Goethehaus

Grosser Hirschgraben 23-25, Frankfurt. 

069-138-800. Monday-Friday 9 am-4 pm, Saturday and Sunday 10 am-4 pm The house where Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Germany's leading literary and intellectual figure, was born in 1749 and grew up has been faithfully reproduced and is open for touring. The museum next door has paintings that depict Goethe's life after Frankfurt (in Weimar and Italy) and works by his contemporaries.

Kaiserdom

Domstrasse (just east of Romerberg), Frankfurt.

069-297-0320.

Monday-Saturday 9 am-noon and 2:30-6 pm (closed Friday morning), Sunday 9 am-noon. The Church of St. Bartholomew is where ten German emperors and kings were crowned. Its red sandstone facade and Gothic styling make it one of Frankfurt's most identifiable buildings. It was largely rebuilt after World War II and houses a number of its original Gothic carvings.

Main Tower

Junghofstrasse 18-26 (near the Fressgasse), Frankfurt.

069-3650-4771. Summer 10 am-9 pm, winter 10 am-7 pm. Though not the tallest building in Frankfurt, the Main Tower is the only skyscraper open to the public. The top floor houses an observation platform and an upscale restaurant with superb 180-degree views of the city.

Paulskirche

Paulsplatz, north of Romerberg, Frankfurt. 

069-281-098.

Monday-Sunday 10 am-4 pm.

This distinctive round church was where the first National Assembly of Germany was held in 1848. Following near destruction in World War II, the church was rebuilt with a modern interior and has been the traditional site for addresses by visiting heads of state. The church is used more as a museum these days, with a rotation of different exhibits.

  Deutsches Architektur-Museum

Schaumainkai 43, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt.

069-2123-8844. Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm

The German Architecture Museum is famous for its "house in a house" concept. Upon walking into the 19th-century estate that holds the museum, you'll come across another house inside. You'll also find drawings, models, photos, journals and special exhibits that track the history of architecture.

Deutsches Filmmuseum

Schaumainkai 41, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt. 

069-2123-8830.

Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday 10-5 , Wednesday 10 -8; Saturday 2-8 

The public is encouraged to play with tools of the filmmaker's trade at the German Film Museum. See yourself flying on a magic carpet over Frankfurt using blue-screen technology or experiment with some of the earliest film technology. The museum also hosts frequent movie screenings.

Forschungsinstitut und Naturmuseum Senckenberg

Senckenbergeranlage 25, Frankfurt. 

069-75-420. Monday-Friday 9 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm), Saturday and Sunday 9 am-6 pm.

This natural-history museum boasts more than 400,000 exhibits dealing with the development of Earth and its lifeforms. Highlights include dinosaur fossils and the famous Grube Messel, plus an eye-catching crystal and stone collection

Fotographie Forum International

Weckmarkkt 17, Frankfurt. 

069-291-726.

Tuesday-Friday 11 am-6 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm), Saturday and Sunday 11 am-5 pm. Since it was established in 1984, this museum has specialized in internationally renowned historic and contemporary photography. Journalistic snapshots and works of art, as well as scientific photography and advertising shots, are on display.

Geldmuseum der Deutschen Bundesbank

Wilhelm-Epstein-Strasse 14, Frankfurt. 

069-9566-3073.

Open daily 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday 1-9 pm). Free. This money museum is quite appropriate, given Frankfurt's role as the center of European banking. Particularly fun is the exhibition of forged money. You can  buy a "brick" of 100,000 DM worth of shredded banknotes for a few euros.

Historisches Museum

Saalgasse 19 (south of Romerberg), Frankfurt. 

069-2123-5599.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm). The Historical Museum displays 3-D architectural models of Frankfurt before and after World War II, as well as exhibits about life in the city and a cafe that doubles as an apfelwein (apple wine) museum. There is also a Children's Museum.

Judisches Museum

Untermainkai 14-15, Frankfurt. 

069-2123-5000.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm

free on Saturday. The Jewish Museum is housed in the Rothschild Palais, the famous family's first mansion after leaving the Frankfurt Jewish ghetto. It tells the story of Frankfurt's Jews, the second-largest Jewish community in Germany before the Holocaust.

