Frankfurt to Where in a day?
 

I have to spend a week in Frankfurt for business and my husband is going to travel with me. I need to be in Frankfurt Thurs & Friday, but we have the weekend to sightsee. Then I have to be in Frankfurt again Monday and Tuesday. Does anyone have a recommendation on how we can make the most of our weekend to see the best of Germany. Also, is it a reasonable trip to Austria? Should we rent a car or travel by train? Thanks for your advice.

There are tourist day trips on buses from Frankfurt to the Rhine area during the day. You might want to take a bus tour or, alternatively, rent a car and go there on your own.

Austria is way too far to "do" in a weekend. You could go to the Titisee area in the Black Forest or to Lake Constance (Bodensee in German), but, given your time constraints, I would go north and enjoy a boat ride on the Rhine and the vineyards.

larson-

I will second the suggestion to go to the Mosel & Rhine area. Since you have the whole weekend, you can easily tour there on your own. Hop on the train to Koblenz or Cochem. Take a cruise down Mosel & Rhine, and stay overnight at one of the towns along the Rhine.

Another option would be the justly famous "Romantic Road" (research for it here in the "search" box); stay overnight in Rothenburg o d Tauber which is about a two-hour drive from downtown Frankfurt.

Having lived in that area I can offer two ideas, to be able to see the most in just a weekend I would recommend a car.
1. Explore the Rhine and Mosel River areas.
2. Spend Friday and Sat night in Wurzburg. Day trip to Rothenburg on Sat. Spend part of Sunday in Wurzburg and then drive North to Kreuzburg, where Monks brew a beer and food is served,and hang out with the locals. Also some pleasant walking trails.
You will need a detailed map to find Kreuzburg it is just a klick or two East of Wildflecken. The area is quite hilly - You used to be able look down into the valley and see the barbed wire and guard towers of East Germany. You could also watch farm workers tending their fields by hand with their backs always to the west.......they were not allowed to face the West!

A third vote for the Rhein region. Bacharach has some city walls remaining to walk, along with great wine-tasting cafes and a scenic middle-ages square.
St. Goar is not much, but a steep uphill walk leads to a large castle ruin and a great vantage point. Rudesheim is touristy, but for some, a must-see.
Mainz has a beautiful cathedral with blue Chagall windows and the Gutenberg printing museum.
Braubach has castle Markdorf(?), one of a few undisturbed castles to tour.
Not to mention Koeln(Cologne), fabulous Koeln! The cathedral is grand, and there are all sorts of museums (not likely of much interst to you, given your time constraints). ALL of these are on the Rhein.

Thank you all for pointing us in the right direction. My ideas were all over the place and this helps me get focused on what is reasonable.

Another suggestion is to hop on Germania Express (a low-cost carrier - www.gexx.de), and fly to Berlin for the weekend.