Must-see attractions in Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

  • Exterior of Staedelsches Kunstinstitut museum (Museum Staedel), Frankfurt am Main, Hesse, Germany.

    Städel Museum

    Frankfurt am Main

    Founded in 1815, this world-renowned art gallery has an outstanding collection of European art from masters including Dürer, Rembrandt, Rubens, Renoir,…

  • Porta Nigra

    Trier

    Trier's most famous landmark, this brooding 2nd-century Roman city gate – blackened by time, hence the name, which is Latin for ‘black gate’ – is a marvel…

  • Konstantin Basilika

    Trier

    Constructed around AD 310 as Constantine’s throne room, the brick-built basilica is now an austere Protestant church. With built-to-impress dimensions …

  • Heidelberg castle

    Schloss Heidelberg

    Heidelberg

    Towering over the Altstadt, Heidelberg’s ruined Renaissance castle cuts a romantic figure, especially across the Neckar River when illuminated at night…

  • Germany, Hesse, Frankfurt, view of Frankfurt Cathedral, Kaiserdom Sankt Bartholomaus.

    Kaiserdom

    Frankfurt am Main

    Frankfurt’s red-sandstone cathedral is dominated by a 95m-high Gothic tower, which can be climbed via 328 steps. Construction began in the 13th century;…

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    Senckenberg Museum

    Frankfurt am Main

    Life-size dinosaur mock-ups guard the front of Frankfurt’s natural history museum. Inside the early 1900s neo-baroque building, exhibits cover…

  • Römerberg square and Justice fountain, Frankfurt

    Römerberg

    Frankfurt am Main

    The Römerberg is Frankfurt’s old central square. Ornately gabled half-timbered buildings, reconstructed after WWII, give an idea of how beautiful the city…

  • Grube Messel

    Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

    A Unesco World Heritage Site, this one-time coal and oil shale quarry 10km northeast of Darmstadt is renowned for its superbly preserved animal and plant…

  • Burg Eltz

    Moselle Valley

    At the head of the beautiful Moselle side-valley the Eltz, Burg Eltz is one of Germany's most romantic medieval castles. Never destroyed, this fairy-tale…

  • Barockschloss Mannheim

    Mannheim

    Mannheim’s most famous sight is the yellow and red sandstone Schloss, Germany’s largest baroque palace. Now occupied by the University of Mannheim, the…

  • Hambacher Schloss

    German Wine Route

    Atop a forested Pfälzerwald hill 6km southwest of the centre, this 'cradle of German democracy' is where idealistic locals, Polish refugees and French…

  • Trierer Dom

    Trier

    Looming above the Roman palace of Helena (Emperor Constantine's mother), this cathedral is Germany's oldest bishop's church and still retains Roman…

  • Gutenberg-Museum Mainz

    Mainz

    A heady experience for book lovers, the Gutenberg Museum commemorates native son Johannes Gutenberg, who in the 15th century ushered in the information…

  • Kloster Machern

    Moselle Valley

    The Moselle might be better known for its wine, but a former Cistercian monastery, founded in the 13th century, now houses this extraordinary brewery,…

  • Festung Ehrenbreitstein

    Koblenz

    On the right bank of the Rhine, 118m above the river, this fortress proved indestructible to all but Napoleonic troops, who levelled it in 1801. To prove…

  • Heiligtum der Isis und Mater Magna

    Mainz

    In a darkened, dungeon-like space, a glass walkway leads you around this extraordinary Roman archaeological site, which was discovered in 1999 during the…

  • Mainzer Dom

    Mainz

    Topped by an octagonal tower, Mainz’ immense cathedral, built from deep red sandstone in the 12th century, is quintessentially Romanesque. Its predecessor…

  • Rheinisches Landesmuseum

    Trier

    A scale model of 4th-century Trier and rooms filled with tombstones, mosaics, rare gold coins (including the 1993-discovered Trier Gold Hoard, the largest…

  • Liebfrauenbasilika

    Trier

    Germany’s oldest Gothic church was built in the 13th century. It has a cruciform structure supported by a dozen pillars symbolising the 12 Apostles (look…

  • Kaiserthermen

    Trier

    Get a sense of the layout of this vast Roman thermal bathing complex with its striped brick-and-stone arches from the corner lookout tower, then descend…

