Hessen is a big state in modern Germany that masks a remarkably dynamic cultural landscape. To the East were the Abbots of Fulda and their fiercely Catholic traditions. To the South, a global crossroads of trade arose around the mercantile city-states of the Main and Wetterau. However, to the North and the West lie dark forests and rolling hills dotted with half-timbered towns and ruined castles. For many of our favorite fairy tales, this is the land of magic and mystery.
Select a Region to Explore in Detail
Travel Guides
Best Easy Day Trips from Frankfurt
Frankfurt is not an especially pretty city. If you find yourself trapped here, asking, “What can I do?” the best answer is to go somewhere else. I aim to give you a list of places to visit within roughly 60-90 minutes by regional train from Frankfurt Central Station. The destination needed to have a direct or otherwise easy train connection to qualify. Likewise, it also requires an old town with enough things to do to fill at least half of a day.
Regions to Explore
Hessen
Hessen is the land in which our conception of the fairy tale was born. The secluded forests and small villages make it easy to travel back in time to the age of the Brothers Grimm. Though most of what you see dates to the 18th and 19th-century rule of the Hessen-Kassel Dynasty, remarkable glimpses remain of the ancient medieval Empire.
Westerwald
The Westerwald, i.e., “Western Forest,” is a nebulous region that refers to the agglomeration of lands ruled mainly by various branches of the Nassau Family. The rugged forest and hilly landscape largely precluded meaningful settlement until the 19th century, and today remains dominated by the ancient urban centers on the Lahn River. Like Hessen, it is a land of myth, full of beautiful towns and traces of an ancient past.
Wetterau
The mercantile legacy of the old Free and Imperial Cities characterizes the landscape and history of the Wetterau. Chief among them is the city of Frankfurt am Main, whose location in the fertile valley of the Main turned the region into a global center of trade. Scattered around the region are the traces of forgotten struggles for the wealth of Frankfurt and the bounty of the Main.
