Frankfurt?

Frankfurt is an excellent city to base in, plus it has its' share of budget friendly hotels. It is only during trade fairs that the hotel prices sky rocket. When would you be here? I can tell you if an event or fest is happening then. For art, there is the Städel with an excellent collection, Giersch Museum, as well as the Carmeliter Cloister with the Jörg Ratgeb wall paintings done 1513-1521, for churches, there is the Justinus church built in 850, the Alte Nikolai built in 1290, the Deutsche Orden built in 1309 and of course the Kaiserdom, where the Holy Roman Emperors were elected since 1152 and crowned since 1562. Frankfurt is also the location of the 1st Jewish Ghetto, built in 1462 and has a number of Jewish historical sites, plus 2 Jewish museums. Not to be missed is the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall. There are about 20 museums to choose from, mostly located along the river. The Klein Markt Halle is a treat, as well as the many outdoor Farmers Markets. Stop in the neighborhood of Höchst for a true gem of quaint fachwerk houses, cobblestones lanes and a Schloss. Frankfurt has been the capital at various time periods due to being a popular place for kings to reside, especially at Christmas. It was also the location of the Paulskirche, where the 1st freely elected Parliament created the Bill of Rights and much of the Constitution that were later used in 1949 after the war. Other places to visit you could visit while here would include the Saalburg in Bad Homburg as well as the Kaiser Palace there, Büdingen, a medieval walled city, Idstein, part of the Fachwerk route, Mainz with its' 1000 year old Cathedral and St.Stephens with its' Chagall windows, Kronberg with an original Staufen castle. (most of these sites aren't mentioned in the RS book, by the way)

If you're considering Frankfurt... get another guide book. The Rick Steves' Germany guide, in my opinion, is pretty weak in general, and very weak for Frankfurt and it's environs in particular. Jo can make recommendations for the area better than anybody, but I'll mention a few that she can elaborate on: Bad Homburg, Idstein, Büdingen, Hanau, Seliginstadt, Mainz, Wiesbaden. I didn't like Darmstadt the first time I visited, but the town has really started to grow on me. Almost by accident, I stumbled upon the Waldeck region of northern Hessen a few weeks ago. I could not believe how many castles, cathedrals and fachwerk towns (particularly Fritzlar) litter this region. The region barely gets any mention in most guidebooks.

Wow! This sounds exactly like what we would be wanting to see. I will pick up another guidebook too. As part of my problem of being hooked on travel, this trip is not for 2012 - it's for 2013, probably May. We have a trip elsewhere scheduled for 2012. But the minute I get one scheduled, I'm thinking of the next one. Since this will be a short stop, will 4 days in Frankfurt and the area be reasonable? We will be going on to Sweden when we leave Frankfurt.

"will 4 days in Frankfurt and the area be reasonable?" Can you see everything that Jo and I mentioned? Absolutely not. But you could easily fill those four days with only a fraction of the above recommendations.