Frankfurt Top Ten

Categories: Sightseeing, Cultural and History, Shopping, Entertainment, General Travel Info

Frankfurt Altstadt

[ source: Flickr]

Frankfurt (Frankfurt vacation rentals | Frankfurt travel guide) am Main is not only the airport where almost all the airlines from the U.S. land, this city of contrasts is well worth a trip.

Palmengarten

The Palmengarten was founded in 1868 by a group of dedicated Frankfurt citizens. Today, these widely acclaimed botanical gardens are under the care and maintenance of the City of Frankfurt. This superb botanical showcase was originally established thanks to the purchase of the Duke of Nassau's excellent tropical-plant collection. A special greenhouse was erected to house these plants, enabling visitors to meander through a jungle-like tropical environment.

Goethehaus

The Frankfurt Goethe House, birthplace of Germany´s most famous author and poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, was built in the typical 18th-century bourgeois style. It is decorated with period furniture and paintings, providing an authentic and striking impression of the environment in which Goethe spent his youth. The Goethe Museum, a gallery of paintings from the Goethe era, elucidates Goethe´s relationship to the art and artists of his epoch.

Bankenviertel ( Manhattan / Mainhattan) Main Tower

In 2010, 63 national and 152 international banks had a registered office in Frankfurt, including the headquarters of the major German banks, as well as 41 representative offices of international banks. Frankfurt is therefore well known as Bankenstadt ("City of the banks") and nicknamed "Mainhattan" (a portmanteau of the local Main river and Manhattan in New York City) or "Bankfurt".

Here you‘ll find the „Main Tower" - Opened in 2000, the headquarters of the State Bank of Hesse and Thuringia features the city's first publicly accessible observation platform some 100 metres above the streets of Frankfurt.

Sachsenhausen (Sachsenhausen vacation rentals | Sachsenhausen travel guide)

Sachsenhausen is known for its vibrant nightlife. This Southern part of the old town sports over two dozen bars, taverns and restaurants.

The main street of Sachsenhausen is the Schweizer Straße, a cosmopolitan boulevard with bars and two of Frankfurt's most traditional cider houses, Zum gemalten Haus and Wagner. Ciderhouses that produce their own 'Apfelwein' (applewine) can be identified by the presence of a wreath of evergreen branches hanging outside the location or a similar image included on their signpost. The Textorstraße and the old town or 'Altstadt' are home to the best known ciderhouses in Frankfurt.

Film-Museum

To conserve the film heritage, to work with it and to present it to the public: these have been the objectives of the Deutsches Filmmuseum since its opening in 1984. The permanent exhibition documents the path to 19th century cinematography, and in its second section, one can learn more about 20th century "Film production and cinema history". The museum attracts larger audiences through special exhibitions focusing on biographies and topical themes. The Film Museum is a part of the Museumsufer.

Museumsufer

The southern bank of the Main boasts one of Germany's best cultural treasures. The Museumsufer (museum embankment) stretches from the Friedensbrücke bridge in the west all the way to Dreikönigskirche church in the east. The strip holds thirteen of the city's museums, all located in wonderfully restored villas from the 1900s set between structures dating back to the 1800s.

Eiserner Steg

This famous iron and concrete footbridge, crossed by over 10,000 pedestrians every day, connects the city centre and Römerberg with Sachsenhausen on the southern banks of the Main River. The neo-Gothic-style bridge was built in 1869 according to the plans of Peter Schmick, going through several changes and modifications since then, the last of which took place in 1993.

Römer - Dom - Historische Altstadt

The historical old town centre, including its splendid half-timbered houses, was rebuilt according to the original plans in 1986. It now represents a classic example of the traditional half-timbered architectural style of times gone by. Every single house bears its own name. In the 17th century, the corner house, named "Grosser Engel", became the home of Frankfurt's first bank.

Städel

The Staedel Museum has gained international acclaim as one of the world's leading art museum. Its collections include renowned works of art ranging from the Middle Ages to the present day. The Städel's outstanding artworks are supplemented by countless examples of graphical art as well as sculptures. The list of artists on display reads like a who's who of art history: Botticelli, Dürer, van Eyck, Cranach, Rembrandt, Rubens, Vermeer, Monet, Renoir, Degas, Rodin, van Gogh, Cézanne, Beckmann, Kirchner, Marc, Picasso, Matisse, Klee and Dix.

Kleinmarkthalle

Kleinmarkthalle, one of Frankfurt's most popular indoor grocery markets, offers shoppers a superb selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat as well as other specialities such as herbs and spices from all around the globe.

Zeil / Fressgasse / Alte Oper / Goethestraße

This is the ultimate shopping marathon! Time to put on comfortable shoes - and then off you go.

It's best to start at the Konstablerwache (Thursday and Saturday: farmers market) and walk along the Zeil - there are large modern malls and department stores here, such as "My Zeil" and "Zeilgalerie."

At the end of the Zeil, you turn right and go towards "Alte Oper". This road leads through the so-called "Fressgasse" , a pedestrian zone with local pubs, some nice boutiques and delicatessens.

At the Opera Square, you can take a break. Then you could go back to the "Hauptwache", the central square in the middle of Frankfurt, on the Goethestrasse . This is Frankfurt's most luxurious street where you will find exclusive shops with high-end products.

[ source: wikipedia.org, http://www.frankfurt-tourismus.de ]

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About this Article

This travel guide has been written by Gaby Leeser.

Ich bin studierte Volkskundlerin und gelernte Fernsehreporterin , reise sehr gerne beruflich und privat durch Deutschland und verbringe meinen Urlaub seit Jahren nur in Ferienhäusern oder Ferienwohnungen.

Beruflich habe ich sowohl für das ZDF und den SWR gearbeitet, aber auch für verschiedene private TV Sender - daneben habe ich mich immer mehr auf Recherchen zu den unterschiedlichsten Themen spezialisiert.

Ansonsten lebe ich mit Mann und Foxterrier in Mainz , sammle alte Kochbücher , backe eigenes Brot und fahre mit meinen kleinen grünen MG gerne in die nähere und weitere Umgebung um Neues zu entdecken und stundenlang mit meinem Hund spazieren zu gehen.

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