Lunch Stop After Landing in Frankfurt

Are you sure you want to drive the same day you arrive? Jet lag, lack of sleep, and not being familiar with the local road system around Frankfurt can all be a problem. There are some people that are not bothered by any of those things. Others think they are ok but are really driving somewhat impaired. Still others are complete zombies and should never drive the same day. Don't mean to rain on your parade, just something to think about. Having lived there, this is what I'd do. Take a train to Aschaffenburg and rent the car there. Much, much less hassle than driving in F'furt. It also has many good places for first rate German food. You might consider staying one night in A'burg and then driving on from there. Should you drive the old road (not autobahn) from A'burg to Wurztburg, there is a town named Mespelbrunn just south of a town named Haibach that has a fairy tale castle with a moat that has been in the same family for four or five hundred years. Google it and see what you think. Just a side trip to consider.

A few years ago, there was a item on Main Tower, a Frankfurt-region news program, about the disproportionate number of car accidents caused by overseas travelers immediately hitting A3 on their way to Rothenburg or Munich. I second the previous poster, do not attempt to drive this road if you're flying in from North America (if from somewhere else in Europe, then fine...). Even if you think jet lag doesn't affect you, studies on airline pilots have shown that the reaction times caused by jet lag are similar to alcohol, no matter if you feel tired or not.

Why am I making such a big deal about this? Well, I have a personal story. I used to live near Darmstadt, and I drove to work on A5. One day, I got an early start on my commute, but I hear on the radio later that day that a massive accident occurred on an area of A5 within minutes after I drove it. I learned that evening that two people were killed and the driver at fault... yup, you guessed it, just arrived in Germany from the US and immediately jumped in a rental car. Had I not been a little early that morning, I could have been seriously injured or even killed.

Well, back your original question. Believe it or not, you can get pretty good German food at Autobahn rest stops. Throw out any stereotype you may have of North American rest stop food, the cafeteria style restaurants on the Autobahn are both relatively inexpensive and surprisingly well prepared.

If you absolutely insist on driving to Rothenburg odT (BTW, not nearly as unique as all the tourist literature claims), perhaps stop off in the beautiful town of Seligenstadt. The Glaabsbräu brewery operates a guesthouse with particularly good food.

On several occasions I've arrived in Frankfurt, immediately took a train to Bavaria, and, due to jet lag, nodded off on the train. I'm glad I wasn't driving.

Just to clarify, we're familiar with the Frankfurt airport and have driven this route before, just never stopped to eat. It's doable but I thought this time it might be better to stop for lunch, get out, stretch, move a little instead of driving the 2+ plus hours in one stretch.

Years ago, my arrival at Frankfurt was delayed by 6 hours and all my relatives who were waiting at the airport, had gone home to Stuttgart. I rented a car at 11 pm at night and headed for the autobahn. The Frankfurt Cross (Frankfurter Kreuz) was a nightmare. 2 major express ways intersect and the number of directional signs were overwhelming. It took me a while to get to the right entrance, looking for Mannheim if I remember correctly.

I have suffered a jet lag accident in Germany myself but you have your own decisions to make.

Aschaffenburg, already mentioned, has a number of decent restaurants as it is a theater-stage town. We liked the Theater Klause and Üwe's Bistro for German food. I have no idea about parking in Aschaffenburg.