Frankfurt with Friends: The Best Ideas for Your Group

A weekend with friends in Frankfurt? Good choice. The city is compact enough to fit a lot in, well connected, and it has several offerings for groups you won’t find quite like this elsewhere — from the sociable apple-wine tavern to a tram with drinks served on board and bars above the rooftops. I’ve put together the best ideas, sorted by occasion and budget.

The classic: apple wine in Sachsenhausen

If you do only one thing in Frankfurt with friends, make it this: an evening in an apple-wine tavern in Sachsenhausen. At long tables you order a Bembel — the rounded stoneware jug — and pour for one another. With it: Handkäs mit Musik, green sauce or schnitzel. It’s sociable, affordable and typically Hessian. For groups the format is perfect, because you’re sharing anyway.

The Ebbelwei-Express

A little quirkier and ideal for groups: the colourful historic tram runs for an hour through the city on weekends and public holidays while apple wine and pretzels are served — for around eight euros per person. Along the way you see the Römerberg, the trade-fair grounds, Sachsenhausen and the zoo. For birthdays the carriage can even be hired privately. Important: tickets are cash only, from the conductor.

A sundowner in a rooftop bar

For a stylish evening, head up. Frankfurt is the only major German city with a genuine high-rise skyline, and several bars make use of it: from Germany’s highest rooftop bar in the ONE Tower through the 22nd Lounge in the Eurotheum to Franziska in the Henninger Tower. For groups, be sure to reserve in advance — and come about an hour before sunset.

The budget skyline moment

If money is tight, the skyline view works differently too: the Main Tower’s viewing platform costs only a small admission fee. And completely free is the view from the Lohrberg, Frankfurt’s only vineyard in the north — a great spot for a group picnic at sunset.

Culture that works for a group

Not every museum suits a group — these do:

• Caricatura Museum: comic art you can laugh at together.
• Klassikstadt in Fechenheim: classic cars in glass boxes, open workshops and a restaurant — a hit for mixed groups.
• MOMEM at the Hauptwache: a museum of electronic music that feels like a club.
• Senckenberg Natural History Museum: the dinosaurs delight adults too.

Eating out as a group

Frankfurt is one of Germany’s most international cities, and you can taste it. The Bahnhofsviertel is the most interesting address for groups: international cuisine, craft-beer bars and cocktail bars in a small area. A shared Turkish breakfast (Serpme Kahvaltı) at the weekend is also a great group experience — a table full of little dishes for everyone to try.

An excursion into the surroundings

If you have more time, a joint trip is worthwhile: the Rheingau with wine tastings in Rüdesheim and the cable car to the Niederwald Monument, romantic Heidelberg, or a hike in the Taunus up the Großer Feldberg. All three are comfortably reached by train — and regional services often offer good-value group tickets.

Ideas by budget

• Cheap: a picnic on the riverbank or the Lohrberg, the Ebbelwei-Express, an apple-wine tavern, a walk across the Eiserner Steg.
• Mid-range: the Main Tower platform, a museum visit, dinner in the Bahnhofsviertel, a day trip with a group ticket.
• Special occasion: dinner in a high-rise restaurant, cocktails in a rooftop bar, a privately hired Ebbelwei-Express.

Practical tips for groups

• Reserve in advance: for groups of about six or more this is virtually essential in restaurants and bars.
• Check group tickets: on local transport and for excursions they save you a lot.
• Bring cash: card payment isn’t possible everywhere (the Ebbelwei-Express, for instance).
• Travel by public transport: the U-Bahn and S-Bahn get everyone home safely — ideal if you’re drinking.
• Agree a meeting point: in busy quarters like the Bahnhofsviertel it’s easy to lose each other.
• Avoid trade-fair dates: during major fairs, hotels are expensive and fully booked.

Conclusion

Frankfurt is an underrated city for groups of friends: sociable thanks to the apple-wine culture, spectacular thanks to the skyline bars, entertaining thanks to offerings like the Ebbelwei-Express — and with short distances, all of it fits comfortably into a weekend. My advice: plan an evening in Sachsenhausen, a sundowner with a skyline view and, if time allows, an excursion into the surrounding area. Reserve in advance and use group tickets — that keeps the weekend relaxed and affordable.