Anyone Been to Frankfurt

If bills etc are paid for, we are thinking of going to Frankfurt for Christmas.
Saw a cheap package
flights + 3* city centre hotel inc breakfast 4 nights. 2 people Full Total €300

Has anyone been here, whats christmas like there ie christmas markets/fairs etc. What is the weather like.

Has anyone stayed or heard of the City Hotel Frankfurt.

Hi Scully,

If it's Frankfurt am Main you mean (there are 2 in Germany, Frankfurt (Oder) is the other one) I haven't been there lately, but I used to live there.

I don't know where your hotel is - all I can say is that there's a red light district in the city centre on Kaiserstrasse which you might want to avoid particularly if you have children with you. Try googling the hotel to see if you can find a map.

The old part of the city, Sachsenhausen, is really nice and well worth a visit - there are lots of restaurants and bars there and some info in English http://www.altfrankfurt.com/Stadtteil/Sachsenhausen/ (here).

Weather is cold in winter, with snow likely - temperatures were always around -5 to -10, but because it's 'dry cold' it's bearable.

The Germans like their Christmas Markets and there's one in Frankfurt .

Hope you enjoy your trip! Viel Spass!

scully - tripadvisor.com should always be your first port of call when thinking city breaks. A quick review here - - shows that the area seems to be a bit iffy. Hotel itself seems to get reasonable (as in non-bad) reviews.

A quick review of some of the big brand hotel chains might throw up some good value over Christmas, particularly in the business district since they will have precious few business guests.

However, €300 all-in might be a bit hard to beat.

z

The "klaane ritter" in Sachsenhausen is THE tourist trap.A cider pub 4 storeys heigh , you make it easy, upstairs, as long as you are sober....A band on every floor , as well as a bar and a toilet. The Weihnachtsmarkt starts at the first weekend of Advent , at the "Roemer", a square right at the center. Christmass chorals at 18.00 o' clock, from the balcony of the old city hall. Buy a "Zwetschgenmaennchen" (a traditional figure made from dried fruits and nuts)at the market ! And have a "Gluehwein", against the cold. The "Flohmarkt"(flea market) and the "Kleinmarkthalle"(fresh food ) a worth a visit . The Senkenberg Museum is worth a visit if you are interested in nature. For the cold days it's the "Botanischer Garten" with the green houses. At arrival get a map, most places are in easy reach with the U-Bahn (metro). And if you take a taxi, it might be Joschka Fischer who is your driver....
Next neighbouring towns are Offenbach with the Leather museum (where Joschka's trainers are at display!) , Darmstadt with not much to see (except the "Krone" - a dirty old pub, since 1500 something) and Mainz+Wiesbaden with some Roman archeological sites. All in easy reach from Frankfurt via the public transport system like tram and metro.

scully said:

If bills etc are paid for, we are thinking of going to Frankfurt for Christmas.
Saw a cheap package
flights + 3* city centre hotel inc breakfast 4 nights. 2 people Full Total €300

Click to expand...

Are you sure that this is a good idea especially given (a) your current situation and (b) the fact that once spending money etc. is factored in this will probably cost a lot more than €300?

just booked a trip last nite for xmas pres for herself to frankfurt flying from kerry to frankfurt hahn for 100eur for 2. I know hahn is miles away from frankfurt itselt but will suffer the 2hr bus journey (26eur returnpp) cos kerry is very handy for us, and there is dam all out of cork as usual!! . hav a look at flights from where you are urself as going independent can sometimes work out cheaper. I still hav no accom booked, but am looking at last minute offers as they come online, ie trip advisor, lastminute.ie, etc. will work out 300eur+ish total and we pick our own hotel!

ps: I would also appreciate any info re -good hotels, best location, best bars, best shopping, must see's etc

flights for 2 and b+b for 4 nights in city center 3 star hotel.....that is very good value.
Where are you flying from and where did you find this deal?
Frankfurt is a hard nosed buisness city with unfriendly people.
I T IS GOING TO BE COLD AND probaly dry .. dry cold...possible snow .....snow piled up in pavements like n.y.
Wouldn`t worry about the red light district...its indoors and out of sight....worth looking at if you are male/s.
If you dress up for the cold,one might decide to go to the irish and english pubs in sacksenhausen to talk with other irish....
I dunno...is it really worth going there....i suspect there must be a lot better places to go at this time of year.
The outdoor markets are o.k. for an hour and can get nice views with snow falling etc.
You`ll still have to pay for your transport and meals while there.

