Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Monuments
Rüdesheim am Rhein
The Niederwald Monument above Rüdesheim am Rhein is one of Germany's best-known national monuments, crowned by a giant bronze Germania gazing out over the vineyards of the Rheingau. Built to celebrate the founding of the German Empire afte…
Gardens & parks
Kassel
Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe in Kassel is Europe's largest hillside park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013. A giant copper Hercules statue crowns the hilltop, and below it a chain of cascades, waterfalls and a fountain more than 50 mete…
Landmarks
Frankfurt am Main
The Eiserner Steg ("Iron Footbridge") in Frankfurt am Main is the city's best-known pedestrian bridge and one of its landmarks. The riveted steel span links the Old Town around Römerberg square with the Sachsenhausen district and the Museu…
Churches & monasteries
Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt Cathedral – officially the Imperial Cathedral of St. Bartholomew (Kaiserdom St. Bartholomäus) – is the largest church in Frankfurt am Main and one of the most important sites of German history. For centuries the prince-electors c…
Viewpoints
Frankfurt am Main
The Main Tower in Frankfurt am Main is the only skyscraper in the city with an observation deck open to the public, which makes it the easiest way to see Germany's financial capital from above. From about 200 meters (656 feet) up, you look…
Gardens & parks
Frankfurt am Main
The Palmengarten in Frankfurt am Main is one of Germany's best-known botanical gardens and a green escape just outside the city center. Spread over about 19 hectares (47 acres), it shows around 9,000 plant species outdoors and in historic…
Museums
Frankfurt am Main
The Senckenberg Natural History Museum (Senckenberg Naturmuseum) in Frankfurt am Main is one of the largest natural history museums in Europe and a favorite with families. A replica Tyrannosaurus rex greets you outside; inside are dinosaur…
Old towns & squares
Frankfurt am Main
The New Frankfurt Old Town (Neue Frankfurter Altstadt), between the cathedral and Römerberg square, is the youngest and one of the most photographed parts of Frankfurt am Main. Built between 2012 and 2018 on the site of a 1970s concrete of…
Zoos
Frankfurt am Main
The Frankfurt Zoo (Zoo Frankfurt) in the city's Ostend district is the second-oldest zoo in Germany and one of the most popular family outings in Frankfurt am Main. Right at the eastern end of the Zeil shopping street, you can see gorillas…
Landmarks
Frankfurt am Main
The Alte Oper (Old Opera) on Opernplatz is one of Frankfurt's most photographed buildings and one of Germany's leading concert halls. Its neo-Renaissance facade stands out among the skyscrapers of the banking district. You can see it in tw…
Lakes
Edertal
Lake Edersee in northern Hesse is one of Germany's largest reservoirs, winding for almost 18 miles (28.5 km) through the wooded hills of the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park. Its massive stone dam at Hemfurth became world famous in May 194…
Museums
Neu-Anspach
Hessenpark in Neu-Anspach is the open-air museum of the German state of Hesse and one of the top family day trips from Frankfurt. Spread across about 65 hectares (160 acres) in the Taunus hills, it brings together more than a hundred histo…
Historic sites & memorials
Rasdorf
Point Alpha on the former border between Hesse and Thuringia is one of the best places in Germany to grasp what the Cold War looked like on the ground. A US Army observation post and the East German border fortifications face each other ac…
Historic sites & memorials
Messel
The Messel Pit (Grube Messel) near Darmstadt is Germany's oldest UNESCO natural World Heritage Site and one of the richest fossil sites on Earth. A former oil-shale mine, it preserves animals and plants from the Eocene, including early hor…
Old towns & squares
Frankfurt am Main
The Kleinmarkthalle in Frankfurt is the city's best-known indoor food market, a lively hall in the old town where regional produce, sausages, cheese, spices and international delicacies are sold side by side. If you want a taste of Frankfu…
Churches & monasteries
Lorsch
Lorsch Abbey (Kloster Lorsch) in southern Hesse is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important relics of the Carolingian era in Germany. The once-powerful imperial abbey survives mainly through its famous Königshalle, a gate…
Castles
Kassel
Löwenburg Castle in Kassel looks like a crumbling medieval fortress, but it is actually a romantic fantasy built at the end of the 18th century. Set in Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2013, this artificial ruin wa…
Landmarks
Frankfurt am Main
The Messeturm (Trade Fair Tower) in Frankfurt is one of the city's most recognizable skyscrapers: a red granite tower topped by a pyramid, standing beside the exhibition grounds on Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage. At about 257 meters (843 feet) it…
Museums
Frankfurt am Main
The Museum für Moderne Kunst (MMK) in Frankfurt is one of Germany's most important museums of contemporary art. Its main building in the old town, Hans Hollein's wedge-shaped "slice of cake", is a landmark in itself. One thing to know befo…
National parks
Vöhl
Kellerwald-Edersee National Park in northern Hesse protects one of the last large old-growth beech forests in Central Europe, rising straight from the shores of the Edersee reservoir. Its steep slopes, gnarled oaks and quiet trails earned…
Zoos
Kronberg im Taunus
The Opel-Zoo in Kronberg im Taunus, about 20 km northwest of Frankfurt, is a wooded hillside zoo best known as the only place in the state of Hesse where you can see elephants. Around 1,700 animals of some 200 species live on its 27 hectar…
Historic sites & memorials
Bad Homburg vor der Höhe
The Saalburg Roman Fort near Bad Homburg, just north of Frankfurt, is the only Roman fort on the Limes frontier that has been almost completely rebuilt. Walls, gates, and buildings of a 2nd-century army camp stand again on the forested Tau…
Other
Breitscheid
The Herbstlabyrinth (Autumn Labyrinth) near Breitscheid is the show cave of the largest cave system in the German state of Hesse. Hidden in the Westerwald hills, it leads you down a staircase into the Knöpfchenhalle, a tall chamber packed…
Museums
Frankfurt am Main
The Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt is one of Europe's best-known venues for modern and contemporary art. Its original building between the cathedral and the Römerberg is being renovated for energy efficiency, so for now the Schirn presents it…