Berlin in Frankfurt

You know, I really thought all the restrictions and cancelations would make this summer seem slow. Instead, I’m looking at August on the calendar and our packout date is staring me down. As we wrap up our time here in Frankfurt, I wanted to share some of our adventures over the last few months. Until recently, we had to stay in Germany and specifically in our state of Hessen. Now, we have more flexibility to travel more but have mostly stayed in Germany because there really are so many amazing places to see.

Around Frankfurt/Hessen

We’ve been grateful that Germany makes green space, well maintained trails and beautiful historic sites a priority and mostly accessible throughout these crazy times. All of these photos were taken around Frankfurt or within the state of Hessen, in which Frankfurt is located (with the exception of Heidelberg, just over the border in the state of Baden-Württemberg). We installed a tow hitch on our SUV and bought a bike rack that’s super easy to tote bikes around. Lately, when we go somewhere, we’ll throw the bikes on just in case.

Mosel River Weekend

For Memorial Day weekend, we returned to one of our favorite AirBnBs of all time. Located in Leiwen along the Mosel River Valley, this area is famous for its sharp river bends and steep vineyards cut into the sides of the hills…and delicious wine! We found amazing rosé sekt (sparkling wine) in this area and the hills are filled with hiking and biking paths.

Stuttgart/Black Forest Weekend

We stayed a few nights in a snug AirBnB in a tiny town called Bühl, just outside the posh spa town of Baden-Baden. We did some hiking along some lush Black Forest trails and waterfalls and enjoyed delicious local cuisine. But before arriving in the Black Forest area, we spent the day exploring the Porsche and Mercedes museums (both cool, highly recommend Mercedes if you have to pick). Visiting the car museums was bittersweet because we were supposed to take my dad there on his visit back in March which got canceled due to COVID and I know he would have loved them. Hopefully we’ll have another chance!

Hamburg Weekend

A couple weeks ago, we drove up to Northern Germany to explore Hamburg. What an amazing city with a distinct Scandinavian flair, evidenced by its architecture and long summer nights. When we were there it was really only dark from after 11 pm till 4 am. The flavour of the city felt quite different to me than other large German cities – for example Berlin, Munich, Cologne. We really enjoyed our lovely AirBnB which is located next a large lake called Alster Lake – there were many sailboats and paddle boats and casual bars dot the edge. You can also hop on a ferry to take in the city. We ended up getting off at a random beach and having brunch one morning.

Colmar and Rhineland-Palatinate Weekend

Most recently, we spent one night in Colmar in the lovely James Boutique Hotel then the next morning, met friends in Edesheim for a day of wine and vinegar tasting (sounds weird but so amazing). Edesheim is a tiny town along the Rhineland-Palatinate wine region. We stayed in this comfortable AirBnB right in the middle of town. It was a fun weekend and an easy 75 minute drive from Frankfurt to Edesheim or a short train.

I think that about catches us up! While we’re still in Frankfurt, we have a couple more things we’d like to do in the area as well as one or two weekend trips before we head off on our next adventure.