Day Trip Frankfurt - Regionalpark Portal Weilbacher Kiesgruben
Quite a mouthful, isn't it? Let's not even bother with the pronunciation. But put this in your GPS, and you'll see why I'm writing about it. It's another excellent tip for families who would like to get out of the city for the day.
Take the A66 (as in Autobahn) toward Wiesbaden all the way until you take the Exit 11 or 519 (yellow sign), Hofheim. At the exit, take a right so you're heading south along the 519. After about 500 Meters, take a left (the L3366 on your GPS), and drive for a few hundred meters until you reach the L3265. Take a left, look for the parking lot, as well as the sign for the Regionalpark, and you're there. Parking is free. For people without a car, take the S-Bahn to Eddersheim. Might even be a better idea if you'd like to have some cider along the way. The S1 is easily accessible, just take it from the Hauptwache, if you're staying in downtown Frankfurt.
There are hiking trails that stretch out for miles in each direction. You will almost forget that there is actually an autobahn not far from where you are, let alone one of the world's busiest airports.
Near the parking lot, there is a nature center that displays all native animal and plant species. The grounds are well manicured and include a bridge stretching over a pond that is home to hundreds of fish. Next to the pond is a restaurant with plenty of outdoor seating, which you will need after the hours you spend hiking or simply strolling along the grounds.
Cross the bridge, and there is the crown jewel of the park, an observation tower that rises over 100 feet in the air and gives you a great panoramic view of the area, including the thousands of planes landing at nearby Rhein Main International Airport across the Main river. You can see this tower from far away, and it should help you find the park for those who can't work a GPS.
Next to the observation tower are climbing walls with various degrees of difficulty. And don't worry, the occasional hard landing is made soft by the mulch on the ground, so I doubt little more than your kid's feelings will be hurt should he not manage to scale any of the climbing walls.
Less than a stone's throw from the climbing walls, you'll find exercise equipment you can use while the kids burn some energy at the playground. The playground itself has earth moving equipment, so if your kid loves dirt (and most do), this playground simply offers more choices to play with dirt. Add to that the hammocks that are chained around the playground, and you can't go wrong. The parents can either exercise themselves while their kids move dirt, they can drink apple cider at the nearby restaurant, or they can relax in the hammocks. The playground is a pretty sweet deal for a kid, and maybe an even sweeter one for the adults. And of course, admission is absolutely free. This is Europe, after all.
Now if you should be more ambitious and choose to go on a nature hike, there are several guided paths you can take. Two or three take you through the woods, one of them to a horse farm, and all of them will get you the exercise you need, once the kids are over moaning about having to hike in the middle of nowhere.
What's so surprising about the place is that this took a lot of planning to look the way it does now. Imagine the observation tower, the bridge, lake, and playground away, and this could be any place in Germany, that's how normal and insignificant it looks. I can almost see how people planned the whole park. Here's the nature center, pivot, here's where the observation tower should be, here the restaurant, over there the playground. No profit motive, really, just the motivation to preserve nature and give families alternative ways to spend their weekends. The Weilbacher Kiesgruben is actually a quarry that is of little interest, but proves to be a good reference point if you need to find the place.
Spend at least a half day at the park.
For dinner, as an option, go to the XXL Waldgeist Restaurant in Hofheim a few miles away, where the largest schnitzels in the world are served. Although these are more destinations for domestic tourists, I'd like to prefer to think that these are top destinations for families, period.
Take the A66 (as in Autobahn) toward Wiesbaden all the way until you take the Exit 11 or 519 (yellow sign), Hofheim. At the exit, take a right so you're heading south along the 519. After about 500 Meters, take a left (the L3366 on your GPS), and drive for a few hundred meters until you reach the L3265. Take a left, look for the parking lot, as well as the sign for the Regionalpark, and you're there. Parking is free. For people without a car, take the S-Bahn to Eddersheim. Might even be a better idea if you'd like to have some cider along the way. The S1 is easily accessible, just take it from the Hauptwache, if you're staying in downtown Frankfurt.
There are hiking trails that stretch out for miles in each direction. You will almost forget that there is actually an autobahn not far from where you are, let alone one of the world's busiest airports.
Near the parking lot, there is a nature center that displays all native animal and plant species. The grounds are well manicured and include a bridge stretching over a pond that is home to hundreds of fish. Next to the pond is a restaurant with plenty of outdoor seating, which you will need after the hours you spend hiking or simply strolling along the grounds.
Cross the bridge, and there is the crown jewel of the park, an observation tower that rises over 100 feet in the air and gives you a great panoramic view of the area, including the thousands of planes landing at nearby Rhein Main International Airport across the Main river. You can see this tower from far away, and it should help you find the park for those who can't work a GPS.
Next to the observation tower are climbing walls with various degrees of difficulty. And don't worry, the occasional hard landing is made soft by the mulch on the ground, so I doubt little more than your kid's feelings will be hurt should he not manage to scale any of the climbing walls.
Less than a stone's throw from the climbing walls, you'll find exercise equipment you can use while the kids burn some energy at the playground. The playground itself has earth moving equipment, so if your kid loves dirt (and most do), this playground simply offers more choices to play with dirt. Add to that the hammocks that are chained around the playground, and you can't go wrong. The parents can either exercise themselves while their kids move dirt, they can drink apple cider at the nearby restaurant, or they can relax in the hammocks. The playground is a pretty sweet deal for a kid, and maybe an even sweeter one for the adults. And of course, admission is absolutely free. This is Europe, after all.
Now if you should be more ambitious and choose to go on a nature hike, there are several guided paths you can take. Two or three take you through the woods, one of them to a horse farm, and all of them will get you the exercise you need, once the kids are over moaning about having to hike in the middle of nowhere.
What's so surprising about the place is that this took a lot of planning to look the way it does now. Imagine the observation tower, the bridge, lake, and playground away, and this could be any place in Germany, that's how normal and insignificant it looks. I can almost see how people planned the whole park. Here's the nature center, pivot, here's where the observation tower should be, here the restaurant, over there the playground. No profit motive, really, just the motivation to preserve nature and give families alternative ways to spend their weekends. The Weilbacher Kiesgruben is actually a quarry that is of little interest, but proves to be a good reference point if you need to find the place.
Spend at least a half day at the park.
For dinner, as an option, go to the XXL Waldgeist Restaurant in Hofheim a few miles away, where the largest schnitzels in the world are served. Although these are more destinations for domestic tourists, I'd like to prefer to think that these are top destinations for families, period.
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