Airport – Frankfurt Hahn.
Stayed – A&O Hostel Galluswarte
Food – Wackkers Kaffee
Frankfurt am Main, sometimes called MAINhatten or Bankfurt, a new old city. We spent 24 hours here and honestly, it was a mixed bag. On first appearances the sky scrapers juxtaposed with the mostly rebuilt ‘old’ town make for a beautiful welcome.
We arrived by Flibco bus from Hahn Airport which is about 2 hours from Frankfurt but a beautiful drive through the Rhine wine region & with a view of the city from a distance. In all it cost us 20 euro to fly from Dublin to Hahn and get the bus to Frankfurt. We also went right past the Eintract Stadium which was cool. The area around the Hauptbanhof (central train station) is pretty interesting. It is clear the city have failed a large group of its citizens who are unhoused and addicted & essentially turns a blind eye to what is some serious hard drug use.
Our first stop was the shopping area, My Zeil, as this housed both a supermarket (essential for a picnic) and Europes longest escalator. Honeslty this was the kid’s highlight of Frankfurt. Yes its super long and it takes ages and you are really high up!
We enjoyed – the escalator, the different shops and the Eintracht Frankfurt Club shop.
Next stop was Der Romer, which was heavily bombed during WW2 and almost completely rebuilt. We went to the historic Paulskirche which is a key location as its where Germany was reunified in the 1800s and mooched down to the Cathederal. Refreshingly the cathederal was free to enter!!
We enjoyed – lighting candles at the beautiful Pieta & seeing the photos from 80 years ago as we visiteed at the anniversary of the end of ww2.
Our walk took us next to the Eisener Steg, Iron Bridge which is compeltely covered in lovers locks (and influencers!). It was very cool to walk over and to see the skyline again from the river as well as the huge barges and cruises along the Main.
Frankfurt Art Museum
I was so excited to see a completely reconstructed Frankfurt Kitchen, which meant a trip to the applied art museum. The Frankfurt Kitchen is essentially the kitchen most modern ones still follow a pattern of – its a fascinating part of Feminist history so naturally I wanted to take my girl crew here. This was 8 euro per adult and kids free but very very quickly it became apparent kids are free because kids never go there. I wanted to enjoy the exhibitions with them and let the children explore the art on display as well as see the kitchen we have learned about but the over sixties Frankfurt crew were horribly affronted by this. There was a LOT of staring & I know some European countries are more prone to staring than others but this was super uncomfortable.
We enjoyed – the kids playground outside in the sunshine, which was completely empty and really well kept because I assume no kids live in the vicinity of the museum or ever visit!
Playground Picnics!
We headed for afternoon coffee in a very cool instagram spot & then off to our hostel to check in.
Evening – With tired children who needed feeding we headed to Burgermeister at the top of Europes longest escalator. I imagine there are way more delicious and authentic German eateries but we had zero energy to find them so enjoyed massive burgers & pommes with cheap beer, loud rap music and all the teenagers!
Top Tip – The rooftop terrace in the Galleria Kaufhaus is free, but even the food is really well priced and would make a nice dinner spot. They had a DJ & lots of people relaxing having drinks after work. The views are fantastic and the vibes immaculate.
Musing – Frankfurt has three types of people, Bankers (who often walk around with an over inflated sense of self making them something that starts with W and rhymes with bankers), Rich retirees (who probably used to be bankers) and addicts. 24 hours is a just about right period of time to spend here as I know there are beautiful river cruise options & the Sachenhausen old town to explore as well.