Dirty

I am going to Germany this summer to visit my brother. He is in the Army and stationed somewhere near Frankfurd. I am kind of wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what I might go see. Please feel free to throw any suggestions out.

gh0ti

I went ~7 years ago on one of those "see Europe in 21 days" highshool trips. The whole trip was amazing. We actually flew into Frankfurd via Chicago (loooong boring flight).

Here is a Map I googled for just to get a good reference.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/mapshel...any/germany.htm

Places to go:

Heidelberg - really cool town. Has a fort/castle that you can tour. Has a nice shop district with pubs, etc. You can hang out next to the river at a nice, peaceful park.

Munich - Beer! Beer! Beer! This city has a big Octoberfest. Its beer halls are great (be sure to check out the Wheat beers (Vice Beir as they call it). We went to a Löwenbräu beer hall next to the train station that was a blast. If your into being humbled at all, check out Dachau, a Nazi Concentration Camp which is close by.

Neuschwanstein castle - One of the most famous castles in the world. Its well worth a trip just to check it out. Cinderella's castle in Disney was modeled after this place.

SiN

Frankfurd? is that some sort of Americanisation of Frankfurt (am Main)?

anyways....

I live in germany (american, moved here 2 yrs ago)..

anyways, let's first reference gh0ti's post...

1. Heidelberg - I've never been there, can't comment.

(ok, so I've not really been much of anywhere, yet. haven't had the time/money for travel, and benzin(gas) is expensive.

2. Munich (München) - Ja, lotsa Bier hier. (I live in Bavaria, abt 2 hrs nw of Munich). I've only been to Munich proper a couple of times, and not yet once set foot in a 'beer hall'..but they do exist, and probably are touristy. not sure if you care.
Regarding the types of beer ... there's Weizen (which is from wheat) and Weissbier (which is my favorite 'type') (and many more beers..I just wanted to clarify on gh0ti's apparent lumping those 2 types together)... but I don't exactly know all of the differences, i've neither experimented or researched that much. During the summer, drink a Radler (Bier + Lemonade. Yum!).

Neuschwanstein - I can recommend that...took my mom there on her 1st visit here. Touristy but worth it.

uhh....

and, we've got untill next summer to come up with more ideas, eh?
good, cos I'm outta time now.

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Dirty

Sorry for mispelling Frankfurt and yeah I have a while to think of stuff to do. Thanks for map and the places you mentioned

gh0ti

Weissbier That would be the one I was talking (reminds everyone that my trip was ~7 years ago, and to my Weiss sounded like Vice at the time I wrote my post above ;-)).

I also remember the Radler. The beer/lemonade mix is rather tasty. We ended up bringing that trick back to the States with us. A bit of lemonade does wonders to some Natty Light or Milwaukee’s Best.

Locobot

Frankfurt wasn't my favorite German city, but I only spent a night there. I believe Neuschwanstein is where the Germany's most famous castle is, it'll be on the cover of almost any guide about visiting Germany. It was the model that Disney used for the cinderella castle in Disneyland, but much more picturesque in the mountains, and real.

I liked Heidelburg, the castle, which is partially destroyed due to a 19th century explosives mishap (oops!), looks over the city. It's a classic university town which means that there will be a lot of young people out and about, don't expect daytona beach though.

If you get a chance though, go to Berlin. It's one of my favorite places in the world. There's a well-known english-language walking tour that is not to be missed. Again there are many universities in Berlin, I really think this effects the attitude and culture of a city.

If you're planning on visiting famous battlegrounds, you might also be interested in visiting a Nazi concentration camp. Dachau is a ten-minute train ride from Munich (Muenchen). Dachau wasn't an extermination camp but it does have the same wrought iron fences with "Arbeit macht frei" written on the gates. I also really enjoyed the Olympic park in Munich, stunning organic architechture.

As has been said, most of your prototypical images of Germany most likely come from Bavaria.

If you're interested in World War 2 history you'll want to visit Nuremburg and see Hitler's parade grounds and the stadium where American troops exploded a giant schwastika over the stands (I'm sure you've seen footage of this in school). There's a decent hostel in a little castle at what I think is the town's high point--from the city center just keep going up. Try to find a photo of what the city looked like in 1945, its a startling contrast.

acostello

Don't know when exactly you'll be going - (Whole summer ? Early Summer, late summer ?) because many germans leave town for a month vacationing in the carribean and warmer climbs like Spain,Greece.

