Frankfurt

I'll let Jo chime in on economical places to spend a week in Frankfurt, but the first thing I would suggest is spending some time on the middle Rhein. The boats won't be running a regular schedule, and some attractions will be closed, but there are still some thing of interest to see there. The Marksburg, in Braubach, the oldest undestroyed castle on the Rhein, should be operating.

At Hanau (Willemsbad sp) just outside Frankfurt they are restoring the oldest operating carousel in the world, dates to 1700's . Supposedly the esate was built partly from money earned by renting soldiers (Hessians) to fight in the American Revolution. A very interesting "park' with buildings (some open) dating back to 1700's. The carousel is a fantastic engineering feat, but unfortunately I dont think it is operational yet. Jo may know more about the status.

The 22nd is the last day for the Christmas Market in Frankfurt, so make plans to visit that. I do hope you have dinner plans for the 24th, because in Germany, everything shuts down about 14:00 or so. Dinner will only be available at nice hotels, but you will probably need a reservation. Stores will be closed on the 25th and 26th, but many of the museums will be open. Suggestions would be to go up and down the Rhein as Lee suggested, using the trains. If you get a Länder ticket for Rhineland Pfalz, you can get on and off the trains as much as you like, exploring the little villages and towns. Mainz is really worth a day, the Dom is 1000 years old and fabulous. A visit to St. Stephens to experience the Chagall windows is top on my list. Go to the Isis temple ruins in the Römer Passage, the Ancient Ship building museum, and the Gutenburg museum. Büdingen is my new favorite place to visit. Original city walls, 8 sided palace and hundreds of half-timbered houses. Ought to give Rothenburg a run for its money and no tourist stores or buses! If Rick would visit here, he would love it. Idstein is another gem, beautiful little Alt Town and go to the Union church to see its painted ceiling down in the 1600's. Kronberg is a nice little town too, just 20 min. outside of Frankfurt with the S-bahn up in the Taunus Mtn. Original castle built in the 1200's (not open in the winter tho) and St. Johannes Church with a wooden, painted barrel ceiling. Gorgeous. Go to Bad Homburg and the Saalburg, a reconstructed Roman fort. Only one in the world. You are also close enough to go to Würzburg or Heidelberg. For hotel suggestions, what is your budget and is this just 2 peopel or a family? I know some really lovely B&B places, as well as the full amenity places, like the Hilton, or Westin. They may very well have some good offers for this time period.

A word of caution about the Rheinland-Pfalz ticket. It is valid for travel in the state of Rheinland-Pfalz, which starts in Mainz and goes down the Rhein to about Bonn (Bonn is technically outside Rheinland-Pfalz, but considered a border station). It is not valid for travel between Frankfurt Hbf and Mainz. For that you will need Frankfurt metro (RMV) tickets (€7,15 per person, each way). However, for €23,60, you can get an RMV Gruppentageskarte, a day ticket good for up to 5 people for unlimited travel between Frankfurt and Mainz as well as unlimited travel in both downtown areas.

We just visited Frankfurt and stayed at Frankfurt Hostel (http://www.frankfurt-hostel.com/en/) which turned out to be the cheapest place we stayed at our entire trip. It looks like they do have private rooms available as well, if you prefer that over sharing a room. One of the things we most enjoyed about the hostel was the breakfast buffet combined with jazz music as well watching the town wake-up from the balcony. It's right next to the bahnhof as well so very nice if you're doing day trips from there.

Of all the great places you could stay in Frankfurt, the Frankfurt Hostel is not one I would really recommend. If you want hostel prices, try the Jugendherberge. It is located along the river on the Sachsenhausen side and has a much better ambiance than the Frankfurt Hostel does. Just a quick walk across the bridge and you are in right where most of the major sites are. Walk down the river 5 min. and you run into the Museum Mile. If you will give us a budget, we could give you better suggestions. If you want to keep the price low, then try Hotel Monopol or Excelsior Hotel.

If you want to see some charming towns that, with the exception of Heidelberg, are almost completely off the radar of most American tourists, check out the Kreis Bergstraße (literally, "Mountain Road District"). The Bergstraße is an old wine trading route that runs along the western edge of the Odenwald mountains. Many of the town centers look exactly like the postcard fairy tale image of Germany, and castles overlook most of them. Some of the towns worth a look include Darmstadt, Zwingenberg, Bensheim, Lorsch, Heppenheim, Weinheim, Schriesheim, and of course, Heidelberg. Lorsch also has a well-preserved abbey from the Carolingian period. There will probably be Christmas markets ("Weinnachtmarkt") during your visit. The entire region is easy to reach from Frankfurt, either by car or train.

Those are great towns that Tom suggests. I think the "Mountain Road" is one of several different routes that go through Germany that might be better than that old stand-by, the Romantic Road. There is the "Fachwerk Road", the "Applewine Route", the "Castle Road", the "Fairy Tale" Route, and I am sure there are more. Has anyone got some more? These routes are not so well known to the guidebooks or at least to English speaking guidebooks and will take you to some wonderful villages and towns, perhaps away from the buses and the plethora of tourist shops that plague towns like Rothenburg. Letting you have an enjoyable visit all day long without having to wait until evening and the tourist buses to leave.

There's also the Deutsche Weinstraße (a little harder to reach from Frankfurt), which goes through some stunning country in the Reinland-Pfaltz. I think there's also a Literary Road somewhere, but other than Leipzig, I'm not sure where it runs. And for me, the scenery on the Alpenstraße is some of the best in Germany. I really wonder how the Romantic Road became so well known in the US while all the others wallow in relative obscurity? As I've said before, while the scenery on the Romantic Road is nice, it's just that other than the tourist infrastructure, it isn't any different from about a dozen other routes in that part of Bavaria.