(Updated January 2020)
This is a special category on my blog which is designated to transform a – maybe forced – stay like a layover into a short extra-vacation. But you’ll see – my stopgap solution is so attractive and fun that you will postpone your connecting flight just to enjoy this extra treat.
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| This might give you an idea of why Germany’s finance metropolis Frankfurt on the Main is also called “Mainhattan”. Photo: visitfrankfurt ©Holger Ullmann |
Frankfurt has 730,000 inhabitants and is Germany’s fifth-largest city. The financial center is located in the federal country of Hesse, and its Airport is Germany’s aviation hub. Many parks and the long promenades along the river Main as well as a large number of fantastic museums and galleries make it a pleasant destination to be explored on a day trip or for a couple of hours during a layover.
? Local Currency:
Euro (EUR) / 1 EUR = 1.11 US$ (January 2020) / current rate
? Emergency Hotline:
Police 110
Fire Department 112
? National Airline:
? Airport:
Frankfurt Airport / IATA-Code: FRA
? Tourist Info online and onsite:
Frankfurt Tourismus
Bahnhofshalle / Station Concourse
60329 Frankfurt am Main
Telephone + 49 – 69 – 21 23 88 00
? Getting Downtown and Back
The easiest and fastest way to get from the airport to the main station is the ‘S-Bahn’, a local train, that takes you there for less than 5 € in less than 15 minutes.
If you have luggage, you can store it at the lockers at the main station.
? Morning Activities
The train station is just minutes away from the river Main, so strolling downtown along the water is a pleasant start of your sunny day. If you walk on the South bank, you get a good glance at Frankfurt’s onetime wealth and bourgeoisie’s villas: Museum Giersch, Liebighaus, the palace that hosts the Städel Museum.
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| Cherish sun and fun on the banks of river Main. Photo: visitfrankfurt, ©Holger Ullmann |
Walk along what’s called the ‘Museumsufer’, the museum bank, since in fact there are around a dozen of museums like beaded one next to the other. Cross the Main at the ‘Eiserner Steg’, the iron footbridge, firstly constructed in 1868. Today’s bridge is from 1946, reconstructed after WWII.
From the bridge keep walking straight and you reach the heart – and the belly – of Frankfurt, the ‘Römer’ square. The townhall ‘Römer’ dates back to the 15th century and is, together with the other historical buildings, stemming from many different art epochs, Frankfurt’s most picturesque, yet most touristy, spot.
To learn more about Frankfurt’s history, just walk back towards the Main and on the left-hand side you’ll find the “Historisches Museum”, the history museum.
⛈ Morning Activities
It’s raining? Good for you, since Frankfurt has an incredibly high number of first-rate museums. In one day, you can only see the most important ones, but actually you could spend days just walking from exhibition to exhibition. If you intend to visit the four suggested museums (or more), the Museumsufer Ticket, the museum embankment ticket, is perfect for you: For € 18 you have free entrance to 34 museums on two consecutive days! Another great option is the Frankfurt Card since here public transport is included. You get it for € 10,50, but you still have to pay mostly 50% of the museums’ entrance fee.
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| The Städel Museum collection’s home since 1878. Photo: Städel Museum |
The first venue to visit is the Städel Museum. If the weather is not too bad, you can walk the distance of less than a mile from the main station. This way you get a glance at the river Main and the lovely park on the banks. If it’s raining too hard, take the bus No. 46 towards Mühlberg and get off at the Städel.
The Städel hosts a superb collection from every epoch since the Gothic to contemporary in the basement (don’t miss it!) and organizes interesting special exhibits.
Städel Museum
Schaumainkai 63
60596 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49 – 69 – 60 50 98-232
besucherdienst@staedelmuseum.de (visitors’ service)
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| Come and join these young visitors! Photo: Anja Jahn |
Now you can walk about 600 meters / less than half a mile to the ‘Museum Angewandte Kunst’, the museum of applied arts. If it’s raining too hard, hop on the bus No. 46 again – it takes you there in one (!) minute. This museum complex consisting of an architecturally interesting modern building and the historic villa Metzler (permanent collection of furniture and artefacts) hosts a variety of unusual exhibitions often dealing with controversial topics. Highly recommendable!
Museum Angewandte Kunst
Schaumainkai 17
60594 Frankfurt
Phone: +49 – 69 – 21 23 12 86
Both museums are – like most museums in Europe – closed on Monday!
