Frankfurt Hotel
Looking for a hotel in Frankfurt we found, through the Michelin Red Guide for Germany, the Main Plaza. It is located on the left bank almost across the river from the Dom in Sachsenhausen. We walked everywhere in the old part of town from this hotel.
Although the price was a little steep, $198 for Thursday night and $158 for Friday night, the room was wonderful, very spacious with a king size bed, a small kitchen, which we didn't use, a very nice bath with tub and shower and from our tenth floor room we had a wonderful view of the entire city. The hotel is a 20-minute taxi ride from the airport, ($25 ). I recommend it and we will stay there if we should be in Frankfurt again. There are two restaurants associated with the hotel, a formal expensive one in the hotel and a more casual one with outdoor seating overlooking the river called the River Café where we ate twice and enjoyed both the meals and the ambiance. The staff spoke excellent English and were very courteous and helpful. Tel. +49/069/664010, fax 604014408, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ted Vian
via email
Bischofshofen Suggestions
The Werfen story brought back many pleasant memories. We spent five nights in nearby Bischofshofen in 1995, thoroughly enjoying Eisriesenwelt, Burg Hohenwerfen, Hallein and the salt mine, Salzburg and other nearby accessible places such as Zell am See and St. Johann im Pongau. From the latter we took a pleasant hike of a couple of kilometers to the Liechtenstein Klamm, an interesting narrow chasm carved by a glacial melt stream and accessible by walkway through it. Worth a visit.
Bischofshofen is larger than Werfen, of course, and nothing outstanding as a town although very pleasant and our stay at the small Hotel, Gasthof Schutzenhof, was quite satisfactory and reasonable (address: Alte Bundesstrasse 3, A 5500 Bischofshofen, Austria; tel. 64 62 22 53). Bischofshofen is a rail junction of main lines serving Salzburg, Innsbruck and points in central Austria. I believe it was possible to go direct to Graz from there, for example, and connections to Bad Gastein, etc. were convenient. For rail travelers it is probably a better choice as most IC or through trains do not stop at Werfen, but local trains make the short run from Bischofshofen to Werfen very convenient.
Some Werfen comments: In addition to the steep road, trail and lift to Eisriesenwelt, the steps and paths inside the caves are numerous and fairly steep and visitors should be prepared for a fairly strenuous climbing experience at moderately high altitudes. And it is chilly! Burg Hohenwerfen is a very fine example of castle design and siting and ranks high on our list, but below Burg Eltz, as an outstanding castle.
The falconry demonstration and explanation was excellent and just recalling the swooping birds made the hair on my neck a little nervous.
Martin Vitz
via email
November 2003
