Between Freiburg and Frankfurt

Yes,
Jo is great! She has helped me before and I will look back at some of her replies she has posted for other people.

There is no need to stay next to the airport unless you like to spend money that you could instead use for a nice dinner or some last minute souvenirs. The S-bahn from Frankfurt to the airport only takes between 11-15 minutes, depending on which station you are using to get on the train. Cost is 3.80 p.p. or a group ticket for up to 5 people for 14.30. Trains run about every 15-20 min. and start at 04:15 I believe.

If you are flying back to the US, you should plan on being at the airport by 08:30 if your flight is at 11:30.

Do consider spending a bit of time in Frankfurt sightseeing, this is a very old, historic city.

Thanks, Jo! I was hoping you would join in! Yes, because of recent posts you have made on the wall, I definitely want to see more of Frankfurt. I would like to know which area of the city would be the most convenient to stay in to see 3 or 4 things and still be convenient to the train. I am leaning towards the Bornheim and Sachsenhausen neighborhoods and would like to visit the Romerberg and the museum that houses Medieval artifacts. Can you suggest a hotel or guesthouse?

I have just recently found this wonderful looking Hotel Schmaerrnche in Bornheim, but haven't visited it yet. They have good reviews both for the hotel and the restaurant itself. Unfortunately, the hotel website is in German, so you might have to go with one of the booking services. I checked and the prices are the same, so you don't lose out anything.
http://www.gourmetguide.com/hotel_und_restaurant_schmaerrnche

http://www.hotel.info/en.hotels/Frankfurt_33561/Hotel_und_Restaurant_Schmarrnche_233182/hotel.aspx

I love Bornheim (yeah, ok, I live here) but Sachsenhausen or Westend can be lovely too.

I think how early you need to get to FRA depends a lot on what airline you are flying. On one trip, I flew out of FRA on a "non-Alliance" U.S. carrier, from Terminal 2. This airline had only one flight per day to the U.S. and didn't want to hire a lot of check-in employees for a short time per day. I got to the check-in desk three hours ahead. There was a long line already there and only two clerks for a 747. I was still in line an hour later, and almost no one had gotten in line after me. I could have come 2 hours ahead and hardly changed my situation. I stood in line for almost two hours, then in a passport control line, then security, but still made it to my gate with 20-30 minutes to wait.

Since then I have only flown Lufthansa. They have lots of flights per day to the U.S. and other non-European destinations, so they have plenty of check-in desks. I might get to the airport 2 hours ahead and still have plenty of time. Once, for an early afternoon departure, I came in on an ICE from a night in the No. Black Forest and had plenty of time.

Two times, with a morning flight out of FRA, I have stayed in Mainz, across the plaza from the Hbf. It's a few minutes longer by S-Bahn, but I believe you can get a better hotel for the price there.

Thanks for your help, Jo and Lee! I did look up the Hotel Schmarrnche and it does look cute, do you think that it is close enough to the Bornheim area and would it be easy to get to FRA airport from there via public transportation?
Lee, we will be flying on USAirways, and I am worried now that we will have the same situation that you experienced...I hope not! Yikes!! One more question, please...if I could add one more small town for one night's stay between Freiburg and Frankfurt, which one would you suggest (maybe just for walking around an open-air market or visiting a winery) Thanks again!

If you would give us your dates, we can look up the whatever kind of open markets or fests will be on. Bornheim has its own open market every Wed. and Sat.

Getting to Bornheim is fairly easy. I need to look up the location of the hotel in the morning, too tired now. I think that hotel is absolutely charming.

For another small town, you might like Bad Homburg, just a bit north of Frankfurt, or Marburg, a beautiful old university town. Or Büdingen, with a lovely old castle, medieval city walls and lots of half-timbered houses.

http://www.bad-homburg.de/sc/Tourism_Leisure/1616034.asp

http://marburg.de/detail/24695

http://www.buedingen-touristik.de/en/travel-guides/castle-buedingen

I'll look those up now, it's late there...go to sleep! Sorry to keep you up :)

Jo, I looked up those 3 towns and I think I am most interested in Budingen because of the medieval emphasis. Thanks for the suggestions and I will do more research!

Oh, I think you will like Büdingen. They hold a pretty Christmas market there in the dry moat each year, with real lanterns, candles, etc. Lots of beautiful old houses there. Watch the little film, tho in German, it gives you a good idea what the town looks like.

Ok, I looked up the hotel on the map provided by Trip Advisor and of course that turned out to be a google map from www.hrs.com my favorite hotel search engine. Anyway, I think the easiest way is to take the S-bahn from the airport, get off at either the main train station or the Konstablerwache and switch to the U-4, going in the direction of Sechbach and Enkheim. The map says to get off the U-4 at Sechbach, but I think I would get off at Bornheim Mitte and walk up the Berger Strasse. This is such a lively street, filled with cafes and restaurants and walking up this street will give you some good ideas about where to go eat. The U-4 takes about 10 min. from the main train station to Bornheim Mitte. Total travel time from airport to Bornheim - 21 min. or so. The U-4 runs about every 5 min. It will also take you to the Alt Stadt area - Römer and the medieval churches in Frankfurt.

Thanks, Jo. This information is wonderful, I appreciate you taking the time to research it for me. I think we will plan on doing this!