Germany--enroute to the airport

If this is just a convenient place to stay outside of Frankfurt, I would suggest Mainz. It is on the other side of the airport from Frankfurt with good (less than 1/2 hr) S-bahn access to the airport. There are several good, reasonably priced hotels (Hammer, Schottenhof, Königshof) within walking distance of the Mainz train station. Of them I would recommend Königshof, www.hotel-koenigshof-mainz.de.

If you don't mind staying a little farther out, consider Bacharach or St. Goar. There is more to see and do there, and, if you go by regional train, you can leave Bacharch at 7:30 and be in the Regionalbahnhof (underground, across the street from FRA term 1) before 9:00

Würzburg is less than 1.5 hours from the airport by ICE. It has enough sights to make a pleasant few days: the Residenz and Marienberg Festung with two good museums. It is also in the middle of decent wine region.

http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en

From: Wuerzburg
To: FRA Airport

Mainz is indeed a good choice and only 20 min. or so to FRA. But if you've got a couple of days and don't have to be at FRA until 9:30, I'd stay north of there on the Rhine and check out the castles and villages there instead. Koblenz is a good spot. From there, it's only about 1 hour to FRA by train, maybe 15 minutes to Marksburg castle ( www.marksburg.de )in Braubach or to Boppard on the west bank of the River, 30 minutes to the adorable, cobblestoned village of Linz, or to Moselkern on the Mosel River, where the hike to Burg Eltz ( www.burg-eltz.de ) begins (see Rick's description.)

I see now that you plan to spend 3 night in Germany before you fly out. In that case I would definitely recommend the middle Rhein. Probably base in Bacharach or St. Goar for access to the airport, but there is plenty to see (Bacharach, Rheinfel castle ruin in St. Goar, the Marksburg in Braubach, Deutsches Eck in Koblenz). If you have time, you can go up the Mosel to Cochem. All this travel can be done for €26 all day for up to five of you with a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket (www.der-takt.de) or with a VRM (Verkehrsverbund-Rhein-Mosel) Minigruppekarte for €20. The RLP-Ticket covers a larger area, including Bacharach and Trauben-Trarbach (Mosel), which are not included in the VRM Ticket. The VRM ticket works better if you are based in St. Goar.

I, too, would vote for Wurzburg. It is about an hour by train from the airport and has lots of things to see and do. Definitely check out the Residenz and the Festung Marienberg. The Kapelle on the hill is also nice, and there are some interesting churches near the market square.

The Hotel Regina is convenient to the bahnhof and fairly inexpensive. My brother in law stayed there a couple of years ago, and his room was small but adequate.

You might enjoy a stay here too - the view from the Rheinblick apartment is terrific, the apartments well-kept, and host Mr. Huppertz very friendly with a good command of English. It's only a short walk to the station. We spent 3 nights there a couple of years ago and it was perfect.

www.loreley-apartments.de/

Wurzburg!! Lots to do and see and you can go to Rothenburg as a day trip. Train from there to airport in Frankfurt is a piece of cake. Used to live in W'burg -- let me know if you need specifics.