From Wikitravel

Hesse (German: Hessen [1]) is one of the states of the Federal Republic of Germany.

Contents 1 Regions 2 Cities 3 Villages 4 Other destinations 5 Understand 6 Talk 7 Get in 7.1 By plane 7.2 By train 8 Get around 9 See 10 Do 11 Eat 12 Drink 13 Sleep 14 Get out

Regions

North Hesse or Kur-Hesse.

Cities

• Darmstadt
• Dreieich
• Frankfurt
• Fulda
• Gelnhausen
• Kassel
• Marburg
• Offenbach am Main
• Wiesbaden state capital

Villages

• Roßdorf
• Erzhausen
• Dipperz

Other destinations

• Grosser Feldberg. The highest mountain in Taunus (881 metres). On its summit, there is a 40 metre tall observation tower. A much more remarkable tower on its summit is the telecommunication tower, which cannot normally be visited.

Understand

Talk

Natives of Hesse have a strong dialect of German, that can even be confusing to other Germans. They will understand and speak high ("standard") German as well. Since many also speak at least rudimentary English you shouldn't have any problems communicating with them.

Get in

By plane

International visitors will arrive mostly at Frankfurt international airport, the second largest airport in Europe and a major hub for the German carrier Lufthansa. From the airport, you can reach Frankfurt's central station with the subway in less than 15 minutes.

Hahn - often wrongly also called "Frankfurt Hahn" - is a former military airfield being used by "no frills" low budget airlines. Getting from Hahn to Frankfurt takes about 90 minutes.

By train

Regular and high-speed Intercity trains connect Hesse to the rest of the nation as well as to various international destinations.

Get around

There are large regional networks of public transport:

• Nordhessischer VerkehrsVerbund (NVV)
• Rhein-Main-Verkehrsverbund (RMV)
• German National Railways offer the Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket for day-long unlimited travel on local trains nationwide.

See

• Frankfurt's skyline of highrises clustered in the downtown city is a rare sight in Europe.
• Not necessarily touristy Rüdesheim, but the valley of the river Rhine with its castles and vineyards

Do

• Shopping, museums, opera, theater and ballet options abound in Frankfurt.
• Take a boat trip on the rivers Main and Rhine.
• Go canoeing on the Lahn river.
• Do some hiking up the Feldberg/Taunus or in the Spessart woods.

Eat

A vegetarian option for the daring is Handkäs mit Musik, literally: hand cheese with music, a traditional dish where dry, round, low-fat cheese is marinated in oil with caraway and raw onions (hence the "music"). Schwein haxe for the daring.

Drink

Local specialties include wine from grapes, especially white grapes, and from apples (a kind of cider). This apple wine may be enjoyed straight (pur) or mixed (gespritzt). The latter versions distinguish between "sweet" and "sour", i.e. mixed with either some soda (orange lemonade) or sparkling mineral water.

Sleep

Across the state and the country is a dense network of Youth Hostels (membership required).

Get out

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