Things to do in Frankfurt

Culture · Museumsufer, Sachsenhausen

One of Germany's most important art collections, spanning 700 years, with a subterranean contemporary wing lit by circular skylights in the lawn above.

Local tip: Part of the Museumsufer — a row of museums along the south bank. The Museumsuferfest in August and the annual Museumsufer Ticket make the whole strip worth doing properly rather than one at a time.

Food · South bank

Cobbled streets of traditional taverns serving Äppelwoi from Bembel jugs, with Grüne Soße and Handkäs mit Musik.

Local tip: Order a Bembel for the table rather than glasses. Handkäs mit Musik is a sour milk cheese with onions — the 'music' is a joke about what happens next, and you should try it anyway.

Landmark · Old town

The medieval town hall and the reconstructed old town, rebuilt from 2018 on the original plots after wartime destruction.

Local tip: The reconstruction is recent and divides opinion, but the Kaiserdom next door is original and you can climb the tower for the best free-ish view of the skyline.

Nature · Westend

A 22-hectare botanical garden from 1871 with tropical houses, a lake and a genuinely serious plant collection.

Local tip: The best place in the city on a grey February afternoon — the tropical greenhouses are warm and humid when everything outside is not. Locals buy an annual pass and use it as a park.

Nature · 30 minutes north-west

Forested hills rising to 880 metres, with hiking, a Roman limes fortification, and snow in winter.

Local tip: Reachable by S-Bahn and bus on the Deutschlandticket. The Grosser Feldberg is the highest point and, on a clear day, you can see the Frankfurt skyline from it — the contrast is the point.

Neighborhood · Around the main station

The most contradictory district in Germany — banks on one corner, the red-light district on the next, and the best and most diverse eating in the city throughout.

Local tip: Genuinely the best food in Frankfurt, from Eritrean to Korean to Turkish, on streets that also carry an open drug scene the city manages rather than hides. Go with clear eyes; it is safe but it is not sanitised.