Frankfurt?

[matteoduro]

Just found out that I have to make a quick business trip to Frankfurt in a few days.

Never been.

Can anyone in the know recommend anything interesting to do/see/eat/drink/experience/experiment-with while I'm there?

Thankity thanks.

[Swedishchef]

Just found out that I have to make a quick business trip to Frankfurt in a few days.

Never been.

Can anyone in the know recommend anything interesting to do/see/eat/drink/experience/experiment-with while I'm there?

Thankity thanks.

Well there is a problem you have *Frankfurt am main* and you have *Frankfurt am oder* and there is a sertain differance :) however my guess would be Frankfurt am main.

P.S you are talking about Frankfurt in germany right (and if so i suggest you visit one of the many nice museeums at Mains southern beach) D.S

[IronAngel]

There are lots of Frankfurts in the world, which one are you talking about?

[matteoduro]

Frankfurt am Main it is. And yes, Germany.

Googled the beach area and looks cool, but **** it's cold this time of year. Friggin' Northern hemisphere!

[Draccus]

Frankfurt's an odd city, in my opinion.

My wife and I vacation in Europe every other year and we like to spend a day in our arrival city before heading to our final destination. We've spent a day in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, etc. While it was very easy to find something to do for a 6-8hr layover in all cities, we couldn't find much in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is a very, very modern city. I'm assuming it was devastated in WWII and most of the old buildings had been destroyed because we found very few old monuments and very little old European charm like we've found on the rest of the continent. Instead, we found major financial centers and wide streets full of BMWs and Porsches :)

It's a very pretty city, with the Rhien (sp?) flowing through it and very clean but not "old Europe" like we are used to seeing. To be honest, it reminded me a lot of Atlanta. It's a beautiful, vibrant, active city but if someone were to ask me what there is to do for a day, I'd be at a loss.

[jmonty]

there are plenty of things i'd suggest but they probably aren't appropriate for this forum. ;)

[Twerpp]

Good Wholesome Fun- Theres going to be a lot of X-Mas activity, crafts, the best gift shopping of your life.


Bad Boy Fun- Frankfurt Red Light District. PM for prices :D

[Elsbet]

Frankfurt's an odd city, in my opinion.

My wife and I vacation in Europe every other year and we like to spend a day in our arrival city before heading to our final destination. We've spent a day in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, etc. While it was very easy to find something to do for a 6-8hr layover in all cities, we couldn't find much in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is a very, very modern city. I'm assuming it was devastated in WWII and most of the old buildings had been destroyed because we found very few old monuments and very little old European charm like we've found on the rest of the continent. Instead, we found major financial centers and wide streets full of BMWs and Porsches :)

It's a very pretty city, with the Rhien (sp?) flowing through it and very clean but not "old Europe" like we are used to seeing. To be honest, it reminded me a lot of Atlanta. It's a beautiful, vibrant, active city but if someone were to ask me what there is to do for a day, I'd be at a loss.

Rhine.

Frankfurt was pretty well devastated in the war. You'll find much more to do in terms of modern entertainment like clubbing and whatnot than you will find the expected historical sites. What is awesome about Frankfurt is that it is convenient to darn near everything and with very little time, effort and expense, you can be outside the city and find all the historical monuments, castles, battlefields and generally nifty little towns.

this time of year though, you will find the big, open air Christmas market. They are fabulous! Get gluhwein, bratwurst on brotchen and lebkuchen. You'll be fat, drunk and happy.

[Josh]

Frankfurt's an odd city, in my opinion.

My wife and I vacation in Europe every other year and we like to spend a day in our arrival city before heading to our final destination. We've spent a day in Amsterdam, Paris, Frankfurt, etc. While it was very easy to find something to do for a 6-8hr layover in all cities, we couldn't find much in Frankfurt.