Museum der Weltkulturen

Schaumainkai 29-37, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt. 

069-212-35391.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday till 8 pm

The Museum of World Cultures' main building has ethnological exhibitions with an interesting approach to nature and culture. Galerie 37 showcases artworks by modern and contemporary Native American, African, Oceanian and Indonesian artists.

Museum fur Angewandte Kunst

Schaumainkai 17, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt.

069-2123-4037. Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-8 pm. The Museum of Applied Arts has a rich collection of European and Asian decorative arts, including furniture, ceramics and glass. The museum building (designed by Richard Meier) itself is stunning—it's in the form of three interlinked white cubes situated in a park on the south bank of the Main River.

Museum fur Kommunikation

Schaumainkai 53, Frankfurt. 

069-606-0666.

Tuesday-Friday 9 am-5 pm, Saturday and Sunday 11 am-7 pm. Free. This museum is especially child-friendly.  Visitors are encouraged to play with all forms of communication devices in existence, from one of the very first telephones to an in-house satellite phone. These multimedia exhibits depict communication history in Germany and abroad.

Museum fur Moderne Kunst

Domstrasse 10, Frankfurt. 

069-2123-0447.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm). This wedge-shaped museum, known locally as the "piece of cake", displays modern art from the 1960s through the present, in continually rotating exhibits. The building's striking modern interior can sometimes steal the show from the art it is presenting.

Museum Judengasse

Kurt Schumacher Strasse 10, Frankfurt. 

069-297-7419.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm). This branch of the Judisches Museum displays the archaeological remains of Frankfurt's Jewish Ghetto, as well as offering an exemplary exhibition showing Jewish life in Germany from the 12th century to the present day.

Schirn Kunsthalle

Am Romerberg 6-A, Frankfurt.  069-2998-8211.

Tuesday and Sunday 11 am-7 pm, Wednesday-Saturday 11 am-10 pm.

The Schirn is the city's main art gallery for temporary international exhibitions. The exhibits cover a broad range of styles and subjects, but most of them deal with less traditional art. The museum is also notable for its architecturally stunning cafe, complete with a viewing platform overlooking some Roman ruins. Stadelsches Kunstinstitut und Stadtische Galerie

Schaumainkai 63, Sachsenhausen, Frankfurt. 

069-605-0980.

Tuesday-Sunday 10 am-5 pm (Wednesday to 8 pm). For true art-lovers, this is the Louvre of Frankfurt. This art institute and its municipal gallery showcase a fine collection of paintings from the 14th-20th centuries, with masterpieces from each period. It also has an extensive collection of impressionist paintings.

Palmengarten

Siesmayerstrasse 63, Frankfurt. 

069-2123-3939. Monday-Sunday 9 am-6 pm (closes at 4 pm in winter).

Admission charged.

This unforgettable botanical garden, with more than 300 different kinds of palms, specializes in tropical and subtropical plants, including seasonal exhibitions of flowering plants and shrubs. The scenery can occasionally be enjoyed to the sound of live jazz and classical music, and the park around the gardens has a playground for children, boats for rent and a wading pool.

Stadtwald This city-owned forest (more than 10,000 acres) attracts local people for weekend strolling, but on weekdays the place tends to be deserted. Louisa Park, which is part of the Stadtwald, has three small lakes, walking paths and nice playgrounds for children. Also found in the area is the Goetheturm, Germany's tallest wooden observation tower (141 feet high). A trip to the top provides superb views north across Frankfurt to the foothills of Taunus. (To get to the Stadtwald, take Bus 36—marked Sachsenhausen Hainer Weg—to the last stop or take Tram 14 to the Louisa stop. You can also take the S3 or S4 S-Bahn to the Louisa station.)

Frankfurt Zoo

Alfred Brehm Platz 16, Frankfurt. 

069-2123-3731.

Daily 9 am-7 pm. This zoo. one of the most visited in Europ, houses more than 5,000 birds, mammals, reptiles and insects representing almost 600 species. Among the highlights are the Grzimek House, where nocturnal animals think it's nighttime during the day, and the Exotarium, which is filled with interesting fish, reptiles and insects.

Tuesday Night Skating

The meeting point is Deutschherrenufer in Sachsenhausen.