Hallo,
We just moved here in Frankfurt from the US, and we%26#39;re still finding our way around. We are interested to see the famous Rhein in Flamen festival. Do they still have this festival? Where is the best spot/town to see this?
How do we get there from Frankfurt? I%26#39;m aware that we have to stay overnight, what suggestions do you have on which town to stay at?
I know we have to start from Mainz, how do we get there from Frankfurt?
From Mainz, do we take the train or river cruise so we could also enjoy the Rhine%26#39;s many fascinating sights along the river.
Thank you so much for all your help. Vielen Dank!!
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Don%26#39;t miss the upcoming fests in Frankfurt itself.
Mainfest
frankfurt-tourismus.de/cms/tourismussuite/en…
Museum Embankment Festival
frankfurt-tourismus.de/cms/tourismussuite/en…
Rhein in Flammen is not a single date event. This happens at various dates at various places along the Rhine.
http://www.rhein-in-flammen.com/
The ones left for this year:
Koblenz 08.08.2009
Oberwesel 12.09.2009
St. Goar 19.09.2009
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Abalada,
Vielen Dank, for the prompt answers. Thanks for the info on the dates/towns to see the famous Rhein in Flamen, we%26#39;ll make sure we catch the schedule in those towns you mentioned.
Yes, we%26#39;re also aware of the Mainfest, we%26#39;re actually thinking if we should take the Frankfurt in fireworks offered by Primus Linie.
Have you tried this tour before? Is it worth to just watch the fireworks by the river or worth while to take the river tour.
Incidentally, we have already taken the river cruise along the Main River last Sunday, it was wonderful to see Frankfurt%26#39;s skyline mixed with the old and impressive newer buildings.
We are still looking at other things to do here around Frankfurt.
Thanks once again...
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%26quot;We are still looking at other things to do here around Frankfurt.%26quot;
The first thing to do is go to the tourist office and get their free information, and perhaps others you may have to pay for if you%26#39;re interested in the topic.
Also get the free information from the tourist offices of the German states, Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz would be good ones to begin with, and also Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria for slightly further away. You can probably access them from the internet as well as other places in Germany by going to www.PLACENAME.de, then tourismus, unless there is an early English option.
Bookstores will have books about Frankfurt and the region around it. Personally, I like the trilingual (German, English, French) picture books of cities and regions in Germany. If you like the pictures you will probably like the place, and it%26#39;s a good way to prioritize where you visit. Also look for these books at flea markets if you want to save some money.
Also, at either a Shell gas station or at a bookstore, get Map #23 in Die Shell Regional Karte, Großraum Frankfurt. After looking at all the alternatives, I found them to be the best for planning day trips. 18 maps in this series cover all of Germany, but there is a special map centered on Frankfurt. 1cm = 1.5km (1 inch approximates 2.5 miles) so they are quite detailed for nonurban areas.
Besides the roads, they also show the railroads and their stations, so they are also excellent for planning train trips.
Each map will show hundreds or thousands of places to visit such as: interesting towns; castles, palaces and monasteries and whether they are intact or ruins; amusement and wildlife parks; churches; visitable mines; caves; waterfalls; vista points; scenic drives, valleys or rivers; etc.
The sights are also accurately rated. The better sights are highlighted in yellow if man-made and in green if natural features, and the best also have a box around them. Even non-highlighted places can be excellent to visit. There%26#39;s also other excellent information on them such as the highways subject to traffic jams. Each map is all you really need to plan a very enjoyable day trip, stopping at places of interest to you along the way. Perhaps choose your primary destinations from those picture books.
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Hallo Marcopolko,
Many thanks for that informative suggestions. Yes, we%26#39;ll surely look for that interesting Map #23, I know it will help a lot in planning our trip outside of Frankfurt. It%26#39;s nice to know helpful things from people that already live here in Germany.
Is that Map #23 in German? My husbands speaks and reads German fairly, but it will be nice if there%26#39;s also an English version so I can read it as well. As you know, the husband will be driving and the wife will be the one holding the map ;-)
We%26#39;re still waiting for our car to arrive here from the US, so for now, we%26#39;re just taking the trains and bus to get around.
Yes, we also like looking at pictures, and that%26#39;s what we base our decision on what places to see and visit.
You%26#39;ve made a good suggestion to look for travel books in flea markets. That%26#39;s a good tip, thanks for that.
We%26#39;ll also check those places that you%26#39;ve mentioned, Hesse, Rheinland-Pflaz, Baden Wuerttenberg and Bavaria.
