8.5 Hours in Frankfurt

Try Frankfurt on Foot. http://www.frankfurtonfoot.com/

It's only 15 minutes on the S-Bahn from the airport to the main train station, and not too much longer to the city center or the Sachsenhausen district. So you definitely can get out of the airport. What are the times of the arrival of your first flight and the departure of your second flight? And where is your second flight to? With this information, others who know more about Frankfurt than I can make suggestions (it doesn't help to talk about museums if they'll be closed when you're there, for instance).

Good point--we arrive at 1:30 pm and depart to Venice at 8:55 pm, so we're fortunately there during a good time of the day.

Stand by a little while and Jo from Frankfurt is likely to wander by. If fact, if you have a moment have a search of the archives and you will find plenty of threads where Jo has helped people with just a few hours for layover. Enjoy your brief stay in Frankfurt - there's plenty to see - and I hope that your stay in Venice is considerably longer ...

Amen on Jo being able to help with Frankfurt. Suggest you get in touch with her and sure you will be given lots of info on Frankfurt for the time you will be there.

Follow the signs in the airport to the Regional Train station, located under Terminal 1. Go to the RMV/DB ticket machines. They switch into English when you tap the UK flag icon and are fairly user friendly. The machines take coins, 5 and 10 euro bills for single tickets and if you are getting a group ticket it will take a 20 euro bill. It will NOT take a 50 euro bill. Change will be in coins. RMV machines do not take American credit cards for local travel, but if you were buying long distance tickets, the DB does. A group day ticket, called a "Collective Day Ticket" on the ticket machine (gruppen karte) costs 15.00 euro. This ticket is good for up to 5 people and is valid all day long, getting to and from the airport and on all forms of transportation in Frankfurt. A good choice for 2 or more people. These are NOT 24 hour tickets, they are only good for the day of purchase until the trains, etc. stop running for the day, usually around 1 a.m. In Frankfurt you do not need to validate your ticket unlike some other cities in Germany. It is all on the honor system. If you do not have a ticket though, you will be fined 40 euro immediately. If you need to store your luggage at the airport, cost per bag will be 7 euro for 3-24 hours. The better deal is to bring your carry-on into the city and store it in the lockers located along track 23 in the main train station. Cost is between 3-5 euro and the 5 euro lockers are big enough for about 4 carry-on back-packs or bags. Now, go to track 1. Get on any train that stops here and ride it either 3 stops to the main train station, or 5 stops to the Hauptwache, which is the city center. There is a train every 15 min. in either direction, and the main station is 11 min. away, the Hauptwache, 15 min.

What can you do in Frankfurt? You could visit the Kaiserdom, the Alte Nikolai, the Eschenheimer Turm, the Klein Markt Halle, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall, Homosexual Holocaust Memorial, St. Peters Cemetery, the Medieval Jewish Cemetery, the Römer, the Eisener Steg Bridge, the Pauls Kirche, the Karmeliter Cloister, the Deutsche Orden Kirche, the Goethe Haus, the Palmengarten, Sachsenhausen, Bornheim and the Berger Strasse, Bethmann Park, or depending on the day of the week, a farmers' market. Other than Sun. and Mon. there will be one of these markets in several locations in the city center and neighborhoods. If it isn't a Monday, you could go to some museums, though there are some museums open on Monday. If your flight is international, you should plan on being back at the airport 2 hours before your departure time, as a minimum. Inter-Europe flights, about an hour and a half. A bit of cushion is better than being late though. You can catch your train at the Konstablerwache stop, the Hauptwache, the Taunusanlage (by the Alte Oper) or the main train station again. Trams going to the main station from the Romer are the #11 and #12.

Thank you so much, Jo! That information is amazingly helpful. What would you say is the best for us to try to see in our brief time there?

I second Frankfurt on Foot. Why not see a little bit of everything on a guided walking tour.