Port guide: Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany

This once dull financial capital is Germany’s most overlooked city but is lively, cultured, and has buzzing neighbourhoods and great dining and shopping scenes.

Who goes there

A-Rosa, Avalon Waterways, Emerald Cruises, Riviera Travel, Scenic, Uniworld and Viking are among companies that sail the Main River. Itineraries are varied, with some concentrating on the Main between Frankfurt and Nuremberg, and others sailing longer journeys onto the Rhine and Danube which are connected by the Main River and Main-Danube Canal. Cruises also run in winter during the Christmas-market season.

Sail on in

Frankfurt… lively, buzzing, cultured.Credit: Getty Images

Your ship sails right into downtown Frankfurt, marked by the small skyscrapers of the business district. If you’re heading downstream, you’ll first pass Gerbermuhle set amid greenery and chestnut trees on the port side. Goethe stayed at this former summer residence of a Frankfurt banker (now a hotel) for a month in 1815 and fell in love with Marianne von Willemer, whom he immortalised in poetry.

Berth rites

Ships dock at several locations along Untermainkai or occasionally at Osthafen depending on the cruise line. There are no terminals, with passengers disembarking onto quays and promenades. Untermainkai is a convenient location, with the old-town centre a 20-minute walk, and lively Sachsenhausen district located just across the river.

Going ashore

The medieval core, almost all recreated after World War II bombing, centres on the red sandstone cathedral and buzzy Romerberg Square. The Gothic city hall is worth a squizz. Goethe House was the birthplace of Germany’s most famous writer and, even if you aren’t literary, is a fine showcase of middle-class, 18th-century living. If you’re a fan of views, head to the observation deck atop Commerzbank Tower. Frankfurt is leafy, but the best park might be 19th-century botanical Palmengarten, which often hosts summer concerts. Save some time to plunder the shops. Pedestrian Zeil is upmarket, Hauptwache mid-range, and Goethestrasse packs in some fine antiques.

Don’t miss

Stadel Museum, Frankfurt.

On the Main’s south bank just across from the cruise quay is Museumufer or Museum Bank, a cultural hub with a string of excellent museums, so pick one that suits your interest. Among them are Liebieghaus (5000 years of sculpture), Stadel Museum (art, and especially Impressionists) and the compelling German Film Museum where you can find out how the special effects of the original King Kong movie were created.

Get active

Lots of parks and green spaces, as well as promenades along the riverbanks, make Frankfurt an easy place to jog, cycle or even (on some marked routes through the city) rollerblade. If you’re more ambitious, the Green Belt and Main Cycling Path will take you out into pretty countryside.

Best bites

Try the original frankfurter, known here as a Frankfurter Wurstchen, eaten with bread, horseradish and mustard, or sometimes potato salad. Another local favourite is boiled beef in green sauce – better than it sounds – accompanied by apple cider. You could get stuffed in Grosse Bockenheimer Strasse, which locals nickname Pig-Out Alley. Given Frankfurt’s wealthy business community, however, you could equally indulge in upmarket dining that proves there’s much more to German cuisine than sauerkraut and sausages. Among the best restaurants are Erno’s Bistro, OX and Lafleur, which has two Michelin stars.

Further afield

Most ships are only in Frankfurt for the day, and you won’t need to stray beyond the city unless you’ve been before. However, two excursion options are often offered. Lovely university town Heidelberg, topped by a ruined castle above the Neckar River, inspired German Romantic writers. Worms is another pleasant town mostly now associated with Martin Luther’s 16th-century Protestant reformation movement, but with a long history. Both are about an hour’s drive away to the south.