We will be flying out of Frankfurt (on American airlines) on July 18th. We will be staying in Mainz the night before and will have several hours to look around Mainz. I’m aware of the Gutenberg museum and that big red church in town. Other than those, is there anything particularly interesting to see? Also, can we just board a regional train for the short hop to FRA? How much time should we allow before our 11:00 am flight? Thank you.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8947 posts
The Dom in Mainz is almost a 1000 years old and well worth seeing. Not sure if you have time that evening, but try and go to St. Stephens and see the Chagall windows. They are amazing. Near-by is the Roman ampitheater that they found while building the train station there. It would have been the largest ampitheater north of the Alps. The fortress next to it is impressive. I quite like the Isis Temple that they found when building a small shopping mall. The Romans had quite a large presence in Mainz, and their stuff is everywhere here. Mainz was also one of the 3 SCHUM cities, so there was a large Jewish community here until the crusades. Their new synagogue is really unique, exterior and interior, but it is not open to the public.
There is a small old town, and the square is lovely for their markets.
Posted by
Paradise
6658 posts
Mainz is possibly best known for its Carnival (Fasnacht) celebration, which happens in Feb or March. There's a museum there about this event which might interest you. I haven't been there yet myself.
The Stephanskirche (church) with its Marc Chagall windows is a big hit with most visitors too.
The big red church is probably the Martinsdom / Dom zu Mainz / Cathedral. Awesome if you are interested in Romanesque architecture.
Shopping is huge in Mainz. A huge part of the old town zone has been given over to pedestrians for this. It's a fine place to stroll, people-watch, check out normal life in Mainz.
In the middle of the shopping zone is a Roman archeological find, the Isis at Mater Magna Temple.
The Kaufhof Galeria department store is in the same zone and has a nifty cafeteria on the top floor (Dinea) with big windows that look out over the rooftops and the cupola of the Dom. The food there can sometimes be inventive and tasty, surprisingly, and it's a great spot for just hanging out and enjoying the view. The Marktplatz (market square) is usually brimming with outdoor dining options.
The Augustinerstrasse takes you from the Marktplatz (market square) through a separate part of the old town which suffered less damage in WW II - it has some nice side streets, shops and cafes, bars, and the Augustinerkirche, a small but especially pretty church.
https://live.staticflickr.com/3822/11252805035_5a6134743b_b.jpg
Mainz's city park (Stadtpark) is near the spot where Augustinerstrasse terminates on the south end, not far from the Rhine and near the Roman Theater Jo mentions. It's a really nice place. The Theater is right near the rear platform of the suburban train station there, which is known as "Mainz / Römisches Theater". If you are staying near this station, there are plenty of train departures from there to FRA as well.
The usual recommendation is to arrive 3 hours early for an international flight. Check with your airline. Direct trains begin running every half hour or better at around 4 am or so from Mainz Hbf to the airport. It's a 25-minute ride.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32813 posts
many of the Galeria restaurants (Kaufhof Galeria) have recently closed. Mainz is no longer on the list. https://www.galeria.de/unternehmen/restaurants
The Gutenberg museums that you mentioned are excellent, from the demonstrations in the basement to the preserved volumes upstairs everything is really well presented.
Posted by
OP
33 posts
Thank you for the ideas. We will have a nice final day of our trip. Thanks
Posted by
Seattle
37 posts
As we might be doing the same thing next summer, I'm curious to hear your experience of getting from Mainz to the Frankfurt Airport. Was it easy?
Posted by
Greeley, co, usa
2415 posts
St. Stephan, St. Stephan, St. Stephan . It is amazing. I also like the interesting Narren (carnival fool ) fountain near it.
Guttenberg Museum.
As mentioned, take the train to Wiesbaden and then the bus to the Nerobergbahn ( last stop ). Interesting water powered funicular to the top. Also visit the Russian Orthodox church there
Posted by
Paradise
6658 posts
As we might be doing the same thing next summer, I'm curious to hear
your experience of getting from Mainz to the Frankfurt Airport. Was it
easy?
Yes. A few details for you.
There are direct trains around the clock for this journey of 25 minutes. The one-way RMV fare from Mainz Hbf (the main station) to Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Regionalbahnhof (one of two airport stations) is €5.80. Buy the ticket at a station ticket machine. You can use any REGIONAL train or the S-Bahn with this ticket (no high-speed trains / ICE.) The departure boards at Mainz Hbf will indicate the train type (RE, RB, S, ICE) for each departure time. There will be electronic signage in the main hall for all pending train departures - the train type, final destination, and platform number will be on the same line as the departure time. On the platforms, you will find signs similar to the one on platform 2 in Mainz (shown below) and there will probably be a little airplane icon indicating a stop at FRA ariport.
https://www.bahnbilder.de/bilder/anzeigetafel-mainz-hbf-110208--168319.jpg