Of course, we%26#39;ll definitely visit Bavaria, there%26#39;s so many things to see there. I%26#39;m also interested to see Stuttgart in the days or months to come.
Thanks for the very informative ideas and suggestions.
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%26quot;You can probably access them from the internet as well as other places in Germany by going to www.PLACENAME.de, then tourismus, unless there is an early English option.%26quot;
I should have added substitute the actual place name.
I%26#39;ll also mention two very large special events coming up:
the world%26#39;s largest wine festival- Wurstmarkt (Sausage Market) in Bad Dürkheim ( www.duerkheimer-wurstmarkt.de ) 11-21Sept
the world%26#39;s second largest beer festival- Cannstatter Volksfest ( www.cannstatter-volksfest.de ) in Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) 25Sept to 11Oct
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Thanks again for those suggestions, my husband loves the beer and I love wines, so we%26#39;ll surely research on those two great festivals.
Germany has so many festivals and it%26#39;s such great way to explore other areas and to know more about the culture.
See, now we really need to plan to see Sttutgart, thanks again for all the info.
More power..
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%26quot;Is that Map #23 in German? My husbands speaks and reads German fairly, but it will be nice if there%26#39;s also an English version so I can read it as well. As you know, the husband will be driving and the wife will be the one holding the map ;-)%26quot;
The map itself will use the actual names of places which are of course in German, which will agree with the road signs. There%26#39;s really no trouble using the maps because the legend is multilingual, so you%26#39;ll know what each symbol stands for. The accompanying booklet will have more detailed city maps, and the description of the sights on them will be in German, but then you really shouldn%26#39;t be driving around a large city when you can use the excellent public transportation. Driving and parking can be a nightmare.
There%26#39;s only one problem with using these maps, the scale is so large that at first you will have driven a long ways past the place before you start looking for it, but after a few times you%26#39;ll become used to them. These maps are nice because they are so detailed showing every curve of the highway that you can tell exactly where you are on them.
Another thing, there%26#39;s a lot of churches shown on the maps, but if they are Protestant almost all will be kept locked except when in use. After attempting to visit a few of them when they%26#39;re locked, if they%26#39;re not Catholic which are usually more ornate anyways, just skip them except for the major ones and hope that they are open.
I also recommend becoming familiar with the area around where you live, there are many excellent things that many life-long residents may not know about. There is really no need to do a distant trip to see someplace (unless you really want to see it) when there are so many excellent things right by home and most won%26#39;t probably have the foreign tourist masses that ruin the experience in many otherwise lovely places.
Enjoy your stay in Frankfurt, I%26#39;ve lived in Stuttgart now for five years (loving it) and there are countless nearby things I haven%26#39;t gotten to yet, there is just too much to see and do in Germany!!!!!!
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My favorite suggestion for people who have moved to Germany, is to check out Toytown. This is a website made for English speakers who live in Germany. It is connected with The Local, which is the news in English for the different cities. There you can find the best Indian, Mexican, Steak, Asian, etc. restaurants, the best fitness center in your neighborhood, all kinds of fests and events for Frankfurt, and meet-ups with other expats.
http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/index.php
http://www.thelocal.de/
Welcome to Frankfurt! I love it here. It is a lively, fascinating city with a very long, rich history.
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Hallo Marcopolko,
Thanks again for all those great infos, I think we really need to search for that Map #23, it will really be helpful, just to know all the spots that we need to check out. Yes, we love visiting churches as we are Catholics, it%26#39;s really a joy to see all those magnificent churches and learn their history.
You%26#39;re also right in saying that we have to discover things around us. That%26#39;s what we%26#39;ve been doing, walking around our area. We found a local German restaurant, not advertise but known by the locals. It was a real treat, and the food was superb.
As we walk around we find new things everyday, we%26#39;ve found parks close to us, we%26#39;re enjoying our stay here in Frankfurt and I know that we will be discovering more things.
Vielen Dank!
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Hallo Bornheimgirl,
Thanks for your great suggestion on that Toytown website. I have actually checked on that website before we moved here. So, I got a clear idea of how things are going to be once we get here. I found lots of great info there from hospitals, to shops, restaurants and just learning about how people live here.
I will try the other website www.thelocal.de, we%26#39;ve been enjoying our stay here in Frankfurt, there are so many festivals.
We also love the efficient means of transportation. Last Sunday, we took the Main River cruise with Primus Linie, we just enjoyed the magnificent views of the old and modern skyline along the river.
We%26#39;re learning new things everyday. We%26#39;ve just been here for 12 days and we%26#39;re looking forward to more enjoyable travels around Germany and beyond.
Vielen Dank!!
