Mainz

Mainz is the capital city of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany. Mainz is notable as a transport hub, for wine production, and for its many rebuilt historic buildings. In 2019, it was home to about 219,000 people.

Understand

Once the episcopal seat of the influential Prince-Electors, the "civilized" origins of Mainz date back to around 38 BC, when the Romans built a citadel here, named Mogontiacum. It was founded by the Roman general Drusus, brother of emperor Tiberius and father of emperor Claudius, at the strategic confluence of the Rhine and the Main; it shortly became the provincial capital of Germania Superior. Drusus died while campaigning beyond the Rhine, in the summer of 9 BC; his body was brought here to be mourned, and a massive funeral monument dedicated to him was built. The so-called 🌍 Drususstein still stands (although unclad of its marble) inside the citadel of Mainz.

The city's location at the confluence of the Rhine and the Main rivers is ideal for trade, something reflected by the artifacts kept in the Landesmuseum, that show there have been settlements here since 300,000 BC.

The most logical starting point is the Dom, the Cathedral of St Martin and St Stephan, especially on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, when the farmers' market is open. Although the cathedral was actually started in 975, most of what is seen today was built from the 11th to the 13th centuries. At the Dom und Diözesanmuseum in the cathedral cloisters, you can truly witness the opulence and wealth controlled by the Church in Mainz.

Mainz is also the home of the man identified by Time Magazine as the most important individual in the last millennium, Johannes Gutenberg, who most Westerners regard to be the inventor of the moveable type printing press (though the Chinese had actually preceded him by centuries).

Mainz is also the home of the music publisher Schott Music.

Tourist information

Get in

By plane

From Frankfurt International Airport (FRA IATA), the local train S8 towards Wiesbaden stops at Mainz Hauptbahnhof (or optionally Mainz Römisches Theater). The train runs at least every 30 minutes daily, and takes around 30 minutes to get the Mainz. Also regional trains towards Koblenz and Saarbrücken stop in Mainz. Both options share the same local tariff, regional trains are faster and somewhat more convenient. Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN IATA) is served by a direct ICE connection and from low cost hub Frankfurt-Hahn Airport (HHN IATA) there is a direct shuttle bus connection.

By train

Mainz has several train stations. The biggest and the only one in which InterCity and InterCityExpress trains stop is 🌍 Mainz Hauptbahnhof (main station), it is on the western edge of the city centre and works as a general hub for local traffic. Flixtrain serves the city.

Nightjet, the Austrian Railways' sleeper train, runs twice a week from Brussels via Mainz to Vienna, Munich and Innsbruck. It calls at Frankfurt airport, Würzburg and Nuremberg where it divides: one portion runs via Linz to Vienna, the other via Munich to Innsbruck. In 2020 it doesn't run in July and Aug, but it's expected to be year-round from 2021.

Another noteworthy station is 🌍 Mainz Römisches Theater (Roman theatre), south of the centre, but it is only served by regional and commuter trains. Both are served from Frankfurt, about 45 minutes away, by S-Bahn line S8.

As of 2019, the cost of a single ticket on the Regional train (S-Bahn line S8) to Mainz Hauptbahnhof from the Frankfurt International Airport was €4.95.

Behind the Rhine bridge there is the station Mainz-Kastel with S-Bahn line S1, S9 and Stadt-Express SE10 from Frankfurt to Wiesbaden.

By car

Mainz is ringed by the A60 from Bingen / Rüsselsheim and the A643 and A671 from Wiesbaden, at the northern end of the A63 from Kaiserslautern.

When parking in Mainz if you use your EC debit card or a credit card in the entrance and exit machines instead of pressing for a pay at machine ticket you will get 10% discount on the parking fee. Alternatively taking a ticket from the machine on entrance allows 4 people to travel for free on buses and trams in the city.

By bus

🌍 Mainz intercity bus station

A number of long range buses (including Flixbus) serve Mainz, usually halting at Hauptbahnhof. The station is also a hub for local bus traffic, serving the surrounding countryside and Wiesbaden.

From Frankfurt Hahn Airport for those arriving with Ryanair, there is a direct bus service to Mainz roughly every 90 minutes. The ORN bus stop which services this route is just outside the main train station's police department. The service takes approx. 60-70 min.

By boat

A number of companies offer river cruises, typically leaving from Cologne or Koblenz and terminating in Mainz (and vice versa). The KD Rhine River Cruise Pass offers a cruise of the Rhine river around all the way to Cologne with the possibility of stops along the way.

