Staying Frankfurt vs gogin to a small town on the Rhine

I would not stay in Frankfurt, at least not for 5 days.
If you want a city, consider Mainz: it is quite charming in parts and is good for day trips.
Otherwise, you could stay at one of the small towns between Bingen and Boppard, but December could be bleak.

Mainz is better than Frankfurt.

Also, consider visiting Heidelberg.

Most small Rhine towns are deadsville at that time. You could possibly stay in Rüdesheim, however, which has a great Christmas market and is actually pretty lively for December.

From Rüdesheim you could day trip into Wiesbaden, Mainz, and Frankfurt to the south. To the north, Koblenz (Christmas Market), Marksburg Castle (in Braubach) are just one direct train ride away. For a longer day trip, take the train to Cologne or up the Mosel River to Trier.

If you want day trips, Frankfurt is the best place to stay. Mainz is fine as is Wiesbaden, but the train connections won't be quite as easy as they are from Frankfurt. We are a hub, they aren't. Frankfurt has more things to do if the weather is not nice (dozens of museums) and for those who were here before at the Xmas market, they have changed it. It is larger and nicer. There are concerts of some kind in the downtown churches, choirs, etc. every night during Advent. There is a market in the city forest that is fun.

From Frankfurt, you could easily visit Limburg, Marburg, Heidelberg, Hanau, Darmstadt, Mainz, Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg, Rüdesheim, etc. All within one hour by train from Frankfurt and all have charming markets too.

I would go with Russ and stay in Rüdesheim. Definately not in Frankfurt.

If you are in Frankfurt in mid winter, in addition to the Christmas markets you can experience an indoor garden. The Palmen Garten has a lot to see and the Palm house is indoors, warm, and a really nice place. https://www.palmengarten.de/en/index.html

https://youtu.be/Akwml1g98Jc

Butterfly house https://youtu.be/JMw7SBOrTFU

https://youtu.be/lAAMNEzTcAM

I like Rüdesheim, but I cannot imagine staying here for 5 days. Biggest problem is that there is only 1 train per hour in either direction.

For those who are recommending not staying in Frankfurt, could you please give a good reason? There are beautiful residential neighborhoods with hotels and B&Bs, that are similar to any small town, yet you have the train access, plus all the other reasons I listed.

Pretty much anyplace on the Rhein is empty and bleak in winter, except for the large towns like Mainz, Wiesbaden or Koblenz.

While I love the big cities of Europe, I don't put Frankfurt near the top five. Ms Jo's understandable pride aside, I consider 1 train an hour a lot! But her unspoken point, very relevant, is that regional transportation in all countries tends to be radial. You would have to train INTO Frankfurt, wait, and OUT another line to get to the other 85% of the swell regional attractions that AREN'T on the Rhine trainlines, if you sleep on the Rhine for 5 nights in quiet winter. She is not urging you to go from one Frankfurt museum to the next for five days, unless the weather is dreary.

Our very Americanski solution was to stay in Kronberg (S-Bahn to Frankfurt) and rent a car, to do three or four stops a day. But if you stay in a transport hub like Frankfurt or Berlin, a car is not, even remotely, a necessity of life.

Many, maybe most, first time visitors to Germany seem to have the fantasy they'll find that cute German village that they kept seeing in the Disney cartoons. Mainz might be closer to that than Frankfurt.

The OP asked about a small-town alternative on the Rhine. The alternative that I suggested, Rüdesheim, was not just a place for her to stay in for 5 days. I couldn't imagine that either. The idea was to get a room there - sleep there - and over the 5 days you have to leave Rüdesheim on day outings to some of the 6 or 7 other destinations (including Frankfurt) that I suggested.

Of course Frankfurt CAN be used as a train hub for destinations like Jo suggests. But it is neither difficult nor undesirable to stay in a small town like Rüdesheim during the Christmas season or to use R'heim as a train hub, if that's what you want to do. A base town for rail outings doesn't have to be a gigantic rail hub Paris, London, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, etc. in a country like Germany, where train service is so frequent and dependable. Not every small town works well. But small ones with the right location (near other interesting places) work just fine. I've used dozens of small towns as rail hubs, some I'm sure others have never heard of. Bullay. Neustadt-an-der Weinstraße. Herleshausen... I've never found such train "hubs" to have been a big mistake of some sort, never questioned my choice not to stay in Frankfurt or in Munich or Berlin, places I of course have stayed and visited for a few days, but also places that would NOT have worked so well for the day trip destinations I had in mind - and places I did not wish to stay in on those particular occasions.

The word "bleak" has been used to describe winter on the Rhine. It's true that there are better months than December to visit for the best scenery. But you can still check out the half-timbered buildings in towns like Bacharach and Braubach on a stroll around town, and a train ride along the riverbanks of the Rhine will still reveal the steep cliffsides and the castles - they do not vanish like autumn leaves. At its worst, it's still pretty interesting compared with riding the rails around the urban landscapes of train hubs like Frankfurt. Brown instead of green, but still dramatic and photo-worthy.

Rheinstein Castle in winter, near Rüdesheim

Marksburg Castle in winter in the town of Braubach (castle tours in winter too)

Bacharach

Near the Loreley river bend at St. Goarshausen