Apple wine (Äppelwoi) is Frankfurt's own drink, poured from a gray stoneware Bembel at long shared tables. We looked for gardens where kids can dig, climb or run while the grown-ups finish lunch: sandboxes, a treehouse, a playground next door, forest and orchard paths. Here's what we checked, from an 1886 courtyard tavern in Sachsenhausen to an organic fruit farm on the city's northern edge.
One of Frankfurt's oldest apple wine taverns, open since 1886. Families sit at long shared tables and benches in a wood-floored hall with art nouveau lamps, or in a courtyard garden for about 200 under a plane tree in the warmer months.
The kitchen cooks Frankfurt classics like schnitzel with green sauce, boiled beef and Taunus trout, plus a weekly changing menu. The Affentorplatz playground is a minute's walk away.
Gerbermühle is a historic former mill on the south bank of the Main, now a restaurant and small hotel. Its beer garden sits under the trees by the riverbank, looking across the water to the skyline, and a glass-walled winter garden and terraces take over on cooler days.
Goethe spent almost a month here in 1815 and celebrated his 66th birthday in the house.
Oberschweinstiege is a large forest inn in the Stadtwald, with a beer garden under old chestnut trees, a covered winter garden, and a lake terrace looking over the Jacobiweiher. Kids get a playground, a children's menu, and coloring sheets with crayons.
The loop path around the pond next door passes animals and tree art, so a walk fits easily before or after lunch.
Achter is a restaurant and café in the Rudererdorf, the row of rowing clubhouses on the south bank of the Main in Oberrad. Out back, a garden has a treehouse and a sandbox where kids play while the grown-ups eat, plus deck chairs and a kiosk selling ice cream. The kitchen mixes hearty German cooking, vegetarian dishes, big salads and Frankfurt classics, with apple wine and homemade cake.
A family-run organic fruit farm on the edge of Nieder-Erlenbach, growing more than 250 fruit varieties, 150 of them apples. The apple-wine tavern sets its tables under the orchard trees, in blossom in spring and heavy with fruit in fall, with a heated room for rain and winter.
Kids get a climbing frame and a sandbox, and a gravel path leads out to the meadow orchards.
Lohrberg is a 185-meter hill on the northeast edge of town, and the city's only vineyard grows on its south slope. Apple orchard meadows cover much of the hill, and the MainÄppelHaus orchard center explains the trees and Frankfurt's apple wine.
At the top, the Lohrpark has a big flat lawn for ball games, a playground, and wide views of the skyline. Walking and cycling paths wind through the orchards.
Apple wine (Äppelwoi) is Frankfurt's own drink, poured from a gray stoneware Bembel at long shared tables. We looked for gardens where kids can dig, climb or run while the grown-ups finish lunch: sandboxes, a treehouse, a playground next door, forest and orchard paths. Here's what we checked, from an 1886 courtyard tavern in Sachsenhausen to an organic fruit farm on the city's northern edge.
One of Frankfurt's oldest apple wine taverns, open since 1886. Families sit at long shared tables and benches in a wood-floored hall with art nouveau lamps, or in a courtyard garden for about 200 under a plane tree in the warmer months.
The kitchen cooks Frankfurt classics like schnitzel with green sauce, boiled beef and Taunus trout, plus a weekly changing menu. The Affentorplatz playground is a minute's walk away.
Gerbermühle is a historic former mill on the south bank of the Main, now a restaurant and small hotel. Its beer garden sits under the trees by the riverbank, looking across the water to the skyline, and a glass-walled winter garden and terraces take over on cooler days.
Goethe spent almost a month here in 1815 and celebrated his 66th birthday in the house.
Oberschweinstiege is a large forest inn in the Stadtwald, with a beer garden under old chestnut trees, a covered winter garden, and a lake terrace looking over the Jacobiweiher. Kids get a playground, a children's menu, and coloring sheets with crayons.
The loop path around the pond next door passes animals and tree art, so a walk fits easily before or after lunch.
Achter is a restaurant and café in the Rudererdorf, the row of rowing clubhouses on the south bank of the Main in Oberrad. Out back, a garden has a treehouse and a sandbox where kids play while the grown-ups eat, plus deck chairs and a kiosk selling ice cream. The kitchen mixes hearty German cooking, vegetarian dishes, big salads and Frankfurt classics, with apple wine and homemade cake.
A family-run organic fruit farm on the edge of Nieder-Erlenbach, growing more than 250 fruit varieties, 150 of them apples. The apple-wine tavern sets its tables under the orchard trees, in blossom in spring and heavy with fruit in fall, with a heated room for rain and winter.
Kids get a climbing frame and a sandbox, and a gravel path leads out to the meadow orchards.
Lohrberg is a 185-meter hill on the northeast edge of town, and the city's only vineyard grows on its south slope. Apple orchard meadows cover much of the hill, and the MainÄppelHaus orchard center explains the trees and Frankfurt's apple wine.
At the top, the Lohrpark has a big flat lawn for ball games, a playground, and wide views of the skyline. Walking and cycling paths wind through the orchards.