Get around

The centre of town is accessible on foot from Mainz Hauptbahnhof. There are signposts and maps throughout the city centre, or you can pick up a map from the DB information desk in the station.

  • The day ticket for Mainz and Wiesbaden cost €6.50 (Bus, Tram, S-Bahn and Regionalbahn). The Single-Ticket cost €2.70. (MVG, RMV)
  • Some good offers to explore the surroundings include the Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket, offering unlimited travel in local trains for up to 5 persons inside the states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Wiesbaden. The ticket costs €24 - 44 per day (as of 2015) if bought via automat or internet, or €26 - 46 if bought at a ticket stand and is available at all train stations. For Hessen (including Mainz, but not the rest of Rhineland-Palatinate) exists the otherwise similar Hessenticket, costing €34 per day.

Public transportation

The Deutsche Bahn site provides excellent maps, timetables, and route guidance for getting around Mainz via the city's extensive bus and light rail systems. Google maps shows the locations of tram and bus stops in Mainz. If you click the tram or bus symbol, you will get the name of the stop as well as a list of routes serving that stop. The local transit operator (MVG - Mainzer Verkehrsgesellschaft) has a website in German.

By bike

The local transit operator offers a bike rental system, with stations all around the city.

Cost: €1.40 per 30 minutes

Map of available bikes: http://mobil.mvg-mainz.de/stationen-karte.html%5Bdead+link%5D

Registration: https://www.mvg-mainz.de/mainzigartig-mobil/mit-mvgmeinrad/registrierung.html

You have to activate your account in their office, which is in front of the main train station.

By e-hailing

Uber and Free Now cover the city.

See
  • 🌍 City Hall (Rathaus Mainz), Jockel-Fuchs-Platz 1, ☏ +49 6131 120. The city hall was built in the early 1970s by Danish architects, who used many tons Swedish marble for the façade. Considered modern at the time it was built, the city hall is not very popular today – many consider it too monumental, some even ugly. From the extensive city hall platform there is a beautiful view on the Rhine promenade and the river. 
  • 🌍 Schillerplatz. Beautiful, leafy square in central Mainz with the fountain said to represent the jesters and fun of Mainz's fastnacht celebration. 
  • 🌍 Deutschhaus (Commandry of the Teutonic Knights), Deutschhausplatz 12, ☏ +49 6131 2082216. Now the Regional Parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate. 
  • 🌍 Kurfürstliches Schloss (Electoral Palace), Peter-Altmeier-Allee 1, ☏ +49 6131 242. Closed until 2024. The former city residence of the Archbishop of Mainz. It is among the most important Renaissance buildings in Germany. Today, the east wing houses the Museum of Roman and Germanic History. 
  • 🌍 Theodor-Heuss-Brücke (The Rhine Bridge) (between Mainz and Mainz-Kastel). This is one of three Rhine bridges that connect Mainz with Wiesbaden and the state of Hesse. Like almost all other German Rhine bridges, the former bridge had been destroyed in World War II. The bridge was rebuilt in the early 1950s and named after the first president of the Federal Republic of Germany, Theodor Heuss. Kastel, a former Mainz suburb and several other villages on the right side of the Rhine, has been separated from the city after the war, as the Rhine was the border between the French and American occupation sectors. Even today, Kastel, Kostheim, Amöneburg, Ginsheim, Gustavsburg and the other former suburbs consider themselves part of Mainz, although they are administered by Wiesbaden and Hesse. 
  • 🌍 Old Jewish Cemetery. Together with sites in Speyer and Worms related to the Jewish history in the region, this cemetery used as a final resting place since the 10th century has been listed by UNESCO in the world heritage list. (updated Aug 2021)

