The Museum Embankment (Museumsufer) lines the south bank of the Main River with a string of museums covering everything from fine art and film to architecture, Jewish history and ancient sculpture. Highlights include the Städel Museum with its underground gallery, the German Film Museum, the Museum of Communication and the Jewish Museum. Each August, the embankment hosts the Museum Embankment Festival, one of Europe’s biggest cultural events, with late openings, live music and food stalls along the river.

In the middle of the Øresund strait, right between Sweden and Denmark, lies the idyllic island of Ven. The astronomer Tycho Brahe was gifted the whole island by King Fredrik II after he discovered a new star in the Cassiopeia constellation. Here he constructed one of the most interesting buildings of the time: the Uraniborg castle, a subterranean observatory called Stjerneborg and a renaissance garden. The New Church of Ven has now been turned into a museum, the garden has been renovated, and in the observatory you can watch a light and sound show. The light in Ven is said to have a unique quality, which has attracted many an artist and ceramist to the island. Take a tour among the studios and workshops, and meet with sculptors and silversmiths along the way. Ven is a small island, and the best way to get around is by bike, which you can easily rent when you get off the ferry.

The DomRömer Quarter is Frankfurt’s “new old town”, rebuilt on the spot where the medieval streets once stood. Finished in 2018, it mixes careful reconstructions with new buildings that echo the originals. Wander between the narrow lanes for cafés, small shops and museums, and get a sense of what the city looked like before the war.