Travel near Frankfort

Mainz is not worth your time imo, Baden-Baden is just ok. South of Frankfurt and north of Basel I recommend taking a look at

• the Kaiserstuhl region, especially Vogtsburg (warmest region in Germany, old volcano, beautiful terraced vineyards)
• Heidelberg (beautiful old town with a nice castle)
• Durbach, esp. Schloss Staufenberg (lovely old timberframe houses, beautiful, spectacular vineyards on the western edge of the Black Forest mountains)
• the Black Forest National Park (north/central Black Forest)
• the wonderful Alsatian or Palatian wine routes (both have lovely villages surrounded by a gorgeous sea of vineyards)

I concur on Baden-Baden.

Depends on what you like. I like wooded, natural setting. About 40 minutes by streetcar from Karlsruhe is the Black Forest spa town of Bad Herrenalb. It's in a deep wooded valley with lot of hiking trails, and it has a traditional German "Therme" (spa). With your accommodations, you get a Konus card which is valid for bus and rail transportation all over the area.

We go to Bad Herrenalb about once a month as we live just 30 mins away from it. The cute town center is charming and there are beautiful hiking trails. It gives you the "real" Black Forest experience with dark forests and not too many tourists. Certainly a nice place, in particular the Gaistal.

Switzerland means the Alps, the big mountains a couple hours south of Basel, specifically the Berner Oberland region. Yes, it's going the opposite direction from Frankfurt, but you can get a train to Frankfurt very easily from there in under 6 hours.

Let me throw in Speyer for its cathedral and museums.

Great ideas. Thanks so much.

I am shocked at this advice that Mainz is not worth your time? Seriously?
The cathedral there is beautiful and is almost 1000 years old! You can go to St. Stephens to see the Chagall windows, visit the Isis Temple ruins, check out the Roman amphitheater, visit the Gutenburg Museum and see one of the finest examples of the Bible that he made. Mainz was one of the 3 main Jewish cities in Germany along with Speyer and Worms up until the crusades. Their new Synagogue is amazing, even if you only see it from the outside. The Rhein promenade is lovely too and there are plenty of places in their old town to sit and enjoy a glass of Riesling from the Rheingau.

Have you considered Strasbourg?

Strasbourg is probably part of the Rhine cruise.

Will you be driving or taking the train?

Mainz, Heidelberg, Baden-Baden, Triberg, Titisee and Black Forest, Straussbourg, France/

Thanks for the replies.

We will be travelling by train.