I'll have a 8 hour layover (14:30-22:30) in Frankfurt (am Main) this coming Saturday, and I am wondering how best to spend my time. It's my first time in Germany south of Bonn. From my searching I've noticed that Frankfurt is known less for beer and more for Apfelwein. However, since I rarely make it to Germany I'd prefer to stick to beer if possible. I'm currently considering Bamberg or Nuremberg; Miltenberg looks interesting as well. However, it seems like it would take about 2-3 hours one-way to get to any of these places. Assuming I can make a train departing from Frankfurt Airport at 15:30 and have to be back at the airport by 20:30, how/where should I spend my time? (Though they're close, I've been to Cologne and Duesseldorf before, so this time I'd like to explore more of Hesse and/or Bavaria if possible.) Thanks!
You really don't have time to make it to Bamberg or Nuremberg and back. You would have time to go into Frankfurt and explore a few places. There are a few decent places for beer, or as you said, you could visit an Apfelwein place in Sachsenhausen.
For what it's worth, I actually really liked the Frankfurter Altstadt the one time I visited. Bear in mind, although you may know this already, that the Frankfurt Flughafen (airport) and Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station) are two different things, so you will need to take a local train from one to the other. From the Hauptbahnhof you simply walk through the bad part of town until you get to the good part of town. Hmm, I guess a guidebook may serve you better. Anyway, once you get to the old town square, pick a restaurant and do some people watching. Frankfurt is also known for their "Green Sauce" and their "Hand-Käse mit Musik", so if you're willing to deal with some conglomo-beer then it's not so bad. Afterwards you can stretch your legs...I've heard good things about the modern art museum there. As a Wild Card recommendation, I would say that Mannheim is often one stop south by the ICE (fast trains) and takes only 45 minutes or so from Frankfurt Flughafen (again, this is ICE only, other trains will take longer). Mannheim is really not much more than an average, work-a-day type city, however they do have an Andechs restaurant(<--Warning, Dirndl) there that serves all of the Kloster Andechs beers. Not much to see in Mannheim, though, and you might well need to speak German.
There is no Altstadt in FfM any more; it was utterly decimated during the war. There is a block's worth of Disney-fied old looking buildings rebuilt in the 70s called Römer, where the city hall is and all the tourist come. Frankfurt is a tourist desert, IMO. The Altstadt MJ may be referring to is in the FfM neighborhood of Sachsenhausen, which is across the Main river, and has only a few old buildings. Nothing interesting architecturally, but the Äppler (Apple wine restaurants) are good. Really, you only have 6 hours. 1 hour to de-plane and navigate the airport to get out, and at least one hour's check in time. That's not much time, really. If you go anywhere far by train, there's always a chance you'll miss you connecting flight due to (frequently) late trains. If I were you, I'd hit Sachsenhausen, see an Äppler and eat great Schnitzel, or the other stuff MJ suggested. and drink great Apfelwein. Or... just go to any restaurant in the Römer, drink whatever beer you find and eat your way to a merry few hours. See the thread about Biergartens in the German forum for instructions what to do for Äppler. Another suggestion, go to Karstadt or Galleria Kaufhof, 2 major department stores on the Zeil, the main shopping street, and buy a few bottles of Andechs or whatever other beer catches you fancy, and enjoy them... anywhere you want... it's legal to drink in public in Germany. There's some nice leafy parks around the financial center, buy a Bratwurst or whatever else looks delicious, and relax. Another suggestion: Oberursel. There is a brew pub in a nice old city center of this town/suburb outside of FfM. They have a brewpub which makes descent German styles and the the occasional non-German once or twice a year. You can find them at www.meinbier.de I don't think they give formal tours, but if you email them, they'd probably show you around if they know you're coming. It's easy to get to from downtown FfM, simply take a subway to Oberursel Altstadt station & walk 5 minutes. You can catch the U3: Frankfurt (Main) Flughafen Regionalbahnhof Gleis S-Bahn S 8 Direction Offenbach (Main) Ost leave at 09:32 Train every 15-Minutes. Arrive 09:47 an Frankfurt (Main) Hauptwache -change to Gleis 2 (Track 2) Leave at 10:04 U-Bahn U3 Direction Oberursel (Taunus)-Hohemark Train every 15-Minutes. Arrive at 10:34 Oberursel (Taunus) Altstadt Mannheim is a boring, boring city and I wouldn't risk missing my flight for this. But...