Frankfurt is a very, very modern city. I'm assuming it was devastated in WWII and most of the old buildings had been destroyed because we found very few old monuments and very little old European charm like we've found on the rest of the continent. Instead, we found major financial centers and wide streets full of BMWs and Porsches :)


It's a very pretty city, with the Rhien (sp?) flowing through it and very clean but not "old Europe" like we are used to seeing. To be honest, it reminded me a lot of Atlanta. It's a beautiful, vibrant, active city but if someone were to ask me what there is to do for a day, I'd be at a loss.


Like most German cities in WWII, it was indeed leveled to the ground. But since Frankfurt was fortunate to be in the allied occupation zone it was able to benefit from the Marshal plan. Thus, you have the city as it exists today.

[Draccus]

Rhine.

Frankfurt was pretty well devastated in the war. You'll find much more to do in terms of modern entertainment like clubbing and whatnot than you will find the expected historical sites. What is awesome about Frankfurt is that it is convenient to darn near everything and with very little time, effort and expense, you can be outside the city and find all the historical monuments, castles, battlefields and generally nifty little towns.

this time of year though, you will find the big, open air Christmas market. They are fabulous! Get gluhwein, bratwurst on brotchen and lebkuchen. You'll be fat, drunk and happy.

I hope I didn't insult anyone with my glib comments about Frankfurt in WWII. If I did, it wasn't intentional.

We loved our day in Frankfurt. We took the train from the airport to the downtown area, enjoyed a wine festival in the economic section, and had the best meal we've eaten in years of traveling to Europe.

I probably should have been more specific about what to do there. I sorta assumed the OP was looking for a "tourist attraction" type of place as that's what we typically look for in a day trip. We've toured the Ann Frank house, climbed Notre Dame, had lunch at the Eiffel Tower, etc. Frankfurt, like you said, doesn't have that kind of stuff but has plenty of other things to make up for it.

[gfunk]

Just found out that I have to make a quick business trip to Frankfurt in a few days.

Never been.

Can anyone in the know recommend anything interesting to do/see/eat/drink/experience/experiment-with while I'm there?

Thankity thanks.

It all depends on how comfortable you are at travelling in foreign countries. The Frankfurt Airport is right on the high speed rail line so its just as realistic to travel to a nearby town as it is to go to downtown Frankfurt (though I think you have to go downtown if you need a transfer to a different line.. Some of the high speed trains go directly to other cities from the airport). Frankfurt is mostly considered to be a commercial center and not really a tourist destination. Personally, I would take a train down to Heidelburg which is quite nearby (maybe a half an hour by high speed train? can't remember exactly). It's a university town, so it can be fairly up-beat. Plus, it has some fairly spectacular architecture. If thats too far, you could try nearby Mainz which is a bit more interesting then Frankfurt (imo).

If you dont have time for that, Frankfurt is worth a walk around I suppose, especially if you have never been to Germany before. The cathedral is spectacular by most North American standards (though quite typical for a European city). The old city (Aldstadt) is mostly confined to a small square, but its suitable to stop for a drink.

Whenever I am in Germany, I just go to the center of town (almost always labelled "Aldstadt" on the train stop map), look at whatever restaurant in the town center has more youngish people in it, and head inside for a drink.

Whatever you do, DO NOT eat at any American fast food joints. I have seen too many north Americans lose courage at trying something new so they head into these places for some comfort. I always think of this time I was with 9 American geologists, 1 Brit, and another Canadian on a field excursion in the South of France. We had spend many days mostly in tiny towns, however the food and drink was still excellent. Near the end of the trip we were driving though Lyon where we saw the "golden arches" beside the freeway. One of the Americans said: "finally, civilization". I could have cried. All the Americans ate at Mcdonalds that night, while I went with the others to a fantastic french patio restaurant in the old city (with a beautiful French waitress.. ahhh, France!). Similar thing happened to me in Moscow once.. All the Americans went to the "Westin" for buffet, so I wandered around and stumbled upon some fantastic random Russian restaurant (and had an amusing confrontation en route, while passing in front of the KGB headquarters.. things were dodgy until I started talikng Hocky with the guard.. then everything was okie)