Germany · Hesse
Plan your Frankfurt trip
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01Your itinerary
02Where to stay
Altstadt & Innenstadt
Best for first-timers who want everything on footThe historic core and the streets immediately around it — maximum walkability to the Römerberg, the museums and the main shopping streets, at the cost of higher rates and heavier foot traffic.
A central hotel a short walk from the Römerberg
Look for something tucked just off the main square rather than directly on it, to trade a small amount of walking distance for quieter nights.
€€€A serviced apartment near the Hauptwache
The Hauptwache transit hub puts the museum embankment, the old town and the shopping streets all within an easy walk.
€€Sachsenhausen
Best for evenings out and a slightly lower price pointSouth of the river, walkable to the centre via the Eiserner Steg footbridge, with the apple-wine tavern scene on your doorstep and generally calmer, more residential streets the further you go from the water.
A guesthouse in the tavern quarter
Staying inside Sachsenhausen means an evening of apple wine ends with a short walk rather than a taxi across the river.
€€Westend
Best for a calmer, leafier baseAn elegant residential district of restored 19th-century villas just north of the Bankenviertel, home to the university's main campus and the Palmengarten — quieter and greener than downtown, still an easy walk or short tram ride in.
A boutique hotel in a converted Westend villa
The area's period architecture largely survived the war, giving a genuinely different visual register from the reconstructed old town or the glass towers.
€€€Near the Hauptbahnhof
Best for budget stays and day-trippingFrankfurt's main train station area — well connected for day trips and the airport S-Bahn, more budget-oriented, but grittier after dark than the other three areas listed here.
A budget chain hotel near the station
Fine for a short stay built around trains and the airport link; less pleasant to simply wander at night than Sachsenhausen or the Altstadt.
€Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.
03Tickets & tours
Römerberg & the Altstadt
The reconstructed medieval heart of the city — half-timbered facades rebuilt from historical photographs between 2012 and 2018, centred on the…
Tip Come in the early morning or after the tour groups clear out in early evening; midday is when the square is at its most crowded and least atmospheric.
Städel Museum
One of Germany's best art museums, spanning seven centuries from early Dutch and German masters through to Beckmann and contemporary work, housed…
Tip The permanent collection ticket is a genuine bargain by European museum standards — budget at least two hours if you care about the older Northern European rooms.
Kaiserdom (Frankfurt Cathedral)
The Gothic cathedral where Holy Roman Emperors were once crowned, one of the few Altstadt buildings that survived the 1944 bombing with its structure…
Tip Climb the tower for one of the better skyline views in the city — the office towers framed directly behind the Gothic spire is the classic Frankfurt contrast shot.
Sachsenhausen apple-wine taverns
The cobbled district south of the Main built around Apfelwein culture — traditional taverns serving the cloudy local cider from stoneware Bembel…
Tip Go with an appetite and no fixed plan; the taverns reward wandering more than a pre-picked restaurant name.
Maintower observation deck
A 200-metre office tower with a public open-air viewing platform, the best accessible vantage point over both the skyline and the old town below it.
Tip Go around an hour before sunset — the deck stays open into the evening and the light on the towers is best in the last hour of daylight.
Kleinmarkthalle
A covered food market a few minutes from the Römerberg, three floors of butchers, cheesemongers, spice stalls and small lunch counters that locals…
Tip Head to the upper gallery for the best cheap lunch counters, and try the market's own version of Handkäs mit Musik, a pungent local cheese dish.
Palmengarten
A large botanical garden and historic glasshouse complex west of the centre, with themed greenhouses ranging from tropical rainforest to arid desert,…
Tip Combine it with the adjacent Grüneburgpark for a full green half-day away from the downtown density.
Goethe House
The reconstructed birthplace and childhood home of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, furnished to recreate the 18th-century patrician household he grew up…
Tip The room-by-room audio guide is worth the extra time if you have any interest in Goethe beyond the name — the house itself tells a specific story about 18th-century…
Day trips from Frankfurt
Rüdesheim & the Rhine Gorge
An hour by train into the UNESCO-listed Rhine Gorge, with terraced vineyards, hilltop castles and the wine village of Rüdesheim as a base for a…
Day tripHeidelberg
About an hour south, one of the few major German cities to escape wartime bombing largely untouched — a genuinely old university town with a ruined…
Day tripMainz
A short S-Bahn ride away, with a Romanesque cathedral over a thousand years old and the Gutenberg Museum, tracing the city's role as the birthplace…
Day tripWiesbaden
A spa town across the river from Mainz, all 19th-century grandeur, thermal baths and a casino, and an easy half-day contrast to Frankfurt's modern…
Day tripBrowse tickets, tours and activities
Skip-the-line tickets, guided tours and day trips, all in one place on Booking.com.
04Getting there & around
Getting around
Frankfurt is compact enough that the centre — Altstadt, the museum embankment, the shopping streets around the Hauptwache, and Sachsenhausen across the river — is entirely walkable, and most first-time visitors will do most of their sightseeing on foot without needing transit at all.
Flights
Compare fares into Frankfurt and pick dates that suit the days you planned.
Airport transfers
Book a private or shared ride from the airport so the first evening starts at your door, not at a ticket queue.
Car hire
Only worth it for day trips beyond the city — in town, the plan above works on foot and public transport.
Affiliate notePostcardRoute is reader-supported. Some links to Booking.com (stays, flights, car hire, tickets and tours, airport transfers) are affiliate links, tracked through CJ Affiliate: if you book through them we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend places we would send a friend.