Anyway, Frankfurt is not very interesting tourist wise because it is a no-nonsense business center. Head to Berlin. It has great museums, and some great new architecture. Some good nightclubs and interesting music.

If you are a history buff, go see Dresden. Also, see palaces in Southern Germany. Catch a soccer game or two maybe.

Charlatan

I was in Munich for the first time this fall (on the last weekend of Octoberfest) and I really liked the city... The museums were great, the city was warm and friendly... definately recommend going there...

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trickyy

Berlin is pretty cool. check out the berlin wall museum; there were some interesting methods of illegal wall crossings (someone made a video of their homemade airplane flight).

in the berlin hard rock cafe, your primary source of ranch dressing, there is an old communist standard issue automobile. you can still see some on the roads of east germany, and it's good to visit the old communist part of the country if you are so inclined.

bremen has a cool mercedes factory. i went on a tour but you may have to make arrangements in advance.

dunkel = dark beer

JJRousseau

Berlin is a long way from Frankfurt but worth the visit. East Berlin is great - and inexpensive. West Berlin is boring and expensive. (IMO, of course) Frankfurt is close to wine country and the French Alsace. Lots of big castles around too.

RolandGilead

Yeah, go to Berlin, Frankfurt is not really the nicest city.(nice natural history museum, and a zoo, though) For my taste Munich is way too snobby and conservative, the only good thing which comes from bavaria is the beer. But I think as a foreign tourist a visit can be very interesting. Beware of Lederhosen!!

fuzyfuzer

if you go to berlin take the extra step and go further to dresden it isn't very bi but it is amazing. the entire city is being rebuilt from the original stones. i just got back from a semester in berlin and have to say it has some really cool parts but it gets kind of old fast. the neatest stuff is in bavaria and the rest of south germany. also a cool touresty place is rotenburg. if you go you are required to go to the christmas store whos name slips me at the moment but you can't miss it. also when your there you have to go on the tour of the night watchman it is amazing and informative.

Germany is really fun but don't forget there are other places to go in Europe and all it takes is to jump on a train and go to Paris, Rome, Venice, or London. have a hell of a lot of fun i'm sure you will though.

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SiN

on my mom's 2nd visit here, we went to Rothenburg, and spent a night there.
Touristy, indeed, but nice. quaint.

we missed the watchman, unfortunately.

however, i definitely recommend the Medieval Crime and Torture Museum there. that was really neat.

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amonkie

I was in Frankfurt for a month a little while ago, and you have GOT to go to Rudesheim. It's within an afternoon's driving distance. Then there's also someplace else nearby that has a russian orthodox church that's worth checking out, I can't remember the name of the place at the moment though. In Frankfurt, make sure you go to Ei Christina's = best gelato/ice cream in town!

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tommylee02

Berlin was cool. I took a walking tour that lasted almost 10 hours! It was quite a long time to walk around the city, but I learned a lot about it and it was a lot of fun. We stayed at the Odysee hostel, near the train station. It was pretty clean and we met a lot of people there. I was only there for a short time, but I would really like to go back!

tommylee02

Oops, sorry. Heidelburg was fun, too. We stayed with a friend there for a few days. The castle is pretty interesting, and if you're there on warm days, you can have some fun down by the river. Don't miss the old monk church ruins up in the hills, and the circular seating ruins commissioned by Hitler is up there, too (it might be hard to find without a guide, though). If you do make it there, go up the stairs to the back and up the little path, you will find a plaque with some info of the site. I also think there is an old stone tower nearby. Enjoy!

mirevolver

I usually go to the northern part of Germany, just fly into Frankfurt and go north by train. I would reccommend that you take an IC train from Frankfurt to Köln. That train ride goes along the Rhein river. Then once in Köln, there is a very famous cathedral not too far from the train station.

If you're going to spend a good amount of time in Germany, then I would suggest, Berlin. Berlin is a great city and there are many things there to occupy your time.

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sailor

One warning--if you dont like tourists, avoid Heidelberg.

Anyone here been to Tuebingen? Im thinking about studying there for a year next year...

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JumpinJesus

An out of the way place that a lot of tourists don't go to is Trier. It's the oldest city in Germany and is fascinating. It's in the western part of the country near Luxembourg.

Here's a link so you can see some of the city and decide if you'd like to go.

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