Distance from city: 12km (8 miles)

Straddling the River Main not long before it converges with the Rhine, FRANKFURT AM MAIN is the considered the capital city Germany.

Frankfurt is the economic powerhouse of the country, a financial centre which is home to hundreds of banks, including the Bundesbank and, since 1998, the European Central Bank. Frankfurt is a modern international city, with over 28 percent of its residents - the highest proportion in Germany being of foreign citizenship.

Frankfurt is a major communications and transport centre, and consequently gives many travellers their first taste of the country. It's a place with a surprising amount to offer and it's worth spending at least a couple of days here rather than treating it as a mere transit point.

A lot of the city was destroyed during World War II and the rebuilders decided to follow a policy of innovation rather than restoration. The result is a skyline that smacks more of New York than the Federal Republic - appropriate enough in a city that has the reputation of being one of the most Americanized in Europe and whose most commonly used nickname is Mainhatten. Frankfurt spends more per year on the arts than any other city in Europe, and whose inhabitants like nothing better than to spend an evening knocking back a few jugs of the local apple wine in the open-air taverns of the Sachsenhausen suburb.

Frankfurt has an energetic nightlife and is a thriving recreational centre for the whole of Hesse, with a good selection of theatres and galleries, and an even better range of museums, mostly concentrated along the south bank of the River Main. It comes across as a confident and tolerant city, and in the Bockenheim district there's a healthy "alternative" scene, not self-consciously institutionalized in the way that Berlin's has become.

The Old Town has the restored medieval quarter and Sachsenhaus, the area across the river, houses many museums, taverns and more banks.

The area around the main station (Hauptbahnhof), is surrounded by many hotels and businesses.

The Roemerberg a square north of the Main River, is the historical centre point of the city where you will find the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas’s Church) and the Roemer, which has been Frankfurt’s city hall since the turn of the fifteenth century. Nearby you will also find the Sankt Bartholomausdom (Church of St Bartholomew), the views from the top of which offer a stunning panorama of the city.

The Roemerberg a square north of the Main River, is the historical centre point of the city where you will find the Nikolaikirche (St Nicholas’s Church) and the Roemer, which has been Frankfurt’s city hall since the turn of the fifteenth century. Nearby you will also find the Sankt Bartholomausdom (Church of St Bartholomew), the views from the top of which offer a stunning panorama of the city.

The City
Most of central Frankfurt can be covered on foot; almost all the main sights lie within the bounds of the old city walls, which have been turned into a stretch of narrow parkland describing an approximate semicircle around the city centre. From here it's an easy matter to cross the Main into Sachsenhausen, where most of the museums are conveniently located along the southern river bank

Founded in the mid-nineteenth century, Frankfurt’s Zoologischer Garten (Zoo) is one of the most important and attractive Zoos in Europe. Take the U-Bahn to Bockenheimer Warte. Here you will also be able to visit the nearby Palmengarten (Palmgarden); a wonderful display of tropical plants and exotic birds.

There is an array of museums and galleries such as the Museum fuer Moderne Kunst (The Museum of Modern art ), the Staedelsche Kunstinstitut und Staedtische Galerie (Staedel Art Institut and Municipal Gallery), the Historische Museum (Historical Museum) and last but not least the Goethe Museum and Goethe Haus (Goethe’s House and Museum). Completely destroyed during World War II, this was the house where Germany’s most famous poet was born and brought up in the mid-eighteenth century. It has since been rebuilt and can be reached by taking the U-Bahn/S-Bahn to Hauptwache.

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