Can I suggest a slightly better idea for those heading to wodnerful Hesse? If you're heading to Hahn, you can also connect (after a bus and train) to the town of Marburg, from Frankfurt it's a train ride of about 1 hour. It's cheaper, cleaner, more to do (for a short break) and you can still get into Frankfurt on a saturday morning for a days shopping.

The town, Marburg, is a little gem and while I love Frankfurt, it's hard to really appreciate it in a weekend. Also for couples it's a lot nicer in Marburg.

Only my 2 eurocents worth.


ps Before any accuses me of taking money for this, I used to live there, was back only a month ago, and I know Hesse backwards having lived and worked there over the course of 3 years!

Just a comment on the weather - this winter has been incredibly mild in Germany. I've not seen any snow yet, compared with feet of it last year.

As for Christmas Markets, Germans love them but I don't really see the attraction. The mulled wine is nice and warming but the alcohol has usually evaporated out of it and it is not the highest quality wine anyway ... but maybe the market is more for the kids.

I tell German people we have Christmas markets back home but they are in large heated buildings instead of the town square and they are called Super Christmas Markets (or supermarkets for short).

I've just come back from a break in Vienna. there are lots of markets, but like the previous poster, I'm missing the point. We were told however, that at the weekends the city is full of buses from parts east, with passengers heading for these markets.

Zeilstrasse is the main shopping street

A lot of shops close in Germany close on Saturday afternoon and don't re-open until Monday

Scully,

Been there 20+ times in the last 3 years so have many firends there, did this up for a few people doing weekends there, hope it helps, its a summer guide but most things are similar


http://www.frankfurt.de/sis/English.html

Shopping,

The main shopping area in Ffm is Zeil, it’s a long pedestrian street running through the middle of the city between Konstablerwache and Hauptwache metro stations, it cant be missed and has all the usual shops, H&M, Zara Mango etc, gets very busy on Saturdays. There is a big department store called Galleria/Kaufhof which has most things in it, everything is on or around Zeil in the way of shops.

Bars

As it’s the summer most of the drinking is done outside, the bars I’d recommend in the city centre are Studio Bar, Bar-celonia, theres a lovely bar by the river called Strand Perle, its beside the main historic bridge the Eisernen Stegs. Another is Sansibar, its under one of the main skyscrapers, Japan Tower/bar. There is and area called Alt Sachsenhausen, its on the other side of the river and the main street is called Schweitzer Strasse there are loads of places along there.

Clubs

There is that club Living XXL but its pretty crap! Better ones are all found on the Hanauer Landstraße, it’s a street of car dealerships but all the deacent clubs are behind it like Goldfish, King Kamehameha, there are loads of websites with all the clubs/bars listed, just google Frankfurt and party/club.

Things to do

The usual thisng to see are Romer/Frankfurter Dom, it’s the old square, walking through it and you get to the river which is nice and the Apfelwein quarter in Alt Sachsenhausen which is the local tipple, its basically apple wine mixed with fanta but quite good! Its really easy to get around as its pretty small. Going out of the city and you could go to Mainz or Wiesbaden, their bout about 45 min on the train, just towns with old districts etc but worth a visit if you wana get out of the city.

Food

There are loads of great places around the city, most of them are on the main streets. Around Sachsenhausen you generally just find them while walking around. In the city there are a few places around Hauptwache station, top of the shopping street and just keep walking on towards Alte Opera. The website above has a good few places but Bar-celona is pretty good for lunch and another place called Central Park, its close to the ECB.

I really think it`s not worth going to frankfurt.
Whats the attraction? The weather is going to be very cold or maybe rain/snow.
The outdoor markets are o.k. for an hour.
The costs in the shops maybe similiar or a little cheaper than ireland.
The flea market just has a lot of 2nd hand junk.
The sacksenhausen pub area is o.k. but do you need to go to frankfurt to go to an irish pub.
There is very few nice old buildings or aesthetically pleasing aspects to frankfurt and the people are rude .
I think it might be a nice place for some irish workers to live in a modern city with good roads etc but for a city break over the winter ....
If you are going anyway one could go to the zoo, walk from konstablwache which contains the"ziel" pedestrian shopping street to the end of kaiser str.
there is a red light district in few side streets on the stn side of kaiser str.
the strip teases are good with cheap entry.....the brothels are worth a look....can walk along the corridors of open rooms and gawk at the pros if you want to..
At least in berlin..its a capital city and a much nicer atmosphere.

You could take a trip to Heidelberg. It's a beautiful fairytale type of place. I loved it & at Christmas it should be beautiful.