wineries, eat, drink...there are some many options. With a car, the Porsche Museum (it is excellent) is only two hours away. The Autobahn, even with construction is amazing. Pick your priorities and then you can begin to plan where you might want to visit. Since it is your treffpunkt, possibly make your final night a stay in Frankfurt. That will be plenty.
who is "Mary Jo "?
Even with the autobahn, you're not going to drive from Frankfurt to Stuttgart in 2 hours. In June, plan for 4 minimum.
Hi, bohdi137,
I would follow Russ's suggestion and head for someplace on the Rhine. Keep in mind you won't have 4 full days. Depending on your arrival time, you might have a half day then, 2 full days, and depending on when you need to be in Frankfurt, maybe a half day on the 24th. I stayed in Boppard, which is about a 90 minute train ride from Boppard, sits right on the river and is a lovely town with good hotels and restaurants. You can also get one of the river cruises there, like KD Rhine. I took the train down to Bingen and then ferried upstream back to Boppard, as this section has the most wonderful views of the castle ruins along the Rhine. You can visit some other castles there including Burg Eltz (one of my favorites) and Marksburg.
Nigel, I'm sure that Mark's "Mary Jo" was a typo and meant "Ms. Jo".
It is alright. Not everyone likes history, so it is ok that Mack doesn't like Frankfurt. He doesn't have to.
As for the junkies, alkies, and homeless, maybe visit Cologne, Mainz, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, or Hannover. They all have the same problem as Frankfurt. Think I am making this up? Check YouTube.
It looks pretty sweet to me? https://youtu.be/UQgcBiAztjs?si=wGIzOvKuJaqeCEHt
With two days I think I would rather spend them seeing something rather than traveling. I would be surprised if you couldnt stay busy and enjoy the heck out of 2 days in Frankfurt .... or maybe one day and a day trip. Less packing and unpacking that way. For day trips I always go to Viator, not necessarily to use Viator but to see the list: https://www.viator.com/Frankfurt-tourism/d489-r51263559087-s954935422?m=28353&supag=118817613533&supca=12520548426&supsc=kwd-316846845537&supai=505220165029&supdv=c&supnt=g&suplp=1007633&supli=1004363&supti=kwd-316846845537&tsem=true&supci=kwd-316846845537&supap1=&supap2=&supfi=&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjws-S-BhD2ARIsALssG0Yyn2_fsYUyn8p0Oa4LG1UDUttAkO2Sr2FGC-OHhNXQcDILYcKmO3saAroQEALw_wcB
Blockquote who is "Mary Jo "?
Whoops..... that was Fredian and I will not explain further.
Ms. Jo , whose advise and opinions I do respect and read, but WRT Frankfurt, do not always agree with.
My drive time to Stuttgart, ambitious, yes. But achievable in perfect conditions with a proper white knuckle approach to the trip in the proper vehicle. I would suggest a GT3 although the big Mercs tend to be the ones who loom in the rear mirror. I will not disclose my best Frankfurt to Munich run, but the train is only a bit quicker.
Here is the link to my trip report. As an example of what is possible to do in the Frankfurt am Main area, look at the last 4 days of my trip. Or search the trip reports for my solo trip from September 2024.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/trip-reports/southern-germany-solo-trip
