3 days · First-time visitors
3 Days in Frankfurt
Three days are enough to get past the airport-and-banks version of Frankfurt and into the real one. This route pairs the historic center around the Römer with the skyline, the museum row on the south bank and the villas and greenhouses of the Westend, and it leaves room to sit down between them. Distances are short throughout, so most days involve more walking than transit.
Best time to go: Spring through fall
Day 1 - Old Town, skyline and your first apple wine
Start in the historic center. From the Römer you reach the cathedral, St. Paul's Church and the Iron Footbridge within a few minutes each.
- Morning 9:30am - 11am
Römer and Römerberg
Frankfurt's city hall since 1405, with the stepped gabled facade that defines the square. Couples come straight out of the registry office inside for photos, and from late November the Christmas market fills the whole space.
Altstadt neighborhood guide → - Morning 11am - 12:30pm
Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus
The coronation church of the Holy Roman Emperors. Its west tower rises about 312 feet and is visible from most of the city center, which makes it a useful landmark for the rest of the trip.
Altstadt neighborhood guide → - Lunch 1pm - 2:30pm
Lunch at Iimori
Japanese cooking in the blocks between the Römer and the cathedral. A light lunch before an afternoon of skyline walking.
- Afternoon 3pm - 5pm
Up the Main Tower
About 656 feet tall, with a public viewing platform at roughly 650 feet. From up there the whole city and the Taunus hills behind it lay out in one view.
Tip: Get the ticket online beforehand. It is worth it on weekends.
Innenstadt neighborhood guide → - Dinner 6pm - 8:30pm
Apple wine at Zum Gemalten Haus
A classic Apfelwein tavern with a painted facade in Sachsenhausen. Apfelwein is the tart local hard cider, served from a stoneware Bembel jug into a ribbed glass called a Geripptes. Have your first one with Handkäs mit Musik, a sour-milk cheese marinated in onions.
Sachsenhausen neighborhood guide →
Day 2 - The Museum Embankment and the Westend
The museums on the south bank in Sachsenhausen form one of the densest cultural strips in Europe. Pick two or three, not more.
- Morning 9am - 11:30am
Walk across the Eiserner Steg
The iron footbridge over the Main, with thousands of love locks on the railings and the best free view of the skyline from the middle of it.
Altstadt neighborhood guide → - Morning 11:30am - 1:30pm
The Museumsufer
The Städel, the Liebieghaus, the Museum für Angewandte Kunst and a dozen more line up along the south bank. Choose two. Three museums in a day is one museum too many.
Sachsenhausen neighborhood guide → - Lunch 2pm - 3:30pm
A break at Café Laumer
A Viennese-style coffee house in the Westend, open since 1919. The right kind of pause before an afternoon in the botanical garden.
- Afternoon 3:30pm - 6pm
Palmengarten
The botanical garden in the Westend, with tropical greenhouses, a rose garden and concerts through the summer. The green counterweight to a morning of galleries.
Westend neighborhood guide → - Dinner 7pm - 9:30pm
Dinner in the Westend
For a bigger evening: Erno's Bistro or the Villa Merton, both classically French in style, both in the quiet villa streets under the towers.
Westend neighborhood guide →
Day 3 - Goethe, the Zeil and a neighborhood of your choice
The last day is yours: shopping on the Zeil, the Goethe House, or a trip out to Höchst.
- Morning 9:30am - 11am
Goethe House
The birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe in downtown Frankfurt, furnished as the family home it was. A short, well-made museum rather than an all-morning commitment.
Innenstadt neighborhood guide → - Morning 11am - 1pm
The Zeil and the Hauptwache
The main shopping street, named after the row of houses that went up here when this was still the cattle market outside the city walls. Even if you buy nothing, the square at the Hauptwache is where the city moves.
Innenstadt neighborhood guide → - Lunch 1pm - 3pm
Brunch at Café Karin
A Frankfurt institution across from the Goethe House, serving breakfast all day, which is exactly what a third morning calls for.
- Afternoon 3:30pm - 6pm
Choose: Höchst or Bornheim
Höchst, in the far west, has the best-preserved historic town center in Frankfurt, a church from 830 and a porcelain manufactory founded in 1746. Bornheim, just east of downtown, has the longest shopping street in the city and the densest run of apple-wine taverns along it.
Bornheim neighborhood guide →
Book a base for this route
Frankfurt is compact, so the neighborhood you pick decides how much of this itinerary you can walk. The Old Town keeps you closest to the landmarks, Sachsenhausen puts you next to the museums and the cider taverns.
Other itineraries
1 day
One Day in Frankfurt
A single day, done properly: the Römerberg, the Imperial Cathedral, the Main Tower, a walk across the Iron Footbridge and apple wine to finish.
4 to 8 hours
Frankfurt Layover: What You Can Actually See
Stuck at FRA for 4 to 8 hours? What is realistic in the terminal, and what is realistic in the city, without missing your connection.
2 days
Frankfurt with Kids
Two days built around the zoo, the Senckenberg dinosaurs, the Palmengarten and the riverbank, with short distances between them.
1 day
Frankfurt in the Rain
A full day indoors: breakfast in a Baroque guardhouse, the Städel, the Goethe House and dinner in an open kitchen.