Hi Everyone:

i find myself in Frankfurt this weekend.

Day of travel and where I'll stay

• Arrive on Saturday at noon and fly out on Monday morning at 9 AM
• Residence Inn Frankfurt City Center

About me:

• Vegetarian but love good food that fits my palate
• I do not drink alcohol and prefer quieter settings.
• Love historical settings.
• I like to walk around cities taking in the vibe, history and culture.

What to do: Would love your recommendations on what I can do.

• I have 1 full Sunday and a half day on Saturday when I land at noon.
• What are the must see sights that I can go on my own?
• I found this walking tour in another thread from 10 years ago: https://frankfurtonfoot.com/ - I was thinking I could do this on my full-day (Sunday).
• What else would you recommend I do to spend my days in Frankfurt?

What to eat

• I was unable to get Seven Swans (requires reservations way in advance which don't suit my last minute plan)
• Any other upscale restaurant you recommend?
• Good vegetarian friendly places?
• Are there good cafe's with good coffee where one can just sit and watch the world go by (or read a book)?

As always, thank you so much!

One more question: I have 2 suitcases, a carryon bag and a laptop bag. Whats the best way to get to the hotel (and back to the airport early morning)? Is Uber okay in Frankfurt? Do you have other recommendations? Thank you!

You could do this a couple of ways: you could stay in Frankfurt for the whole time - and there are actually a lot of things to see, but Frankfurt is often not a crowd pleaser because parts of it were rebuilt after the war and there are lots of skyscrapers there. You would however have a good opportunity to see Frankfurt really well.

The other thing you might do is get out to a nearby city like Mainz, which has a bit more of an old town.

So I'll start with Frankfurt recommendations (trying not to do what is covered by the tour): Fressgass is a kind of 'eat street' (Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse / Kalbächergasse) where you will find heaps of cafés, restaurants, etc. A must-do, and there will be veggie options somewhere there. Veganism is big in Germany right now. There is of course the Römer, which you will see in the tour you mentioned, and there is a river bank full of world-class museums (the other side of the river). There is also an area called Sachsenhausen (across the river) which was not damaged in WWII and which you can enjoy walking around. There are a number of applewine pubs there and you can go and sit out in the garden and eat a meal and drink applewine, which is an acquired taste. At first you think 'eeeuuuw', but after half a dozen sips you get used to it. It is the local alcoholic drink. Also food there: you might enjoy hard-boiled eggs with green sauce, that is also a local specialty (veggie). One of the pubs is Dauth-Schneider, just so you have a name to start with. The buildings in Sachsenhausen are gorgeous 19th century apartment buildings and older (probably 17th century) Fachwerk houses. And if you still wanted to see something else you might take a trip out to the Palmengarten, which is a kind of botanical garden.

If you like the idea of Mainz, which is just under an hour away: also super museums, including a Roman shipbuilding museum, the Gutenberg museum, a 1000 year old cathedral (the Mainzer Dom), and a cathedral with beautiful windows by the Russian Jewish artist Marc Chagall (the Stefansdom); the windows were redone after being destroyed in WWII. The old town is nice and there are outdoor cafes where you can get a beer or soft drink on a hot day. You could also include a trip up the Rhine by boat or train, very picturesque. It's better to do this from Mainz rather than Frankfurt, because the boats leave from Mainz. The river from Frankfurt is pretty uninspiring / ugly, but at Mainz / Wiesbaden the river changes.

You could just take a train from the airport to the city and hop straight into a taxi (although make sure you have a bit of cash on you, German taxi drivers like cash, and still did so in January of this year).

Lavandula

Thank you very much lavandula for your helpful suggestions. It was too late to change from Frankfurt to Mainz by the time I read your post. So I did Frankfurt for 2 days. TLDR of the trip:

• A lot of walking around...
• Day 1: Stadel museum (lovely!), walk by the river bank and dinner at Ong Tao vegan (Vietnamese - delicious food). I discovered Wallenlagen which has a cool history and was neat to walk through.
• Day 2: Frankfurt on Foot (which was excellent and I HIGHLY recommend them) and then walk around Sachsenhausen - This was just okay. It was Sunday so a lot of bars were closed (or perhaps they do not open until late - but at 8 PM everything was closed. Most open places were Shisha places and the smell made me tad nauseated. It was fun to walk around on the cobblestones. However, what I enjoyed most was ending up in residential neighborhoods in this area and walking around there. Lunch was at Zeil vegan kitchen (amazing) and for dinner I had eggs with green sauce based on maps recommendation (underwhelmed )
• Day 3: Walked around more of Romer area in the morning (mostly retracing the Frankfurt on foot walk). Took an uber back to the airport but had to wait for 2 hours before they would check me in. Discovered the deck in termnial two and watched planes land and take off.

Overall I had 2 fun days in Frankfurt. The city has some cool museums so if I have a longer layover next time it might be perfect to just get out see a museum and get back to the airport. On other trips I'll definitely go to Mainz, Cologne and other cities that are 1-2 hours by train.

Thanks again for the help!

Great that you had a good time. Frankfurt is not as bad as everyone makes out, it is built-up but there are pockets of charm and fantastic museums. Sorry you did not get to experience the applewine pubs, I am not sure of the opening hours. I have actually made green sauce - the farmer's markets have bundles of herbs in paper, the variety depending on the season, and you can make it yourself with whatever suits you (boiled potatoes, eggs, etc.).

Yes, next time get out into the middle Rhine gorge and maybe also the Rheingau region. Close to Frankfurt and heaps of fun.

Thanks for reporting back, it's nice to hear about your days in Frankfurt.

Lavandula