Mainz, Germany: Arriving in Mainz

Mainz was completely off my radar before this trip, but it's one place I'll never forget now.

The planning of the trip began the day after we arrived back from the Caribbean cruise (previous posts). I was clearing out my email when I noticed a promotional email about a Central Europe trip (5 countries in 10 days - hurried, I know) slated for the fall of 2025 and priced just right. So I had to book it. Good thing I did, because during the trip my tourmates were talking about the price they paid for this trip and it turned out I paid the lowest price, even though the same trip went on sale later in the year.

Our point of entry was Frankfurt (10 hours direct flight from SFO), which turned out be only about 30 minutes away depending on traffic. Since this is an all-inclusive trip, the transfer from airport was included. There were 7 that arrived on the same flight and according to the shuttle driver we were the last ones to arrive.

Since I know practically nothing about Mainz and that no tour is scheduled for the city, I had to consult the world wide web for information. And this is what I got: Founded as a Roman military camp named Mogontiacum around 13 BC, Mainz developed into a powerful ecclesiastical center and a free city in the Middle Ages. It is globally renowned as the birthplace of Johannes Gutenberg, who revolutionized communication with movable type printing around 1440. Heavily damaged in World War II, modern Mainz has rebuilt itself as the capital of Rhineland-Palatinate, retaining its rich Roman and electoral history.

Arriving in Mainz.

Home for 2 nights. What makes this boutique appealing is it's proximity to the Old Town (Alstadt) and everything on the mini bar is free and is replenished daily. The breakfast is wonderful too.

We arrived at 12:30 pm and we had the whole afternoon to explore. So we did as soon as we got our room designation. The Old Town is about 2 blocks away from the hotel and the plan was to wander around this area and see as much as we could see here, because for whatever reason Mainz was not in our itinerary - just a place to sleep - why?

So we hit the cobblestones.

Very few people out and about on a Wednesday afternoon.

After the confusion with the GPS, we paused to check the printed brochure of Mainz to make sure we're on the right track.

To be continued....