Day/multi-day trips in Frankfurt and Hannover areas

There's two zoos in the immediate Frankfurt area, one within the city, and Opel Zoo on the lower slopes of the Taunus mountains, between the beautiful towns of Königstein im Taunus and Kronberg im Taunus. Although this probably won't apply to you, I particularly liked Opel Zoo because dogs are welcome.

Another nice place to walk around with a 5 year old is Hessenpark, which is a regional open-air folk museum. When I last visited about two years ago, it was only about half finished, so hopefully they've made some progress towards completion.

For foodies in Frankfurt, I've heard a lot about the market hall, but haven't visited. Perhaps Jo from Frankfurt knows more.

The Frankfurt region is mostly well-served by public transportation, but should you decide on going for a rental car, don't worry about "icy roads". This area of Germany doesn't usually get that much snow, and what the relatively thin layers that do fall are usually quicly cleared or melt.

The Mittelrhein is nearby, but I'll give others the pleasure of elaborating.

Finally... realize that Mr. Steves' Germany book doesn't cover the Frankfurt or Hannover regions very well (in the case of Hannover, not at all). Many of his favorites aren't nearly as unique as you might think after reading his book, and you can likely find plenty of similar substitutions within an hour of Frankfurt.

The Harz area is not that far from Hannover. Getting up into some towns in the mountain might require a bus (if the weather is good), but you can still get to quaint towns north of the mountains like Goslar, Bad Harzburg, Wernigerode, and Quedlinburg by rail. And from Wernigerode you can take the narrow gauge steam train to some towns (Drei Annen Hohne, Schierke) in the mountains or to the top of the Brocken, northern Germany's highest mountain and inspiration for Walpurgisnacht in Goethe's Faust.

Hi,

Yes, Celle is an interesting town to see esp since it survived the war unscathed. Two towns as a day trip or as a night stay I would recommend, Minden an der Weser, (west of Hannover), which I found very interesting, if you want a history museum. If you want to see a town north of Hannover, I heartily recommend Lüneburg, A day trip can be done when you take the early train from Hannover.

If you are staying in Frankfurt you have a good hub for sightseeing, as well as activities for your 5 year old. A nice place to go in the winter is the Palmengarten, a huge botanical garden in Frankfurt. One of the indoor pools would be fun for your son too, like Rebstockbad. If you will be here around 15-16 Feb. the Fasching/Fastnacht parades will be taking place. In Frankfurt, the parade is on Sun. the 15th. In Mainz it is on Monday, and on Tues. the 17th, one of the neighborhoods of Frankfurt, Heddernheim has a great more family friendly parade called "Klaa Paris" or little Paris in Frankfurt dialect.

The Frankfurt Zoo was already recommended. There are outdoor Farmers markets on multiple days of the week in downtown Frankfurt and its' neighborhoods as well as the Klein Markt Halle open every day except for Sun. Some of the museums are very child friendly and/or interactive, like the Senckenburg Natural History Musuem (often called the dino museum) Communication Museum, Film Museum, Bible Museum, Experimenta, and the Children's Museum.

Near to Frankfurt is the Rhine of course so a ship ride might be relaxing and fun for everyone, going from Rüdesheim up to Boppard then training back or with a stop in Braubach to tour the Marksburg Castle, though the trek up to the castle in winter is tough and if snow or ice is present, downright dangerous, the medieval walled town of Büdingen (think Rothenburg with out the tour buses and souvenir stores) is only an hour away by train, and other towns like Heidelberg with its' wonderful castle, Würzburg, Mainz, Wiesbaden, or Marburg.

Thank you everyone!!! We've decided on taking my soon to be 5yo and will likely be driving now - unless the weather is terrible upon arrival and we'll shift to Plan B - trains.

Lots to now research. Thank you again for your thorough, and extremely helpful, comments!