Frankfurt might be better known as a business hub than a tourist hotspot, so not many travelers visit this city, unless they are on a business trip. I was flying back to Taiwan from Frankfurt at the end of my Europe trip so I had to visit Frankfurt. And it wasn’t bad at all.

The city, where Germany’s financial sector and stock market are based, has a good modern skyline, one of Europe’s best, located next to the Main river. It also has a historic old town center, the Römerberg, where the Römer, a medieval complex that has been Frankfurt’s City Hall for over 600 years, and several reconstructed, picturesque traditional houses are located. The reason they were reconstructed is that the original ones were destroyed during World War II. The Römerberg was undergoing renovation when I was there, so the appearance may have changed now.

With over 1,200 years of history and having been a major city in the Holy Roman Empire starting from the 9th century AD, Frankfurt has been important for a very long time. In the present, as Germany’s financial center, as well as the European Union’s, Frankfurt has one of the largest collection of skyscrapers in Europe, including the EU’s second- and third-highest skyscrapers. However, these were modest compared to Asia. European cities don’t seem to have too many skyscrapers and the ones they have are not too high. I wonder if this is because of disdain for ultra-tall buildings, a lack of need, or restrictive building regulations. Anyhow, I liked that European cities didn’t feel crowded or cramped and were very walkable. Frankfurt was no different.

As with most major European cities, Frankfurt has a large cathedral as well as a pedestrian shopping street that was still busy on an early weekday night. The cathedral (technically not a cathedral but still called one since it was used for the election and coronation of Holy Roman Emperors) is not that large, but you can pay to climb up the tower for sweeping views of the city.

I also visited a couple of the city’s major cultural attractions. The great German writer Johanne Wolfganng Goethe was from Frankfurt, and his childhood home is now a museum. It’s an elegant house with well-preserved rooms and personal belongings that show visitors how Goethe grew up. For example, a book about Italy given by his father helped inspired a fondness for Italy and travel for Goethe, who would later visit Italy himself. The Senckenberg Natural History Museum features great collections of fossils and stuffed animals, but the highlight was the many dinosaur and mammoth skeletons including a tyrannosaurus rex and marine shark-like dinosaurs.

I stayed near the main train station or Hauptbahnhof, in a supposedly rough part of town, but it was very convenient for getting around as well as to the airport, less than 20 minutes away on the subway. If you find yourself in Germany and want to try a new city, give Frankfurt a chance.

The skyscraper with the strange side spire, the Commerzbank Tower, is Germany’s tallest building and the second-tallest in the EU. At right, you can see the Frankfurt Cathedral.

Römer, City Hall since the 1400s

Opposite the Römerberg is the Römer

View of Frankfurt’s business district from the cathedral’s tower

T-rex at Senckenberg Natural History Museum

I rarely see swans in the wild so it was nice to see a few of these elegant birds on the river.

Currywurst

The cathedral is surrounded by buildings so it was difficult to get a good picture of it from close range.

Hauptbahnhof, the city’s central train station

Inside the Goethe House (above and below), where Johann Goethe grew up