Best day trip from Frankfurt area?

Tom is right on the money. Jo will, I expect chime in, but until she does you could do searches on her name and Frankfurt and hundreds of messages will appear with many many nuggets within. On her advice, and that of Tom and others here, my wife and I spent well over a week last year wandering the Deutsche Fachwerksrasse. If you love, like we do, small half timbered villages and towns in typical Hessian appearance the Fachwerkstr. is for you. Favourites? Most favourite: Braunfels. Close runners up: Idstein and Büdigen.

Greetings, neighbor! You're right around the corner from me- I can see the castle from where I live. So, let's start in a tight circle and gradually branch out from there. If you haven't seen it yet, check out Lorsch. Like Heppenheim, they have a beautiful little Markt, and right around the corner, there's the well-preserved remains of a Carolingian-era monastery. Bensheim, Weinheim, Darmstadt and Worms are all worth a quick visit. Best site in Bensheim is the Fürstenlager. Mannheim has gradually grown on me, although I can see why most tourists avoid it. The highlight here is Louisenpark, which in my opinion, is the most lovely urban park on the continent. You probably know about Heidelberg, but check out the intact Nazi-era Thingstätt (sort of an outdoor ampitheater). Nearby Schwetzingen has an impressive baroque Schloß. Although the Neckar river valley is not in the same class as the famous Rhine, it compares very favorably to the Mosel. Across the Rhine, several towns on the Deutsche Weinstraße are worth a visit, particularly Bad Dürkheim. I've spent the last year exploring the Odenwald, and I've still barely scratched the surface. For starters, though, check out Lindenfels, Michelstadt, and Erbach. Ask Jo from Frankfurt to tell you more about these towns, but to start off, I'll mention Mainz, Wiesbaden, Bad Homburg, Idstein, Büdigen, and Hanau. Further to the north, the Waldeck region of northern Hessen has many castles and scenic villages. The highlight is the town of Fritzlar, which is similar to the more well-known Rothenburg ob der Tauber (minus all the trinket shops). Enough of the other posters on this website know about the Mittelrhein, so I won't steal their thunder. Just know that we're less than an hour's drive from the southern end of the famous gorge. (cont..)

If you're interested in checking out the territory of the former East Germany, the picturesque town of Eisenacht is worth a visit. The Wartburg castle that overlooks the town is associated with several German legends. All the guidebooks mention Rothenburg, but if you decide to visit, do stop off at the less well known but equally beautiful Swäbisch Hall. OK, that's enough for now. This region doesn't get a lot of coverage in most English-language guidebooks, so I've found myself relying more and more on Wikipedia to help guide me around.

Braunfels... thanks for the idea, Nigel. I'll have to check it out.

You have already gotten some good ideas. Lorsch for sure. Just looking on a map, there are some great places near-by. Speyer, Michelstadt, Ludwigshafen am Rhein are close. Farther away and up north, are Büdingen, Gelnhausen, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Aschaffenburg, Seligenstadt, Idstein, Eppstein, Bad Homburg, Kronberg, Mainz, Wiesbaden, etc. If you give us some better ideas about what constitutes a "Must See" for you, we can give better suggestions. Do you like medieval churches, castles, museums, unique festivals, music, art, interesting architecture, Romans, WW2, Celts, Jewish history?

"Jewish history?" Speaking of which, in Hemsbach, which is two towns south of Heppenheim on the Bergstraße, there's one of the few old Jewish cemeteries that survived the Nazi era intact. The gate is locked, but you can hike right by it. It's a little hard to find... if you're driving south on the Bergstraße, you'll pass an intersection with a building labled "Union Lichtspiel" on your right. The second left after this is a road that ascends steeply up the mountain. There's a parking area at one of the trail heads on your right. From here, you can hike to the cemetery. If you keep driving up the mountain, you'll pass the gate to the cemetery, but as I mentioned, the gate is usually locked. If you drive further up the mountain, there's an old medieval watch tower at the summit, and a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside. If you hike from here, you can also reach an outdoor church on top of one of the mountains.

Wow, thanks everyone- these are great recommendations! Just what I am looking for. I have plenty of time for my own day trips while my husband is at work, so this is great! To answer your question Jo, a "must-see" for me is anything with significant importance to the culture and history of the area, as well as something that makes the specific area "unique." Also, I of course appreciate small, quaint areas off the normal tourist trail. But doesn't everyone? I do have a great interest in unique festivals, regional gastronomy, hiking trails and castles. But that's just a start.

"I do have a great interest in unique festivals, regional gastronomy, hiking trails and castles." If you haven't ventured into it yet, the Odenwald is a hiker's paradise. I recommend the "Rother Wanderfürher" guidebook series for suggested hikes throughout the region. Even if you don't understand German, the routes are easy enough to follow. They're available in most local bookstores. And if you run into some guy hiking around with a friendly Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever... that's probably me.

Hi, Aside from the suggestions already given, I would say north of Frankfurt visit Marburg, southwest or so Rastatt, and then there's Bamberg to the east. If Marburg is too far, I suggest Butzbach, not quite as far north from Frankfurt.