Visiting Frankfurt itself was a bit of an afterthought on this trip, and once we started researching options it didn’t endear us much. One such issue was figuring out the best transportation options from the airport into Frankfurt. The public transport zone map is ridiculously complicated and the downloadable PDF with the rate info is only available in German. Eventually, we figured that a day pass that included the airport zone of 5090 – purchased from a kiosk AT the airport – would be our best bet. So, we dropped our bags off at the hotel, returned the rental car to the airport and headed straight into the city via the S-bahn to explore.
Our first stop was the Frankfurt Cathedral. As this was the 50th? church we’d seen in three weeks, it wasn’t terribly memorable but I did think the organ was unique and the red brick was beautiful.
We walked by the Neuer Börneplatz Memorial Site with 11,908 blocks inscribed with names of Jewish Holocaust victims, including Anne Frank. The list of names wraps around an entire city block, bordering the Old Jewish Cemetery. Quite moving.
From here we took the tram south a few stops across the river to try traditional Apfelwein. There are several taverns that serve it within a short distance of each other near Affentorplatz, and after looking at a few food menus we landed on Gaststätte Atschel. We opted for the 0,33L size each as we weren’t sure what to expect! The drink is like a mix of cider and wine in terms of taste, about 7% ABV with good acidity and dryness that complimented our food nicely. Eric got the pumpkin cream soup (very good, with toasted pumpkin seeds too) and I ordered the Frankfurter platter (sauerkraut was excellent). Service was friendly and not at all rushed between 2-3pm (although we did notice a lot of reserved signs on the tables). Nice visit!
From here we explored the Evangelical Church and then walked across the Iron Bridge (pedestrian) for some nice views across the Main River.
Next we walked through the Römerberg market square, past St. Paul’s Church and the Altes Rathaus.
At this point Eric wanted a pretzel, so we grabbed a table at Paulaner on Dom for a pretzel each and beers. I got the Dunkel and Eric ordered the Oktoberfest. We stuck with 0,33L pours here too.
We took the train back to the airport to grab some snacks for later as we didn’t feel like heading back into the city, then relaxed at the Hyatt Place Frankfurt Airport hotel bar with a glass of wine thanks to our free drink coupons. I got the Markgraf von Baden Bodensee Spätburgunder (fruity and nice) and Eric got the Markus Molitor Blauschiefer Riesling Feinherb.
Overall we didn’t find Frankfurt to be that interesting or unique, and we were glad we only budgeted an afternoon to explore.