h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a word with my travelling companion (who is not a hootooer and had never heard of us).

We are flying into Frankfurt - Hahn early on Monday 14th Oct and out again the following evening. So we will be looking for a shuttle into the city when we get there. And of course, back again.

If you are around it would be great to be able to buy you an apfelwein.

Robin.

Oh dear. I am in the UK on that very day. Well, actually I fly back 0n the 14th. Unfortunately not to Frankfurt, but to Baden Baden - which is quite a way in the opposite direction.

Frankfurt Hahn? Oh boy - a nightmare. It's miles from anywhere and the "shuttle" takes nearly two hours, I think.

I would have loved to come and be your guide - well, I don't know Frankfurt very well, but I know the language, etc etc.

Maybe I can still work something out.

In the meantime here's some more notes:

The Bus stop into Frankfurt is No 14, in front of Terminal B
The buses may be marked Bohr, Sun Express, Flix Bus, Weber Grill or Entega.

Length of journey into Frankfurt (central station) 1 hour, 45 mins. Stops at Frankfurt Airport on the way.
Ticket : €14 (It's run by a private company)
24 hour ticket: €20

The buses leave at 5 pm, 7 pm, 8.15 pm
All times will be given in the 24 hour system.

Have you been to Germany before?

Have a look at this map.

http://www.hahn-airport.de/default.aspx?menu=by_bus&cc=de#

You see Hahn?
You see Frankfurt (over to the East)?

You see Karlsruhe (South East) and Heidelberg, due North of it?
I live between Karlsruhe and Heidelberg. It's just as far as Hahn is from Frankfurt!

I hope you have good weather because the trip will be almost entirely through countryside which will look great in the October sun.

Hi TC,

Thanks anyway. It's a shame our paths will cross in the wrong direction.

And thanks for the map. As it happens, I had spotted this. About 10 minutes after booking. And stupid of me. I'm a seasoned Ryanair traveller and I am used to the airport being an old military base a long way away. There is a back-story. And I don't come out of it well. We had planned to go to Düsseldorf. It was always going to be badly planned. We had taken out eyes off the ball and agreed to fly to Weeze. Just after midnight on the day I was booking it, I spotted how awkward the Weeze - Düsseldorf journey is. So I made an executive decision instead of ringing her when she was probably sleeping.

I have told Wendy that I made 'a bit of a hash' of it. Soon I'll confess to the extent. I really don't think she'll mind. The shuttle journey will enable us to brush up on our (bad) German.

Since the trip is mostly about taking a bit of time off work and exploring somewhere unknown, our destination could have been pretty much anywhere (and Frankfurt WAS one of the options that we had discussed).

I've been to Germany before. Berlin for a weekend one particularly cold and wet November about 8 years ago. Wendy hasn't. So I'm the party leader.

Robin.

Right, well, if that's the case, and you don't actually have to be in Frankfurt, why not make an adventure of it, hire a car, and explore some of the lovely countryside. The cost of the car hire will partly be compensated by the cheaper overnighting costs of a B&B in an idyllic village.

You can include some towns like Heidelberg or Mannheim, or even Frankfurt, but it's not the sort of place I would recommend to someone who only had a day in Germany to get a good impression.

Koblenz (Coblence) is nearer than Frankfurt. It is on the Rhine, with the added attraction that it is at the confluence of Rhine and Moselle. Because of the national horticultural show last year, there is now a cable car across the Rhine at Koblenz.

A trip along either of those rivers, plus the fact that this is wine country should make for a really great short break.

Bed and Breakfast, or "Pension" are a-plenty, but maybe make a reservation because it's the autumn half-term holidays on that date.

You are also not far from Luxembourg, Mainz, or many other lovely places.

You'll forget it wasn't what you were originally planning to do, and will leave with a whole list of places to come back to.


As it's October, everyone will be drinking the first pressing of grapes, and the place will smell of the new wine.

The woods will be in their autumn glory and just driving around will be a joy.

Sorry to make it sound like a tourist board advert, but there really is no need to kick yourself, just make the most of it.

Are you getting excited? It's nearly here!

I really won't be able to fit in a day in Frankfurt now, even if I could have done so before. We have booked a holiday in the Black Forest (even further South) for three days from Tues - Friday. I land in Baden-Baden on the Monday (14th), and need the half-day in between to unpack, wash and re-pack, catch my breath and find my feet.

I hope you have a lovely stay and get good weather whilst you're here.

If you have plumped for the car-hire option, don't spend too much time driving around - everywhere's nice, so take time to smell the roses.

Hi TC,

Thanks for the benefit of your experience. The die was cast early on and we are committed to the city and no car I'm afraid. I would have enjoyed a bit of a drive (but the Apfelwein might have been off limits then). Still, the bus trip will give us the opportunity to brush up / learn some useful phrases.

I spotted the Dialogue Museum. THAT looks a vital visit. The problem is that my travel companion is scared of the dark. I mean proper scared - has to sleep with the light on type scared. And she is a psychiatric nurse too! Aversion therapy? Not this trip perhaps.

Enjoy The Black Forest. Anywhere named after cake has got to be worth a visit. Battenburg next year perhaps?

I am a tower lover so perhaps Main Tower will get a visit.

(Is there anywhere called Victoria Sponge?)

Take care. Will report back.

PP.

Oh yes. Excited.

Robin.

The weather forecast is unfortunately most conducive to hiding in museums. If you're in town and it's raining you can do the Äppelwoi Express and look out at the rain. If the weather's OK it's a hop-on hop-off, I think, so you can use it to sight-see.

A9913548

So? - How did it go?

Sorry, I did mean to drop you a line.

We had a whale of a time.

There were three main aims:-

1. Drink Apfelwein. Did that. Don't have to do it again.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25054226@N08/10678064765/

2. Drink chilled red German wine. Did that. Don't have to do it again.

3. Eat sausages. Not ALL German sausages are Frankfurters.

4. Do a bit of Geocaching.

(Ok that was 4 things).

The weather forecast was pants and as we left Hitchin for the airport I managed to walk straight past my waterproof jacket and leave it hanging in my hall.

The forecast was wrong. It was warmer than expected and the constant rain only happened in the 30 minutes we were in the underground. Result.

We went up Main Tower where it was windy:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25054226@N08/10678058035/

An I wanted to have a look at this underground entrance - partly because there is a geocache there:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/25054226@N08/10678314573/

We had a ride on the river and had a breakfast consisting of loads of cakes.

We had a great time thanks even though we drank some horrid stuff including orange cola.

Next week I'm heading for Iceland for a few days (Sausages in Germany, ok. Rotting shark in Reykjavik, I don't think so) and in January, Krakow in order to visit Auschwitz.

Robin.

Beware the mashed potatoes in Iceland - they put sugar in it. I was there in 1980. We did a tour in a coach and slept in tents. We got whale sandwiches. Black lava sand always blew into the food. But the fish was good.

Those Hessens are heathens - you would never get chilled red wine round our way.

Surely EU regulations MUST prohibit sugar in mashed potatoes by now - on health grounds!

Nooooooo! They aren't in the EU!

I understand that bananas are grown, although in very small quantities now, in Iceland. I will not be accused of not doing my research.

(And the red wine was rather sweet!)

Robin.