I'll be arriving in the Frankfurt airport on Saturday and leaving the following Saturday. I thought it would be best to stay around the city and take day trips, as it's a train hub. But wouldn't it be nicer to stay in Mainz or another town? But would then connections to trains be more difficult -- as I'd like to go to Marburg/Wurzburg and other areas, as well as Trier and Heidelberg and such. So should I just find a place in Frankfurt as my base?

No Mainza would be just as convenient practically as Frankfurt as the whole Frankfurt region is laced with rail lines going everywhere

Look into the bargain regional pass good for a wide area around Frankfurt on regional trains - fine for short trips like you envision.

where can i find the regional pass?

any train station either in machines or at ticket windows

good on most buses, trams, U-Bahns and all trains except for Express trains

about 30 euros/day for up to five folks i believe on the same pass.

short trips would be cheaper just paying perhaps

www.bahn.de German rail site has schedules and fares

>where can i find the regional pass?

If you mean the info on it:
www.rmv.de

Could I add my question to that of TravelerJ?

What is the area of the Rheinland- Pfalz- Ticket, Saarland Ticket as described on die Bahn?

http://www.bahn.de/p/view/internatio..._tickets.shtml

Does it refer only to the RMV.de or also the VRN.de or a whole lot more? Could I, for instance, travel on the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket from Frankfurt am Main Airport to Koblenz if I used local transportation only?

Regards, Gary

The Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket refers, of course, to the borders of the federal state of Rheinland-Pfalz, which any map of Germany will show.

Since Frankfurt is in the federal state of Hessen, the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket can be used after crossing the border, i. e. from Mainz, but from Frankfurt Airport to Mainz you'll need a normal RMV ticket.

Gary: Quokka's statement is basically accurate, but there are a few towns outside Rheinland-Pfalz and Saarburg you can travel to on the R-P ticket including Bonn, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Limburg, and Wiesbaden - but they're only the connecting towns that lie just beyond the borders.

quokka & Russ,

Thank you both for the information.

Regards, Gary