Frankfurt Walking Tours: Three Routes
Frankfurt Walking Tours: Three Routes
Frankfurt’s centre is compact and mostly flat, so three self-guided walks cover most of what a visitor wants: the old town, the bank towers and the river with its museums. Each route is a half-day, and you can chain two in a day if you start early.
Route one: the Altstadt trail (2 km, about 2 hours)
Start on the Römerberg in front of the Fountain of Justice and look up at the stepped front of the Römer, the city hall since 1405. Walk into the Neue Altstadt, the quarter rebuilt between 2012 and 2018, and find the carved timbers of the Goldene Waage. Drop into the Archaeological Garden under the Stadthaus, then enter the Kaiserdom. The nave is free, and the Domturm climb is 328 steps for €3. Finish at Paulsplatz in front of the Paulskirche, free to enter. Opening times for the tower are on dom-frankfurt.de .
Route two: the skyscraper walk (3 km, about 2 hours)
Begin at the Hauptbahnhof and take Kaiserstraße rather than the parallel Taunusstraße, Elbestraße or Moselstraße, especially after dark. Kaiserstraße is the wide, lit boulevard and leads to Willy-Brandt-Platz, where the blue Euro sculpture stands outside the former ECB building. Turn north into Neue Mainzer Straße, the bank canyon, and look up at the Commerzbank Tower by Foster + Partners. Main Tower’s platform (€9 for adults) is the stop for the view, though it closes in bad weather and winter hours finish at 19:00 Sunday to Thursday. Walk on through the Taunusanlage park to the Alte Oper of 1880 on Opernplatz. Check maintower.de before you commit.
Route three: Museumsufer and Sachsenhausen (3.5 km, about 2.5 hours)
Cross the river on the Eiserner Steg and drop down to Schaumainkai, the tree-lined south-bank promenade. The museums line up in a row: the Museum Angewandte Kunst, the German Film Museum, the German Architecture Museum and, at number 63, the Städel. Adult entry at the Städel is about €17 to €19, it is closed on Mondays, and on Thursdays it stays open until 21:00. Turn south into the cobbled lanes of Alt-Sachsenhausen and finish with Apfelwein and schnitzel with green sauce. Details are on staedelmuseum.de .
Practicalities
Wear shoes with grip, because the Altstadt and Sachsenhausen lanes are cobbled. Many Sachsenhausen taverns prefer cash. Pickpockets favour the Hauptbahnhof and crowded transport, so keep a hand on your bag there. If you prefer commentary, you can browse Frankfurt walking tours on GetYourGuide . The sightseeing page describes the main stops in more detail.
Tip: walk route three late on a Thursday, when the Städel is open until 21:00 and the taverns are a short stroll away.