Need help planning a trip on long weekend from Frankfurt

I can't give specific help, but can point in some general directions. Well, I can say one thing: you are looking at last minute tickets, and discounts on flights and trains are probably long gone; that's why you're seeing high fares. For your future weekend trips, you'll get much better prices the farther ahead you book.

To find a list of who flies where from Frankfurt Hahn Airport, look at their Wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt%E2%80%93Hahn_Airport#Airlines_and_destinations

While you're at it, look at the "real" Frankfurt airport as well. Prices being unpredictable these days, it may not be more expensive to fly from there, and it's certainly much more convenient, with a huge range of destinations: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankfurt_Airport#Passenger_airlines_and_destinations

To find flight options, use Skyscanner: https://www.skyscanner.com/ However, be sure to do a "dummy booking" (up to the point where you put in your credit card) to see what all the fees and rules are.

To find train routes, use the Bahn (German Rail) website http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en, following Rick's tutorial: http://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/transportation/trains/online-schedules

To find more options between places (such as overnight buses), you can try Rome2RIo: https://www.rome2rio.com/. Note that you then have to confirm with the actual operator of the train, bus, etc., and that the prices shown on Rome2Rio don't show available discounts.

I remember we had a very similar discussion before, and you got lots of good information.

I remember you being very budget conscious yet wanting to cover long distances.

I don't think I ever expected you to try to get cheap tickets 3 days out. You were very keen on buses, have you now changed your mind?

Hi,

Take overnight buses for max flexibility. You have a greater choices.

Why so far away? Have you considered Strasbourg perhaps, with a side trip to Colmar? Or head down to Garmisch and Austria? You can use the Regional trains for those trips.
With such a short amount of time, I don't know why you want to spend half of your free time sitting on a bus. This makes no sense to me. You have all of Germany to explore, the weather is perfect right now. Why Spain or Italy?

You could always head over to the Frankfurt airport after work to see what kind of last minute deals are being offered. Usually a RT flight and hotel. I did this once and ended up with a great deal to Turkey. They have trips going everywhere in Europe.

@Harold
Thanks for the links. You are right, i am most likely not going to get any better deal now. Better start planning something else now.

@Nigel
That is right and based on all the great advice i collected here, i successfully did my weekend trip to lucerne last weekend and it was awesome. It was tiring but i easily managed to cover lucerne and zurich. I liked the overnight flixbus and i guess i can push a little more with them.

@Jo
I thought about it and now i take your advice. I am now looking for multiple cities in Germany, or maybe nearby to cover.

I think i will do multiple cities in Germany now. I like to walk around and maybe see some great buildings. And i love beaches.
So keeping that in mind, which city would you recommend in or around Germany ? I have bookings for Berling and Munich for some other weekends, so anything other than those.
Hamburg seems to be a great option.

Near Frankfurt is the triangle of cities: Worms, Speyer, and Mainz. Very inexpensive to get to and lots to do.

The very attractive and lively university city of Erfurt is about 2-1/2 hours from Frankfurt by train. Buses are probably available (likely cheaper) but would take longer. You can save a lot on the train fare by buying the ticket ASAP. I'm guessing there are some cheap lodging options in Erfurt.

Leipzig is about 3-1/2 hours away by train and also needs advance-purchase of tickets to be affordable. If you're up for a 5-1/2 hour bus ride (according to Rome2Rio.com), that would be a less expensive option.

Both of the above cities are in the former-DDR area and they don't get a lot of US tourists.

acraven - I agree. I recently visited both cities, both very pleasant. I liked them a lot more than the bigger, more touristed cities.

Maybe Dresden is the city in eastern Germany that gets the most US tourists. Certainly it isn't any of the other towns/cities in eastern Germany, maybe Potsdam? I've been to the huge Leipzig Hbf several times and don't recall seeing any Americans or hearing Anglo-American English