DD and I going to Frankfort, Germany to see DS!!

Wonderful! I've been to Frankfurt but not in a long while. Enjoy it!

I used to work at Abrams Kaserne in Frankfurt. One of the buildings had terrifying paternosters but thankfully that wasn't my building. I also met my husband in Frankfurt. You're going to have a lovely time.

If you want to go to Paris, I advise taking an afternoon train, staying overnight, doing your minimal sightseeing the next day, and coming home the next evening. It's not that terribly far and a day in Paris is fun. I had my 8th birthday party at a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. My mom allowed me to take three friends (it was the highest number of little girls she thought she could keep track of!) and we took the train early in the morning, spent the day in Paris, had lunch in a cafe, and came home later that night. But we lived closer; it was maybe 2.5 hours on the train from where we lived. 

i met mine in darmstadt...but he started out in frankfurt at McNair

when did you live there?

same distance as paris would be

also very beautiful

gina

i was in darmstadt from 1989-1992 - for two years we were twenty minutes apart...and probably ran into each other at the PX at Rhein Main!  

small world

Yeah! So jealous. We did 8 years in Germany.

Research the Wine Strasse and the Romatische Strasse. Both will give you road trips that are pretty easy within Frankfurt. Rothenberg isn't a bad drive, Heidelberg is easy. The whole Rhine Valley is easy. Baden Baden is quick. Sinsheim has a cool museum. Wurzberg and Bamberg are also drivable and both will give you different German flair (Bamberg - is more Bavarian, Wurzberg - Franconian.)

Also, Frankfurt in it's own right is a cool city.

I have been there many times. When I was a kid, we got to attend the Meistertrunk Festival which was very cool. They close off the city to cars, the townsfolk dress up in period costumes, and there is a lot of history on display. I loved it as a kid and again when I took my then-boyfriend back for the Christmas market there. 

Me, my brother, and my sister in Rothenburg, during Meistertrunk. I think this was 1978 maybe. 

My first choice would be Strasbourg, followed by Heidelberg and Rothenburg. Also a day cruise or dinner cruise on the Rhine. If you do the dinner cruise, the ship stops at one point and there are fireworks (and other ships, too.) I've done it twice, once as a child and once as an adult and it is one of the most memorable things, both times.

I am so envious. I was last in Germany in 2013 for the dedication of a memorial to my great-uncle and his aircraft crew who went down (probably from a bomb falling out of a higher altitude Allied plane after a bombing run) on a farm in Bavaria (can't remember the name of the village right this moment.) I even have a place to stay... with the Americans who purchased the farm in 2012 (they had no idea about the crash, the villagers approached them!). Going back is on my to-do-after-my-liver-transplant list.

Look into the ICE train. You can get from Frankfurt to Paris in under 4 hours. Day trip is totally doable to see the basics.

What a wonderful surprise from your daughter and how exciting for you!  My sister was born in Frankfurt in 1963 and I was born in Wurzburg in 1960. I just had an amazing solo trip back to Germany this past May and used their wonderful train system to go all around the Bavaria area. I didn't make it as far north as Wurzburg or Frankfurt but I've been back there with my father before this trip.  I did go to Rothenburg, Germany as the other Peas have suggested and can tell you out of the 6 towns/cities I visited it was my absolute favorite! It is the most picturesque town you can ever imagine and looks like the old German town of your imagination. It is a town from the Middle Ages and is incredibly well preserved. Look up Google images of it and you will see what I mean. I highly recommend a visit to it if you can fit it in. There are actually two in Germany by this name so look for Rothenburg ob der Tauber. 

To get around it's very easy to use the train system called the Deutsche Bahn and their website is bahn.com  When you get there you can click on what language to use and English is an option. I was able to have it on my Iphone and it was so easy to use during my trip and incredibly helpful when I changed my plans, decided to stay an extra night in one town and skip the night I'd planned in another town. The ICE trains are the super fast trains. 

I wish you a wonderful visit and if you have any questions just ask them here or PM me. 

I'm jealous. We lived in Germany too years ago. We were near Ansbach though..little town called Lichtenau right beside a castle. Also a fan of Rothenburg. Such a neat little town. I would love to go back and visit someday.

Thanks!  All my childhood pictures from the 70s look that new. It helps when your dad is a photographer and shot all his family vacation photos on a medium-format Bronica. I remember the Meistertrunk very vividly even aside from the photos. There was a joust, a pig roast, the crime and punishment museum, and since I spoke pretty fluent German as a kid, it was a really fun adventure. I got separated from my family after the joust and nearly gave my mom a heart attack but I asked a nice man in medieval costume for help auf Deutsch and my mother finally found me sitting on the steps of the church eating an ice cream with the guy who was dressed like a serf.


We went back there many times while we lived in Germany because my father LOVED that town and the scenery for his photography. 

Have a great time. Don't forget, we're going to want to see pictures!

You know, another fun place to go is Rudisheim am Rhein.  We loved traveling along the Rhine/Mosel River valley.  A Rhine River cruise would be fun and you can even stop to tour some castles along the way depending on which tour you take.  Even downtown Frankfurt can be interesting, although it isn't known as a great sightseeing city.  The Romerplatz there is worth taking a look at if you only have a bit of time or want a very short day.  I love Heidelberg and although the castle is pretty much in ruins, it is still very much worth a visit.  Our favorite castle was Burg Elz which is round about a 2 hour drive from Frankfurt.  I hope you have a grand glorious trip.  I love the country of Germany and my husband are planning our own self guided wine tour along the Mosel River Valley in Summer 2019.  Speaking of my husband, I met him in 1986 when he was stationed at McNair Kaserne and I was next door at Michael Barracks.  It is interesting to see others here with ties to McNair Kaserne.  What a small world!  My husband and I went back a few years ago and there's really almost nothing left of the place.  They put up a bunch of apartment blocks where Michael Barracks was located and there's only a small bit of McNair Kaserne left.  We recognized a bit of the wall that was once around the Kaserne and that's about it.  Kind of sad in a way.