Yep, that's where I was talking about. The art museum I was talking about is the Schirn Kunsthalle. I've never been, but it has a good reputation. I just needed an excuse to revisit that website...
I visited Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus back in 2006. Nice place. Worth a train ride. Another "brew pub" that is worth a visit after a short S-Bahn ride is: Bad Homburger Brauhaus Graf Zeppelin (Hofgut Kronenhof) Or try Bier Hannes Brauerei Zur Mainkur GmbH with a U-Bahn and Tram ride from the Hauptbahnhof. I visited last December and enjoyed the food and beers (that reminds me that I should write a review). Cheers
I've meant to go to Hofgut Kronenhof, maybe in the next few weeks, so then I'll give my review. Jimbo, you only gave the BA page, but to know what the place really looks like, go to their homepage. You'll notice zero English words on that site, so I'm guessing it's not as English friendly as the Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus, even though their website also is German only. I say that because so many Asian and other non-German companies have offices or manufacturing plants that every time you go there, you hear lots of English spoken by the customers, and hence the staff. Bier Hannes has decent beer, but what I don't like about the place is that it's "biergarten" is concrete parking lot with a tent over it. Just one tree, nothing at all interesting, and usually empty whenever we drive by on weekends. It just feels cold and soulless. Here is their actual website.
My German language skills are not great, and I managed at both places. Did that Hofgut Kronenhof change owners or management since 2006? The name seems different than I remember, and I remember the name having "Zeppelin" in it. The cool thing about that place is that it is on a farm, and they grow some of their own barley and hops, I think, for their beers. Yeah, it took me years of attempts before I finally managed to visit this place. Often I was in Frankfurt on a Sunday, and this place was either closed or closed early. One time I made it there, and entered, only to be told they were closing in 5-10 minutes. It is an OK place, but definitely more of a locals' watering hole. They were impressed when I told them I was from the US, and they even gave me a souvenir glass to keep.
UncleJimbo, mjtierney2, boddhitree -- thank you very much for your recommendations. You're quite right that I would have very little time to make a dash to Bamberg or anywhere else more than an hour's distance. And given that this is my first time in FfM I might as well see the city for myself so I can spend more time elsewhere the next time I'm passing through ;-) My German is quite limited (3 months in university many years ago) but I speak Beer, so I should be able to get by at either Hofgut Kronenhof or Alt-Oberurseler Brauhaus. I'd like to do a bit of sightseeing as well, so Oberursel sounds perfect. If I'm still not satisfied I'll pop into an Äppler on my way back to the airport. Living in Tokyo I'm perfectly fine with public transport, and I'll be traveling light, so it should be a doddle. I assume I'd be able to purchase some Oberurseler at their brewpub, but in terms of a half-decent bottle shop that's relatively convenient, am I limited to one of the department stores boddhitree mentioned, or is there somewhere else worth a visit?
You might try the EINS-A Markt in Oberursel http://www.eins-a.de/index_getraenke_maerkte.html There is also a Trinkgut in Oberursel, you might check those out but don't expect too much. If you haven't had them, look for fresh Rothaus, Duckstein or Augustiner.
Dr. Flotte is interesting and while not technically an Altstadt, Sachenhausen has a few good joints for beers and food including one place to get some Andechs.
- Do not waste too much time on trains - If you like German cider and beer, Dauth-Schneider (am Affentorplatz) in Sachsenhausen (the amusement district) is the right place. The have good food (Frankfurt style), cider, Weihenstephan hefe and Krug Lager (dark, from Franconia). When the sun is shining you can sit outside. - The selection at Trinkgut (a big chain selling drinks) got worse after takeover by edeka. Special beers are rare now at Trinkgut. They still have Schlenkerla.
