Things to do in Frankfurt

Frankfurt is a working city that most visitors treat as a doorway, and the offer here is honest about it. It has the country's busiest airport, the European Central Bank, the trade fair and a skyline no other German city has. The nickname Mainhattan is local and slightly rueful.

The old centre was flattened in 1944. The half-timbered Roemerberg you photograph was rebuilt, some of it as late as 2018. What the city keeps for itself is smaller: the Staedel collection, the museum row along the south bank, and the apple-wine taverns in Sachsenhausen.

Where the day trips go, because that is what the catalogue is made of:

• Heidelberg. An hour south, the castle ruin above the Neckar and the oldest university in the country, founded 1386.
• The Rhine gorge. Bingen to Koblenz, castles on both banks, on the UNESCO list since 2002.
• Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The walled town on the Romantic Road, two hours east.
• The Black Forest and Baden-Baden. Spa town and forest roads, a long day but a scenic one.
• Strasbourg. Across the French border, and closer than Munich.

Nearly all of it is a private car with a local driver. That format wins when the destination is two hours out and the return is the same. Prices are per vehicle. Four people pay little more than one.

Inside the city the offer is self-guided: walking routes and puzzle trails around the old town, plus an evening pub crawl. That is a fair reflection of the place. Frankfurt rewards a half day on foot and a full day driving away from it.

Practical

• The airport. Twelve minutes to the centre by S-Bahn, which makes a layover day trip genuinely possible. Long-distance trains stop at the airport too.
• Trade fairs. During the big Messe weeks hotel prices double or worse. Check the fair calendar before booking dates.
• Apple wine. Ebbelwoi is the local drink, served from a stoneware jug and sour on purpose. Ask for it mixed if that is not for you.
• Museums. Most close on Mondays; the Staedel is open late on Thursdays.
• Border crossings. The Strasbourg day leaves the country. Bring a passport even though nobody usually asks.