We'll be joining a Rick Steves tour starting In Trier. We will be flying into Frankfurt and have 2 extra days before the tour begins. Any suggestions? We'd prefer not to rent a car. We're a group of adults who love history and art and museums and all things cultural. We also enjoy beautiful scenery.
Any advice would be appreciated!
Have you checked the page for your tour? There are suggestions for early arrival on all the tour pages.
Where does the tour go after Trier? Does it include the Mosel or Rhine rivers? If not, spend a night or two at a town on one of those rivers. Take the train. www.bahn.com .
I personally preferred the museums in Cologne to those in Frankfurt. But there are plenty of things to see in Frankfurt. The German train system is fantastic, if your bags are not too heavy. The huge Frankfurt S-Bahn can take you easily to more things than you can see in two days. We had a car, but I'd like to hear about visiting the absolutely closest Half-Timbered towns to Frankfurt with public transportation. It cannot be hard, and they are very close.
I’ll suggest the Rhine river valley too.
Maybe St. Goar. Looks to be about an hours and a half train ride from FRA and not out of the way for getting to Trier. Visit Rheinfels castle hop on a boat ride and tour the valley. Nice area to get over jet lag.
"...love history and art and museums and all things cultural...."
The small Rhine valley towns are terrific but very thin on art and museums and such. I suggest you head straight to the Rhine town of Mainz upon arrival (25 minutes by direct train from FRA's Regionalbahnhof, one of two airport train stations.) Mainz has a large zone for pedestrians only in and around the Cathedral and the old town - and it has what you seek.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187393-Activities-MainzRhinelandPalatinate.html
When you go to Trier your train will pass through the Middle Rhine Valley (the scenic part of the Rhine, with castles, vineyards and small old-world towns.) Before you reach Koblenz, you may wish to stop off on the way in St. Goar (great scenery, Rheinfels Castle...the TI office will hold your bags as long as it's open.)
You'll change trains in Koblenz for the ride up the Mosel River to Trier - also a very scenic ride.
The train trip from Mainz to Trier is very cheap with the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket - see details below.
http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets/tickets/ticket-offers/rheinland-pfalz-ticket/
If you haven't been to Frankfurt before why not just stay there for the 2 days before heading to Trier. Frankfurt has plenty to keep you busy for a couple of days before the tour.
I would actually spend the 2 nights (is it nights or days?) in Trier. I had a very long list of things to do there and did not get them all done, mostly because my tour was at the end of August and there was a heat wave in Trier! The Landesmuseum is excellent altho much of the signage is in German I could figure much of it out. There also are the baths, Porta Nigra, 3 big churches, Marx' home to name a few.
https://www.trier-info.de/english/sights-in-trier
Although there is a walking tour of Trier the first morning of your tour there is not really enough time to go in to anything (altho our tour did do a quick stop of the Roman baths). It is also generally a Sunday morning so the churches are having services and not really open for visitors. I'd recommend you do the churches the day before if they are of interest to you. Another tour member and I were in the Dom and happened on an organ concert on that Saturday. We paid the 2€ (!!) and listened to a terrific recital. Very fun.
Right after the walking tour you will get on the bus and head for lunch at a restaurant on the Mosel and then continue to Burg Eltz castle. By the time you get back any sights will be closed so no time on that end of the day either.
Several of the people on my tour also took a day cruise on the Mosel which they enjoyed.
The tour departs for Baden-Baden after Trier.
This is a fun tour!
Take a trip down to Idar Oberstein. This was the center of the precious gem trade in Germany for hundreds of years and the town is nice to walk around. Still a lot of gems and jewelry for those interested, but the major attraction is the monastery which is built into a cave in the cliff of the valley.
If you prefer something different take a day trip to the Altstat of Koblenz and see the Deutsches Ek. It's a great old city to walk around.
Or last, you could rent a car and go to Bastogne and see the old battlefields.
I'd consider Bernkastel-Kues on the Mosel. Lovely old town, nice scenery, vines and culture, not so much on the art and museum side.
From Trier you can take a mini-cruise to Saarburg. We were there last year, a nice little place with pleasant hiking close by.
Spend at least one day in Frankfurt. It is one of the older cities in Germany, and has more museums than one can possibly hope to see in a few days. The Städel, Liebieghaus, the Schirn, the Judengasse Museum, and the Museum of Modern Art are all worth a visit. Get a museum pass to make it cheaper.
http://www.kultur-frankfurt.de/portal/en/Museums/Start/0/0/0/0/1441.aspx
Do plan a day in Trier if possible to spend more time in Porta Nigra and the churches.
Trier: The German city beloved by Chinese
It's easy to understand why Germany's oldest city attracts so many tourists. After all, Trier, a former capital of the Roman Empire, is home to the largest number of Roman ruins outside Rome, while the surrounding vineyards produce some of the country’s finest wines.
But for the roughly 150,000 Chinese who visit every year – more than any other German destination – Trier’s legacy as the birthplace of Karl Marx is the main draw.