Museums
  • 🌍 Gutenberg Museum, Liebfrauenplatz 5, ☏ +49 6131 122503, +49 6131 122644, fax: +49 6131 123488. Tu-Sa 09:00-17:00, Su 11:00-15:00. There are reconstructions of print shops and Gutenberg's hand press, an exhibition of incunabula, and the first two Gutenberg bibles are on display in a strong room. They also have a section devoted to the Far East with colored woodcarvings and prints from Japan, China and Korea. There is even an exhibition on the electronic future of books. Most displays have an English translation. You can purchase a guide in several different languages with your admission. Every hour or so, someone demonstrates how Gutenberg`s hand press works by printing a bible page on a replica of the press. Watching this demonstration is included in the entry fee. Adults €5, children 8 - 18 years €2, students €3. 
  • 🌍 Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (Roman-Germanic Central Museum), Ernst-Ludwig-Platz 2 (In the former Electors'Palace: Kurfürstliches Schloss.), ☏ +49 6131 91240. Tu-Su 10:00-18:00 (Closed until 2024). Free. 
  • 🌍 Museum für Antike Schifffahrt (Museum of Ancient Shipping), Neutorstraße 2b, ☏ +49 6131 286630. Tu-Su 10:00-18:00 (Closed until 2023). Unique to Mainz is the Museum of Ancient Sea Travel, which contains the remains of five 5th-century Roman warship wrecks salvaged from the Rhine in the 1980s. True-to-life replicas were re-constructed based on these originals. Visitors also have the opportunity to glimpse behind the scenes in the research laboratory and in the museum’s workshops. These ships were found when the local Hilton was expanding its property. Free. 
  • 🌍 The Sacred Site of Isis- Mater Magna, Römerpassage 1. M-Sa 10:00-18:00. A few years ago, when a shopping center now named Römerpassage ("Roman Shopping Way") was built, the construction workers found the remnants of what used to be a temple in the Roman city of Mainz. So, nowadays, you can visit this site inside the shopping center. It's surrounded by a quite interesting exhibition about the religious purpose of the Isis site. Free of charge. 
  • 🌍 Bischöfliches Dom-und Diözesanmuseum Mainz, Domstraße 3, ☏ +49 6131 253 344. Cathedral museum & treasury, church art. 
  • 🌍 Landesmuseum (State Museum Mainz), Große Bleiche 49-51, ☏ +49 6131 28570. The Department of Antiquities traces the cultural history of the Rhineland from prehistory to the present. 
  • 🌍 Naturhistorisches Museum (Museum of Natural History), Reichklarastraße 10, ☏ +49 6131 122646. 

Do
  • Walk around the town. It's a beautiful place to walk around and see the sights.
  • Go and explore the outdoor town market on Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at the cathedral. On Saturdays, local winegrowers sell their wines to visitors of the market. In the last couple of years this has become some kind of a tourist attraction. If huge crowds are no problem for you, you can have a lot of fun here (wine is sold until 16:00).
  • Visit the small but very pretty Altstadt (old-town) of Mainz. Located just behind the cathedral with a beautiful baroque church and a number of well preserved Fachwerkhäuser (Medieval style houses) to be seen.
  • 🌍 1. FSV Mainz 05 (Opel Arena), Isaac-Fulda-Allee 5. Go to see a football match of the Bundesliga-club in its new stadium. 

Events
  • OPEN OHR Festival – in May, Zitadelle Mainz, an alternative youth festival with some (mostly local) music acts and political or creative workshops and movie presentations. A three day ticket costs around €25.
  • Mainz Midsummer St. John's Night Festival - Johannisnacht – in June
  • Carnival in Mainz. Late February - early March 5. 

Learn

Buy

To take in most of the typical main shop name walk north east from the market square to Am Brand then west along Stadthausstraße to Römerpassage.

For more individual shops, explore the Altstadt around Augustinerstraße and Kirschgarten.

Out of town supermarkets can be found in the Gutenberg Center in Mainz-Bretzenheim.

If you want to bring some wine or food from the region, your best bet is the farmers' market on the squares next to the Dome. It is held Tu F Sa from 09:00 to 14:00.

Eat

Mainz has two culinary specialities, both types of cheese. Spundekäse is local cream cheese whipped with cream into a soft paste, served with chopped raw onion and pretzels — the taste is mild and it goes great with beer. Handkäse is a sour milk cheese with a pungent aroma, most often served mit Musik, or marinated in vinegar and oil, then sprinkled with caraway seeds, resulting in a bizarre, firm, gelatinous mass that most people find to be a bit of an acquired taste — and the "music" refers to the flatulence it tends to cause!

