Day trips

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Frankfurt

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Germany

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Mainz

Day trips around South Western Germany!

Niina

19/08/2024

Hi all! In the summer of 2023, I was doing an internship in Mainz, Germany and during my three-month stay there, I traveled around the surrounding area. Almost every weekend, I did a day trip to a cool German city (and one that was not in Germany). In this post, I will share all those places with you. If you ever plan to go to Mainz, Frankfurt, or somewhere in the area, hopefully, this could inspire you. South Western Germany is a truly diverse place to travel: you can explore historical buildings and monuments, delightful natural landscapes, and modern urban areas. That is why I think it is a superb area for adventuring!

If you are interested in visiting Mainz (which I would strongly recommend, as it is such a lovely city with many interesting things to see), I have written a detailed post about it. So Mainz is not included in this one!

When I traveled around Germany, I had a special monthly ticket. I could use the local transportation as much as I wanted. Only once did I take a long-distance train, but otherwise, I traveled to places a maximum of one train change away. This caused some limitations to my adventures but luckily near Mainz, there were plenty of interesting places to explore!

In addition, because I only made day trips, I did not have enough time to see everything in each city. I probably missed a lot of cool things so this is not a complete guide on what to do in these places, more just inspiration.

But let’s start!

Frankfurt am Main

Frankfurt is one of the biggest and most famous cities in Germany. The European Central Bank is located there. You can even pose in front of a huge Euro status in the city center! But there are other interesting things to see, too.

Most of Frankfurt was destroyed during the Second World War. So do not let the old houses trick you. Most of them even in the historical square are built after the war to look old and to create an atmosphere. In reality, Frankfurt is quite a modern city. Its sights even include skyscrapers, some of the highest in Europe. My favorite thing in Frankfurt was, in fact, to take a stroll by the riverbank and admire the skyline with the skyscrapers. So beautiful!

I mean look at this!

Because Frankfurt is quite near Mainz, I went there more than once. I visited some museums: Städel Museum, an excellent art museum with works of countless famous artists, and combined Deutsches Romantik-Museum and Goethe Haus, which presented romanticism in Germany and the home of one of Germany’s most renowned writers. Very interesting! I can recommend either of those two if you are interested in their themes.

Wiesbaden

Opposite Mainz, the other side of the river Rhine is Wiesbaden. It hosts an American military base so there are a lot of Americans. The atmosphere is therefore quite international. Wiesbaden is also known for its hot springs and thermal baths. You can taste the water of the hot springs from the taps around the city such as Kochbrunnen and Bäckerbrunnen.

Kurhaus

In Wiesbaden, you should visit Kurhaus which is part of the spa, and climb to the Neroberg where you can see a nice view over the city. It is a lovely place for a little hike. In my opinion, the city center of Wiesbaden is also a nice place to walk around. Wiesbaden has a nice selection of international shops. I even saw two Starbucks!

Cologne

Cologne is probably most known for its huge cathedral, Kölner Dom. It alone is enough reason to go there. I say this as a person who
did not have time to explore the other parts of the city center thanks to the train schedules. I have seen so many cathedrals in my life that I no longer expect to be impressed by one, but the stunning size and the dark walls of the Kölner Dom amazed me. It was as magnificent inside as well! All the colored windows, art, and treasures! In addition to wandering inside the cathedral, I went to the other side of the river to take some photos of the famous view of the bridge and the Dom.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the oldest university city in Germany and the old town on the bank of a river oozes academic history. On top of that (literally on a hill) is a castle, Schloss Heidelberg. This ruined Renaissance castle is a beautiful sight in its picturesque surroundings. To get inside the castle, you need to join a guided tour. If you do not feel like doing that, you can buy a ticket to only the courtyard. This is what I did and it was enough to see the stunningly detailed schloss from outside. In addition, the ticket included an entrance to the Deutsches Apotheken-Museum which introduced the history of medicine. Very fascinating!

