Things to do in Frankfurt: Places to Visit & Christmas Market

Frankfurt, Germany, is a great place to visit, with plenty to see and do, especially during the Christmas markets. Visiting Frankfurt with a dog was great fun, and I found it to be mostly dog-friendly.

I’ve enjoyed a few brief visits to the German city of Frankfurt with the dog because it’s a crossroads on the German rail network. A highlight was the Christmas market. I incorporated seeing some of Frankfurt’s interesting architecture, local beer, and Christmas market food.

The top priorities for the stopovers were to give the dog a walk, let him relieve himself, and see some of Frankfurt. Knowing these were time-limited stays, I had planned a loop on each visit to ensure that I kept our schedule.

Frankfurt in Germany

Frankfurt is a central German city on the banks of the River Main. The city is a major financial hub that’s home to the European Central Bank and has a unique skyline for European cities with many high-rise buildings.

Most of the city was damaged during World War II and later rebuilt. The reconstructed Altstadt (Old Town) is home to Römerberg, a square that hosts the annual Christmas market.

Things to See and Do in Frankfurt

As planned, we headed to the city’s Christmas Market. This was a fantastic spot to admire the Frankfurt skyline and its many tower blocks, including the famous Main Tower. The towers were impressive and unique for a European city, as most European cities avoided building skyscrapers.

Visit The Christmas Markets

The Frankfurt Christmas markets are near the station and a pleasant walk away. The Frankfurt Christmas Market was fantastic to experience, with its unique stalls.

The Frankfurt Christmas market is in the city’s old town, mostly in a pretty town square. There were lots of Christmas market stalls, and it was a hive of activity and people having fun. St Catherine’s Church made a nice backdrop; it is a Baroque church built in the late 17th century.

The smells coming from the area were delightful, with a combination of Christmassy food smells.

The area had lots of Christmas market food options. We settled on German bratwurst served with sauerkraut and mustard. These were delicious, and I had seconds. It would have been a shame not to wash lunch down with some good old German beer. So I enjoyed the first pint of the day, a pleasant Helles-style German beer.

Another must-visit stall for us at the Christmas markets was the one selling stollen. Stollen is a fantastic cake and was well worth the extra weight in the backpack. The stollen was delicious and a great snack on a Christmas train journey to the next city with a Christmas market, Nuremberg. Lots of the Christmas market stalls were near Liebfrauen, a pleasant church. This Gothic-style church was built between the 14th and 16th centuries.

Find the pretty Eschenheim Tower

Eschenheimerm, a.k.a. Eschenheim Tower, was originally a city gate and part of the city’s late-medieval fortifications. The tower, now a landmark, was constructed at the beginning of the fifteenth century. Eschenheim Tower is one of the oldest and most unaltered buildings in Frankfurter Neustadt. We also saw some Christmas market stalls next to the tower during our visit.

Fürstenpalais Christmas Market stalls

Fürstenpalais also had Christmas market stalls with tempting produce for sale, and the backdrop was beautiful. Stalls included the Christmas favourite Glühwein, AKA mulled wine.

Fürstenpalais was built between 1731 and 1739. It has had an interesting history since then.

Dog Walk through Bockenheimer Anlage

From here, we headed through Bockenheimer Anlage, a city park with a lake. The open space provided another splendid view of the city’s towering skyline.

Photograph the beautiful Alte Oper or watch a performance

After leaving the park, we arrived at the magnificent Alte Oper, the city’s original opera house. The Alte Oper, meaning Old Opera, is a concert hall and a former opera house in Frankfurt. The Alte Oper opened in 1880 but was destroyed by bombs in 1944 during WWII. The building was rebuilt slowly in the ’70s and reopened in 1981.

They performed many important operas in Frankfurt for the first time. This included Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in 1937, my favourite. For those who don’t know the opera, it was very famous for its use in the Old Spice advert.

They decorated it nicely for the festivities, including some Christmas trees near the entrance. As a bonus, we got to see a gorgeous sunset in Opernplatz.

Watch The Sunset at Opernplatz

Outside the opera house’s main entrance is a square known as Opernplatz, or Opera Square. It also offers magnificent views, plus some eateries and a fountain.

Eurotower

The European Central Bank Building (Eurotower) is one of many skyscrapers in the German city and features a prominent monument to the euro symbol at the front. They built the tower between 1971 and 1979. It currently employs many European Central Bank staff.

Liebfrauenberg

One of Frankfurt’s most beautiful town squares is Liebfrauenberg. Beautiful buildings surround the square, and a centrepiece fountain with an obelisk sits in the middle.

Various cafes let you enjoy a drink in the square, especially during the warmer months. However, during the winter, Liebfrauenberg hosts one of the Christmas markets.

Other Things to See or Do in Frankfurt?

Because we spent so little time in the city, our visit was very limited. However, if the opportunity arises, I would love to return. I would love to visit or experience the following.

• A walk along the River Main, as I have an affinity for rivers, or maybe, if possible, a boat tour.
• Climbing the Main Tower to the viewing platform.
• Try more local beers.
• Try a Frankfurter sausage in its hometown. I could not find one on our rounds.

Travel By Train To Frankfurt

As we were travelling with the dog on this Interrail adventure, we broke up the journey. The first time was travelling from The Hague to Nuremberg, with a few hours to mooch around Frankfurt, Germany. This was an obvious stopping point, as we needed to change here. Then the trains to Nuremberg were pretty frequent, so we could keep our stay flexible.

The second visit was during a trip from Dresden to Maastricht, Netherlands. The city was a great place to stop, since the dog had been good on the train for a long time. Frankfurt is well connected to the German railway network, and it is easy to visit from most places.

We arrived at Frankfurt Central train station after lunch, after a pleasant journey on the superfast ICE train. Our first job was to locate the lockers where we could leave both rucksacks. This cost 5 euros and was good value, letting us take a quick tour. The train station was pleasant and seemed very busy, with some long, fast-looking trains.