One thing to mention is jet lag on your first day. I don't know where you are coming from in North America, but depending on your departure airport and your routing, the trip over could take quite awhile. So if you sleep well on planes, then no problem. But if you don't, by the time you get to Munich, you may have been awake for a long time.

Taking the train to Garmish rather than driving is a good idea in that situation - if you are particularly jet lagged, then no problem. I wouldn't plan anything overly ambitious once you get to Garmish.

My first day in Europe - or for any overseas trip - I like to get in some good walking, have some good food and drink, do some low key sightseeing, and then turn in early. Then the next day, I am well-rested and adjusted to local time.

Though Frankfurt has skyscrapers as well as tons of banks, it also has a long, rich past on the historic stage of Germany. This was a free, Imperial city, where the Electors voted for the new Emperor, and also where those Emperors were crowned. Frankfurt has been a large and popular trade fair city since the 1100's, with 26 major routes crossing Europe coming through here. Frankfurt was the location for the 1st freely elected parliament in Germany, and it almost became the capital after the war. The Jewish history in Frankfurt is just as rich, and the Ghetto that was built here in the 1400's became the German center of Jewish culture for several hundred years.

We have beautiful medieval churches, as well as a Carolingen church that was built in 850. The city is loaded with museums, as well as dozens of parks, lovely old neighborhoods, local farmers markets, theater, concerts and in the spring and summmer, more fests than you can shake a stick at.

First appearances can be decieving. Though many think the city is huge, it isn't. One can easily walk around the city center, and with a population under 700,000, it still has a bit of the small town feel to it sometimes, especially in the neighborhoods, like Bornheim or Westend or Sachsenhausen or Bergen Enkheim, or Höchst.

Do we have a lot of banks and guys in suits? Yes, but we also have alot of foreigners (higher percent than any other city in Germany), starting new small businesses, and adding a wonderful liveliness to the city.

As to places you should visit here, I will be happy to make some suggestions if you give me a bit more of a hint of what interests you besides Goethe and Schopenhauer. By the way, the cemetery is beautiful. I could wander around there for hours, but I also like the cemetery where the parents of Goethe are buried.

Hi, you were wondering how to find the Schopenhauer archive. You would have seen this link already, I assume:

http://www.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/archi...nhauer_en.html

This second link (in German) provides a location:

http://www.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/archive/so.html

The archive centre is in the main building of the university library on the ground floor.

Directions from Frankfurt main railway station:
or airport:
From the Hauptbahnhof directly by U-Bahn (metro) U 4 or S-Bahn (tram) 16 until stop »Bockenheimer Warte«.

Any S-Bahn in the direction of the city centre to »Hauptwache«, from there with the U-Bahn U 6 or U 7 until »Bockenheimer Warte«.

Map: http://www.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/so_alle.html (look for UB, which is the main university library).

Buses:

Bus 36 + 50 + 75 to »Bockenheimer Warte«, Bus 32 to »Bockenheimer Landstraße«


Normally with archives it is good manners to contact them first to ask if you can visit and if there are any special requirements (for instance, if you are planning to take notes, some archives have a 'pencil only' rule, others may provide gloves for you to handle documents and books, etc.). Depending on the archive, if it's a busy one you may have to make an appointment. The people to contact are on the right hand side of the screen on the first link I provided.

Lavandula

I wish I had more time in Nuremberg as one day is clearly not enough>

Tis true IMO

Especially for anyone with a curiosity in Third Reich remains - the largest intact collection of Third Reich structures (so says a sign there) is a few miles south of Nurnberg town center - the Parade Grounds with stadiums, including the one that Hitler often stood on a podium to review thousands of goose-stepping troops - the miles of stone block parade grounds remain as do other relics in this the very heart of Nazi gatherings.

Re Nuremberg, I may not have written clearly - if there is a trial in process you can't visit the courtroom but you can still visit the exhibit (which is where all the info is)

Re timing, I am really interested in WWII and spent my whole day seeing just the Nazi Parade grounds/Documentation Center and the Nuremberg Trials exhibit - and didn't get to finish seeing the Trial exhibit!

I took a 7:50 train from Munich (this after going to bed at 2am with quite a bit of wine!) to Nuremberg, checked into the hotel and headed right to the Parade Grounds (15 min tram ride leaving approx every 10 min from across the street from Hauptbanhoff). I got there about 15 minutes after it opened at 10am (BTW if you are there on a weekday it opens at 9am so you can get an earlier start).

At both here and the Trial Exhibt, the exhibit is in German but you are given a headset that gives you the same info in English. The issue is that it is much quicker to read it than to listen to it so German speakers can go through more quickly. Also took me a while to figure out how the headset worked with the films so I had to repeat some of it.

At the Documentation Center there are a number of films - watching all of them probably adds at least an hour to your visit. I watched all of them. I figured I'd come all this way that I would rather fully see this exhibit than half see this and half see another attraction [for example the Durer house] so just went for it and did it in full. Actually Rick Steve's guidebook gives very good info on this site (my other guides had a paragraph and he had 4 pages plus diagrams/maps!) He says that WWII history buffs should allow at least a half day here. Then I walked around the whole area which is pretty large and took another hour.

Then ride tram back to Hauptbanhoff where you switch to the subway 3 stops to Nuremberg Trials exhibit. This is not far but to get from one to the other is over 30 minutes including waiting for both tram and subway. Trials exhibit is in Palace of Justice about 5 min from subway exit(entrance is in first entrance you see - I wasted time figuring that out).