Marburg

Another historical university city is Marburg, a bit north of Frankfurt. Probably its most famous alumni are the Brothers Grimm and references to their work can be seen around the city. The whole of Marburg is like out of a fairytale: the Altstadt with half-timbered houses is probably the most beautiful I have seen in Germany. Strolling around the cute streets is enough of an activity in Marburg. However, if you want to see something special, there is a castle on top of the hill and a gothic Elisabethkirche dedicated to a local saint Elisabeth.

Stuttgart

A bit of a background for my visit to Stuttgart: I planned to take two local trains to Stuttgart and then visit neighboring Ludwigdburg because damn! the castle there looks STUNNING. Unfortunately, the German trains failed me (once again) and instead of two local trains I ended up taking four and arrived in Stuttgart much later than expected. No Ludwigsburg or stunning castles then.

So I decided to go to a museum in Stuttgart. But. I also underestimated how long it took to get there. Eventually, I had about an hour and a half to run through the museum before I started my journey back to Mainz (which included a flexible schedule so any train could be late and I would still get home before midnight). Needles to stay I did not have time to see anything else in Stuttgart.

But if any museum is worth a morning traveling there to stay for a short time, it is the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. And I am saying this as a person who does not care much about cars (only Formula One cars). This museum was well organized. Firstly, the building inside was like a screw: you could walk around and around from one floor to another without being afraid of getting lost or missing something. Secondly, an audio guide was part of the ticket, which is always positive. Lastly, the content of the museum was cool. Pretty cars in the exhibition dated back to different eras. The background information was a cocktail of the organization’s history and the wider historical context. And yes, there were Formula One cars, which was my highlight! So exciting! Honestly, this was one of the best museums from the organizational point of view. I highly recommend going there.

Trier

Before my internship in Germany, I had never even heard of Trier. Considering this it had a lot of interesting things to see and truly a worth of day trip. Trier is one of the oldest cities in Germany founded by Romans. Now all that remains of them and their period are monuments around the city. The most notable is the Roman city gate, Porta Nigra. A bit newer sights are the cathedral, Trierer Dom, which mixes different architectural styles, and next to it the oldest Gothic church in Germany with newer, colorful stained classes, Liebfrauenbasilika. Both are worth visiting. In addition, you can see hints of Trier’s most known inhabitant, Karl Marx, here and there. You can visit his birth house. Or spot him in the traffic lights!

Rüdesheim

I visited Rüdesheim during an excursion organized by the summer school I took part in Mainz. We had a nice guided walking tour where we saw the old streets and houses of the city. So cute! Rüdesheim is located in the Romantic Rhine Valley area. Because of all this, the Rüdesheim is popular among tourists. Another central thing for its economy is the wine-growing in the area. So you can see a lot of wine fields around.

Extra: Strasbourg

If you are looking for day trip ideas around Mainz and Frankfurt, it is also possible to go beyond the borders of Germany. One charming destination is Strasbourg in France. In my opinion, Strasbourg perfectly combines the best parts of the traditional architecture of France and Germany. There are French balconies next to half-timbered houses. So gorgeous and adorable!

You can see a lot just by walking around Strasbourg. Particularly the cute streets and bridges of the Petite France are cool. At Barrage Vauban, you can get the most known view of the towers guarding the Petite France. The cathedral Notre Dame de Strasbourg is also worth visiting. Like its namesake in Paris, this Notre Dame is decorated with mischievous gargoyles and stunning rose windows. In addition, you can see an astronomical clock from the 19th century in the cathedral.

And this is all for now! Of course, there are many more cool and interesting places in southwestern Germany and the surrounding. Three months was not enough to see everything! But I hope this post can inspire you if you ever travel near Frankfurt or Mainz.
Until next time!

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Hi all! Welcome to my blog!

I’m Niina, I come from Finland (out of all places in the world) and I really like travelling. I’ve been lucky to do all sort of cool things in many different countries.

Now I would like to share those experiences to inspire you to go your own adventure. So go explore the stuff I’ve written for you!

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