A Nine-Hour Layover in Frankfurt: A Café Hidden in a Museum, Römerberg, and a Near €60 Fine
- Gigi Goes
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
I had a nine-hour layover in Frankfurt and decided that sitting in the airport wasn’t an option. My mom is traveling with me for the first two weeks of this trip, so we grabbed our bags, rubbed our eyes, and tried to figure out the train system while our brains weren't properly working.
Buying the first ticket took longer than it should have (the machines weren’t intuitive, it was too early for staff to be around, and half the buttons felt like they weren’t doing anything). But we managed to get the right tickets and headed into the city. No one checked us. Easy.
Our first goal was simple: food.
A Quest Alongside the Main
When I had researched cafes about a week before flying out, I found a café called LIFE DELI, tucked inside the Jüdisches Museum. We headed straight towards it.
We popped out of a metro stop about 20 minutes from the airport and in the middle of downtown Frankfurt with the help of a local. I used my trusted phone to guide us in the direction of the cafe. We ended up walking alongside the Main River in the morning and it was beautiful: the trees were turning, early morning joggers were out, and the air was crisp and cool.
We walked by the Eiserner Steg, Frankfurt’s iron footbridge, first built in 1868 to connect the old town with the riverside district of Sachsenhausen. It’s been rebuilt a couple of times, once after structural issues in the late 1800s, and again after being destroyed in World War. Today it’s mostly a pedestrian walkway with wide views over the Main, busy with commuters, couples taking photos, and a small forest of love locks.
“Love locks” refers to the hundreds (sometimes thousands) of small padlocks that couples attach to the railings of the bridge. The idea is simple: write or engrave your names on a lock, fasten it onto the bridge, and then throw the key into the river as a symbol of lasting love. It’s not an official tradition, just something people began doing in cities around the world, and Frankfurt’s footbridge became one of the local spots where it caught on. The city occasionally removes some when the weight becomes too much for the railings, but new ones always appear.
Across the top of the Eiserner Steg is a line of ancient Greek from Homer’s Odyssey: “Sailing over the wine-dark sea to men of strange speech."
The quote was added during a 20th-century renovation and reflects the bridge’s long role as a crossing point between different parts of the city. It’s a small detail, but it ties the walkway to a much older tradition of travel and connection.
A Vegan Surprise Inside the Jüdisches Museum
The Jüdisches Museum is a quiet, beautifully designed space that traces over 800 years of Jewish life in Frankfurt. Although we didn't have time to add the museum to our short list of things to do, the cafe inside felt like a calm place to start the day: warm, relaxed, and slightly hidden...
My mom and I shared a berry crumble first. (Nothing wakes you up faster than sweet fruit and powdered sugar.) I ordered their vegan omelet with the full breakfast spread: hummus, bread, granola with fruit, pickled veggies -- lots of small plates that made the table look cheerful.
After eating, we stepped into the museum courtyard. Even outside the café, the architecture and sculptures made everything look quiet and intentional.
In the courtyard, there was a tree sculpture that caught my eye. It looked a bit stark against the white buildings around it, almost like a real tree in winter but frozen in place. We didn’t spend long there, but it was a quiet spot to pause before heading back out to find Römerberg.
Römerberg: Frankfurt’s Old Town
From the museum, we made our way toward Römerberg, Frankfurt’s old town square. The timbered buildings, the cobblestones, the huge Christmas tree... it all looks slightly unreal, like a scene from a story.
In the middle of Römerberg is the Fountain of Justice, topped with a quietly commanding Lady Justice from the early 1600s. The version here now is a careful 19th-century rebuild, but the spirit of the original remains, scales lifted, sword lowered, and her eyes uncovered. (Frankfurt chose a Justice who doesn’t look away.)
The fountain has seen everything from imperial coronations to ordinary market days and, at one point it even flowed with wine during big celebrations. Now it’s just part of the square’s rhythm, people drifting past, tour groups gathering, kids running around it... yet it still feels like a small anchor in the middle of all the movement.
The Ticket Situation (or, How We Almost Got Fined €60)
Getting back to the airport turned out to be the complicated part.
The kiosk at the station wasn’t working and, after trying a few times, I said, “It was fine this morning. No one checked us.” Of course, the moment we got on the train, the ticket inspector started walking down the aisle with his handheld scanner.
He explained (very patiently) that our ticket from the morning was only valid for one hour. Normally, this would have been a €60 fine per person. Thankfully, he could tell we weren’t trying to skip out on paying; we were just confused travelers who couldn’t get the machine to work. He let us go with a warning, and we got off the train relieved. A €60 fine was not how I wanted to start my travels...
Noted: the ticket inspectors randomly roam the trains and you don't want to get caught without the proper ticket.
After that, we were back at the airport, a little early and exhausted. We both fell asleep on the chairs at our gate...
Frankfurt, thank you for the adventure.
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