Originally Posted by
mijugo
The city of mainz is indeed very nice for a short visit, as downtown Frankfurt is IMHO not that kind of a highlight (although - if you have nice spring weather an open-air coffee at the main river can be nice too).
You may also consider a short train-trip to Heidelberg (50min per way ==>
http://www.bahn.de) or, if you´re a travel-junkie, take the highspeed-train ICE to Cologne (55 min. per way), visit the world-famous cathedral nearby CGN central-station, enjoy a Kölsch and go back.
How much time should be allowed for a train reservation to Cologne? For example, if scheduled to arrive in FRA at 7:00 am and departing 9 hrs later on a connection, it looks like my options for ICE to Cologne would be 8:25, 8:32, and 9:09 on a weekday. Which would you recommend?
I will be travelling with my family, so a reservation would save us a good deal of money; otherwise, I would just buy a ticket at the station.
Also, do you have any recommendations about where to store carry-on luggage during this quick trip to Cologne? Thanks.