Trials exhibit is not big but again each little station has several minutes of commentary on your headset. If there are 60 stations at 2-3 minutes each that can be 2-3 hours. Plus there are some short films (you can see the defendants plead not guilty in German). I spent 90 minutes and made it more than half way but did not finish.

These 2 sites were open 10 - 6 and I started bright and early and still didn't get to complete them fully as I would have preferred (this was clearly a non "Blitzkrieg approach").

I will send you the details on the Munich museum pass separately.

Re Munich, the one day ticket I mentioned earlier is 12 euros. It is good for Alte, Neue and Moderne Pinakotheks, the Brandhorst and the Schack. Alte alone is 7 Euros. The others are 7 - 10 Euros each. See this map - as you can see all but the Schack are right next to each other so you could hit more than one easily. I know you are most interested in Alte but for 5 Euros it might be nice to spend a few min in the others to get an idea of some of the other stuff (do in depth at Alte and then "blitzkrieg" through the others). In general while these others do have some very contemporary stuff they also have impressionist and works from early 20th century. If you look at their websites you can get a better idea.

The Brandhorst is new - my friend who strongly prefers contemporary art suggested it. I think modern is okay but am not as into it as she is - I bought the pass so I could spend my time where I liked the most and ended up spending more time in Brandhorst than I planned - it had some interesting stuff (also is not as big as the others so less overwhelming). Has a useful free audioguide.

I liked the Sigmar Polke and Cy Twombly works the best. This museum has a special room dedicated to Twombly's 10 painting cycle of the Battle of Lepanto which was pretty amazing. I'd never heard of the battle but apparently was a key event in the wars with the Ottoman Empire.

SusanC - thanks for your detailed rundown on the Nurnberg Parade Grounds area and Documentation Center - when I visited I was rather rushed and could not go there - your descriptions makes me want to go back and spend more time.

And besides the tram there you can also hop a S-bahn train there from the main Nurnberg Hauptbanhof (Hbf).

Manhattengirl - so named I guess because she is from the Manhattan of Europe - Frankfurt, so dubbed because of its skyscrapers as well as being the financial capital, along with London I guess, of Europe.

And she makes a compelling argument for including a look at Frankfurt when planning a German itinerary - yup on first glance - Yuck - just a modern city but a better look yields really sweet parks, a nice riverside, Sachsenhausen and its famed apple wine houses (forgot name of local apple-based brew) and world-class museums.

That's "Main"hatten Girl, Palenq - as in Frankfurt am Main

Main hatten it tis - thanks for the correcto

Frankfurt is so much more than "just a modern city". It is a very old and very historic city. This was a free, Imperial City for centuries, site of the Emperor elections and coronations, a trade fair center for all of Germany and Europe too, since the 1100's.

Do come visit some of the Medieval churches that survived the bombings, including one of the oldest churches in Germany, or come view the largest wall paintings North of the Alps in the Karmeliter Cloister. If that doesn't interest you, then perhaps a visit to our wonderful indoor produce market, the Klein Markt Halle will do it for you. Or a visit to one of the most personal and moving Holocaust Memorials in Germany, the Jewish Holocaust Memorial Wall, with over 12,000 names of Frankfurts' Jewish Citizens on it.

Our neighborhoods are beautiful, mostly turn of the century architecture, with lots of interesting little stores, sidewalk cafes and farmers markets. The whole inner city is surrounded by a park, that follows the outline or the former defensive wall, but we have around 40 other parks as well as a massive City Forest.

The Museum Mile along the river is a treat all year long, but if you visit the last weekend in Aug. you can experience one of the premier events in Germany, the Museums Ufer Fest. More people attent this per day than the Oktoberfest, except it is Germans attending and not busloads of tourists.

I know I do go on a bit about Frankfurt, but it makes me sad to read incorrect information in guidebooks and on websites. It is though once a guidebook got written about Frankfurt 30 years ago, no one has felt the need to do a good update. The city has changed so much in the last 20 and yes, even in the last 10 years. Many people really enjoy staying here for a few days and exploring the city and what it has to offer, plus it makes a great base for day trips too.

So, I hope you all can indulge me and my passion for my beautiful, adopted home.

Mainhattengirl - where are you from originally?

I do mean to spend more time in Frankfurt (spent a few days there at New Years 2001). Since I generally fly into Germany via Frankfurt, I feel I can visit anytime and thus each time I say I will do it NEXT time b/c this time I'm on my way to X. Clearly I need to just put it on the itinerary!

Actually I probably will like Frankfurt a lot (especially since I am a "Manhattangirl" myself!) as it is a REAL city. I find that some of these pretty preserved cities/towns, while charming and photogenic, can be a bit Disneyesque and seem to exist currently mainly to cater to tourists (Brugges and Venice come to mind).

I was born and grew up in Columbus, Ohio til my early 30's. Moved to Frankfurt in 1986.

I was born and grew up in Columbus, Ohio>

Heaven forbid - I just hope you did NOY attent THE Ohio State University

Oh-How-I-Hate-O-Hi-O-State! And a Buckeye is a hairless nut.

Of course I went to OSU, but only 2 quarters. At our house, we usually say a Buckeye is just another useless nut. (hubby is from Col. too)