It’s quite complicated to get from the museum to the Römerberg by public transport. I recommend to just cross the bridge over the river Main – it’s about 5 minutes.
? Lunch
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| Frankfurt’s modest yet yummy local dish. Photo: visitfrankfurt, ©Holger Ullmann |
When travelling, I love to sample local food, even if I find it rather…special than tasty. Good for you, the most famous of Frankfurt’s traditional dishes are not very exotic, but really yummy: Frankfurter ‘Grie Soß’ – Grüne Soße resp. green sauce, a fine composition of seven herbs. One of the classics is to eat it with boiled eggs and potatoes.
A restaurant serving local delicacies is the “Schwarzer Stern” located at the ‘Römer’ square, which is good since you have to see this town’s landmark, anyway.
Schwarzer Stern
Römerberg 6
60311 Frankfurt
Phone: +49 – 69 – 29 19 79
Reservierung@schwarzerstern.de
The restaurant is open daily from 11.30 a.m. till midnight.
? Afternoon Activities
Now that you’ve eaten, let’s walk again. Go back to the river Main, but stay on the North bank and walk about ten minutes till you reach the ‘Äquatorialsonnenuhr’, the equatorial sundial, that at its inauguration in 1951 was the largest of its kind in the world.
After checking the time 😉 you leave the bank and walk one of the streets across the road “Schöne Aussicht” up North (check the map below) till you get to the “Museum Judengasse”. Putting together this itinerary for a sunny day, I tried to avoid museums. But getting informed on Frankfurt’s vast Jewish history should be crucial, so pay this museum, that shows the excavations of the early Jewish quarter and the cemetery and is a memorial for the deported Jews, a visit.
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| Chinese Garden at the Bethmannpark. Photo: visitfrankfurt, ©Holger Ullmann |
Back to outdoor activities – walk up North till you reach the Bethmannpark. At this park named after the wealthy Bethmann-family, in 1989 the Chinese Garden and the Square of the Heavenly Peace was installed.
The last stop of this afternoon walk is the historical fortification with the casemates. If you are really into history, you should definitely visit the “Historisches Museum”, the very complete history museum which is located just around the corner from the ‘Römer’ where you had lunch, so that you can adjust this itinerary thusly.
⛈ Afternoon Activities
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| The glass rotunda at the Schirn. © Norbert Miguletz |
The next venue is located just a few steps from the restaurant ‘Schwarzer Stern’. It’s the Schirn Art Gallery that has no permanent collection but organizes outstanding exhibitions from the Classic Modern to contemporary art.
Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt
Römerberg
60311 Frankfurt
Phone: +49 – 69 – 29 98 82-112
welcome@ SCHIRN. de
The next museum – the Museum of Modern Art (MMK) – is also less than five minutes away, and therefore it’s not possible to get there by public transport. The MMK actually consists of tree venues – the MMK1 at the Domstraße, the MMK3 across the street, and the MMK2 – which actually is my favorite, but to get there is quite a walk since it’s located way up high in the ‘Taunus Tower’ (see the ‘Nightcap’-picture below).
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| Welcome to world’s ugliest art hosting building! Photo: Axel Schneider |
So let’s focus on the MMK1. The outside of the building looks like a dull ministry from the 1970s and nobody would expect something appealing inside. But don’t judge a building by its facade – their permanent collection is good and their special exhibits even awesome!
MMK Museum für Moderne Kunst
Domstraße 10
60311 Frankfurt am Main
Phone: +49 – 69 – 21 23 04 47
mmk@stadt-frankfurt.de
? Dinner
? Nightcap
After dinner, you can stroll across the commercial center along with all sorts of stores and specialty shops towards the financial center. There, you go up the Main Tower to the 53rd floor, where the Restaurant and Lounge are located, to enjoy a (costly) drink while overlooking the whole city and its outskirts.
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Frankfurt at dusk.
The Taunus Tower to the
left hosts the museum for contemporary art MMK2. Good option for rainy days!
©Thomas Schröder |
The Lounge is open Tuesday to Thursday from 9 p.m. to midnight, Friday and Saturday from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. and closed on Sunday and Monday.
? Accomodation
Five Elements Hostel
Moselstr. 40
60329 Frankfurt / Main
Phone: + 49 – 69 – 24 00 58 85
welcome@5elementshostel.de
Need assistance planning this or other trips? Check my service pages
PLANNING AND ORGANIZING A TRIP TO PERFECTION
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