  • Amphitheatre

    Trier

    Trier’s mighty Roman amphitheatre could accommodate 20,000 spectators for gladiator tournaments and animal fights. Beneath the arena are dungeons where…

  • Landesmuseum Mainz

    Mainz

    Highlights of this well laid-out state museum include an ensemble of exquisite Jugendstil pieces, outstanding collections of Renaissance and 20th-century…

  • Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte

    Völklinger Hütte

    Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

    The hulking former ironworks of Völklinger Hütte, 14km northwest of Saarbrücken, are one of Europe’s great heavy-industrial relics. Opened in 1873, 17,000…

  • Germany, Hesse, Frankfurt am Main, Museum fur Moderne Kunst (Museum of Modern Art), MMK, wedge-shaped exterior, designed by Hans Hollein

    Museum für Moderne Kunst

    Frankfurt am Main

    The outstanding Museum of Modern Art focuses on European and American art from the 1960s to the present, with frequent temporary exhibits. The permanent…

  • Museum Judengasse

    Frankfurt am Main

    Most of Frankfurt’s medieval Jewish ghetto – Europe's first, dating from 1460 – on narrow Judengasse (Jews’ Street) was destroyed by a French bombardment…

  • Burg Trifels

    German Wine Route

    Thought to be of Celtic origins, this enormous red-sandstone hilltop castle was first documented in 1081. Between 1125 and 1298 it was the repository of…

  • Burg Rheinstein

    Rhine Valley

    In the 1820s, privately owned Rheinstein, 6km downriver from Bingen, became the first Rhine castle to be converted – by Prussian royalty (a branch of the…

  • Mathildenhöhe

    Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

    Established in 1899 at the behest of Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig, the former Künstlerkolonie (artists' colony) at Mathildenhöhe is famous for its Darmstädter…

  • Basilika St Matthias

    Trier

    Magnificent St Matthias Abbey is thought to be Germany's oldest Christian church. Begun in 1127, when the relics of the Apostle Matthias (Judas' successor…

  • Baumwipfelpfad Saarschleife

    Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

    The most scenic spot along the Saar River is the Saarschleife, 60km northwest of Saarbrücken, where the river makes a spectacular, almost unbelievable…

  • Pfalzgrafstein

    Rhine Valley

    Across the river from the village of Kaub, the boat-shaped toll castle Pfalzgrafstein, built in 1326, perches on an island in the middle of the Rhine. A…

  • Burg Reichenstein

    Rhine Valley

    Looming above the village of Trechtingshausen, 8km downriver from Bingen, mighty Burg Reichenstein harbours a lavish collection of furnishings, armour,…

  • Moderne Galerie

    Frankfurt & Southern Rhineland

    One of Saarland’s cultural highlights, the Saarland Museum’s Moderne Galerie covers European art from the late 1800s to the present, and is especially…

  • Mittelrhein-Museum

    Koblenz

    Spread over 1700 sq metres of the striking glass Forum Confluentes building, Koblenz' Mittelrhein-Museum's displays span 2000 years of the region’s…

  • IG-Farbenhaus

    Frankfurt am Main

    The monumental seven-storey IG-Farbenhaus was erected in 1931 as the headquarters of IG-Farben (pronounced ‘ee geh far-behn’), the mammoth German…

  • Goethe House, where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born in 1749 - Frankfurt, Hesse

    Goethe-Haus

    Frankfurt am Main

    Completely rebuilt after WWII (only the cellar survived Allied bombing), the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) is furnished in the…

  • Germany, Hesse, Frankfurt, Old Opera

    Alte Oper

    Frankfurt am Main

    Inaugurated in 1880, the Italian Renaissance-style Alte Oper anchors the western end of the Zeil-Fressgass pedestrian zone. Burnt out in 1944, it narrowly…

  • Frankfurt, Skyline, Winter, Germany.

    Riverfront Promenade

    Frankfurt am Main

    Beautiful parkland runs along both banks of the Main River – perfect for strolling, running, cycling or a picnic. The most popular section is between the…

  • Kloster Eberbach

    Rhine Valley

    Dating from the 12th century, this one-time Cistercian monastery, in an idyllic little valley 15km northeast of Rüdesheim, went through periods as a…

  • Reichsburg

    Moselle Valley

    Like many others in the area, Cochem's original 11th-century castle fell victim to French troops in 1689, then stood ruined for centuries until wealthy…