Mainz is a wonderful small city in Germany, only 45min away from Frankfurt. As I live In Luxembourg, it made perfect sense to make a weekend break to do both cities. In my opinion, Mainz is more beautiful and here are 5 reasons why:
1. Riverside
Although I visited Mainz in March, the Riverside was absolutely gorgeous already. I recommend starting from the beautiful Uferstraße (number 3 on the list) and continue along the Rhine River.
The walk is beautiful, both from the architectural standpoint, as well as the view on the river and the buildings. It is possible to take the cruise, which I have not done due to the weather. I imagine it must be worth doing 🙂
2. Mainz Cathedral
Mainz Cathedral or St. Martin’s Cathedral is an imposing building dominating Mainz historical center. This 1000-year-old Roman Catholic cathedral is humongous and made me think about the power and influence that the Church has and used to have.
According to Wikipedia: “The interior of the cathedral houses tombs and funerary monuments of former powerful Electoral-prince-archbishops, or Kurfürst-Erzbischöfe, of the diocese and contains religious works of art spanning a millennium. The cathedral also has a central courtyard and statues of Saint Boniface and The Madonna on its grounds.”
There is an inexplicable charisma beaming from the building, both inside and outside. I can only imagine some important clergy meetings taking place here. It really made me think about how important a place Churches had throughout history.
Address: Markt 10, 55116 Mainz, Germany & https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainz_Cathedral
3. Uferstraße
What a beautiful part of town. The houses are gorgeous – see the featured picture above. The stroll along the street is truly inspiring and makes another testament to the historical wealth and importance of Mainz.
Some wealthy and influential families must live here and some of them enjoy a beautiful view over the River. I would not mind having a place here one day! 🙂
Address: Uferstraße 55116 Mainz, Germany
4. Hyatt Regency
The place to be in Mainz due to its location, restaurant, design and the bar. Beautiful people: a place to see and be seen. When you enter the hotel, the design of the bar really stands out and proceeding to the Bellpepper restaurant is very pleasing.
The restaurant itself is amazing. I had homemade truffle mushroom ravioli, Shiitake mushroom, pistachio, truffle (veggie) and absolutely loved it.
Although I stayed at the Hilton Mainz City (they have 2 Hiltons in Mainz), I would likely stay at the Hyatt next time I visit Mainz. The pure fact that Mainz has 2 Hiltons and a Hyatt should tell you something 🙂
Address: Templerstraße 6, 55116 Mainz, Germany & https://www.hyatt.com/en-US/hotel/germany/hyatt-regency-mainz/mainz
5. Chagall’s stained glass windows at St. Stephan
Marc Chagall is one of my favourite artists of all time. You can imagine my excitement when I heard that he painted glass windows at the St. Stephan church! To be sure, St. Stephen’s is the only German church for which Chagall created windows.
The glass windows are blue, stained, and glowing beautifully inside the church. I was in awe and, unfortunately, no picture can do them justice. Absolutely inspiring and falling deep into the memory. Many tourists flock to Mainz just to see this. Make sure you don’t miss it!
Address: Kleine Weißgasse 12, 55116 Mainz, Germany & https://www.mainz.de/en/worth-seeing/st-stephen-chagall-mysticism-of-blue-light.php
So here we are. Although Mainz is not as popular as Munich, Berlin or Hamburg, it is a must-do when in Germany, especially if you are visiting Frankfurt, which is somehow less exciting (although I have been many times and will soon create a blog post).
All the 5 points are absolute must-dos. I could probably select 10 items, though I stick to 5 for smaller cities. Ultimately, Mainz should be on everyone’s to-do list and I will certainly visit it again, especially that it is only 1h 30 min away from Luxembourg.
Finally, I have an announcement to make. Movingisliving.blog has reached 10.000 followers on Instagram!!! This means increased traffic to the blog, especially with the “swipe-up” functionality.
Thank you for all your support and keep your likes and comments coming! It motivates me to continue sharing my nomadic lifestyle with you! 🙂
Safe travels,
MJ
PS. Get 10% back on your hotel/apartment booking on booking.com using my code https://www.booking.com/s/57_6/7793bab0