These are the best places to travel this summer

Frankfurt am Main

Germany Travel Guide

Shop

Get even more with a Lonely Planet guide.

Shop Book
Frankfurt Christmas market

Getty Images

LONELY PLANET’S RECOMMENDED eSIM

Stay connected in Frankfurt am Main

with

Saily is an affordable eSIM service that helps you stay connected and secure, anywhere in the world.

Get your eSIM

Overview

Glinting with glass, steel and concrete skyscrapers, Frankfurt-on-the-Main (pronounced ‘mine’) is unlike any other German city. The focal point of a conurbation of 5.5 million inhabitants, ‘Mainhattan’ is a high-powered finance and business hub, home to one of the world’s largest stock exchanges and the gleaming headquarters of the European Central Bank, and famously hosts some of the world's most important trade fairs, attracting thousands of business travellers.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

  • 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;…

  • 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,…

  • Germany, Frankfurt, Senckenberg Museum; Shutterstock ID 443693980; Your name (First / Last): Gemma Graham; GL account no.: 65050; Netsuite department name: Online Editorial; Full Product or Project name including edition: 100 Cities Guides app image downloads

    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…

  • IG-Farbenhaus

    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…

  • 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…

  • 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…

View more attractions

Planning Tools

Expert guidance to help you plan your trip

Best Things to Do

Discover the top things to do in Frankfurt. Climb the Kaiserdom, explore musuems, sip apple wine in an apfelwein tavern and wander the Old Town.

Read article

Get a book. Get inspired. Get exploring.

Explore all books

in partnership with getyourguide

Book popular activities in Frankfurt am Main