Food Markets
  • 🌍 Wochenmarkt Mainz Domplatz (Farmer's market). Tu F Sa 09:00-14:00. A big farmers' market in the Old Town. Some of the stands also sell fast food. One of them, a local fish farm's stand, has really good fish bread rolls. You can also buy really good plums (they are locally grown around Mainz), sometimes the price gets especially cheap after 1pm when the vendors want to get rid of their rests. (updated May 2022)

City centre
  • 🌍 Best Worscht in Town, Augustinerstraße 11, ☏ +49 6131 88 62 110. M-Th 11:00-20:00, F Sa 11:00-22:00. This place is known for its good Currywurst with home-made bread and 9 different sauces. You can also choose how spicy you want your Currywurst. But be cautious, it can be really spicy - it is best to start low! In Frankfurt, there are also several Bestworscht locations. Currywurst €4.10. (updated Jul 2022)
  • 🌍 Restaurant Brauhaus zur Sonne, Sonnengäßchen 2. German cuisine (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Zur Andau, Gaustraße 77. German dishes (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Die Waffel, Lotharstraße 24. An Afghani restaurant (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Souperie, Große Langgasse 6. (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Pizzeria Kiara, Welschnonnengasse 1. (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 City Döner, Hintere Flachsmarktstraße 10. (updated May 2022)

Around the main train station
  • 🌍 Meenzer Worschtstubb II, Bahnhofplatz 1, ☏ +49 6131 1432772. Sausage and fries (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 "Bei Helga", Mombacher Str. 37. German dishes (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Restaurant Grillstube Damaskus, Gärtnergasse 30. A Syrian restaurant (updated May 2022)
  • 🌍 Tarz Döner, Bahnhofstraße 8. (updated May 2022)

South-west Mainz
  • 🌍 Gutenberg center, Haifa Allee 1 (Just off the A60 - Mainz-Lerchenberg). In the shopping centre is a German Imbiss, small Asia Imbis, Turkish Imbiss, Chinese self-service restaurant, a Subway and German bakery. Across the road you will find McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. (updated May 2022)

Mid-range
  • 🌍 Am Holztor, Holzstraße 40, ☏ +49 6131 5547700. Traditional small wine tavern with good selection of wines and beers, servers excellent Schnitzel and Chicken dishes. English menu available. Friendly service. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Augustinerkeller, Augustinerstraße 26, ☏ +49 6131 222662. Classic German Gaststätte with pictures of old scenes in Mainz. Good typical German food, menu includes English translations. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Zum Goldstein, Kartäuserstr. 3 (hidden in a side street of the Altstadt). Very pleasant beer garden raised of the street providing a little quite in the centre of town. Reasonably good but not outstanding food. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Bullys Burger, Parcusstraße 8A, ☏ +49 6131 6193934. Very small on the separation island of the main road. But do not let that put you off the best burgers and fries in town. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Gaststätte Berghof, Marienborner Bergweg 33 (near ZDF Lerchenberg), ☏ +49 6131 330268. Good choice of German and Austrian dishes. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Eisgrub-Bräu, Weissliliengasse 1a,, ☏ +49 6131 22 11 04. Open until 12:00, Kitchen until 11:00. This cavernous ice cellar has brewed its own beer since 1872 and is still packed most nights. They brew two beers (pale and dark) that they sell in a variety of sizes including flights and larger 3L table taps. They have a classic, but well executed, menu of classic German foods like meats, sausages, and spätzle. They also have an English menu with vegetarian options clearly marked. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Tower One, Am Finther Wald (at Finthen), ☏ +49 6131 5545030. Good food. A destination for aircraft fans. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Kamin (Flammkuchen Restaurant), Kapuzinerstraße 8, ☏ +49 6131 6277887. Very good selection of Flammkuchen (updated Jan 2023)

International

Splurge
  • 🌍 Geberts Weinstuben, Frauenlobstraße 94, ☏ +49 6131 611 619, fax: +49 6131 611662, . With an excellent wine list (heavy on German wines), Geberts offers excellent versions of traditional regional favourites, including handkäs-Suppe (cheese soup) and wildschwein (wild boar). They are closed for three weeks during the summer, on Saturdays, and at lunchtime on Sundays. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Atrium Mainz, Flugplatzstraße 44 (Mainz-Finthen), ☏ +49 6131 491 0, fax: +49 6131 491 128, . The restaurants in the hotel are called Adagio and GenussWerkstatt. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 El Chico, Kötherhofstraße 1, ☏ +49 6131 238440. Very good steakhouse (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Heiliggeist, Rentengasse 2, ☏ +49 6131 225757. Church renovated into an up-scale bistro, they offer an abbreviated, but very creative menu that goes with an extensive wine list, including wines by the glass, that enable you to experiment wines from around Germany. Good outdoor seating. Beer quality not the best. (updated Jan 2023)
  • 🌍 Patagonia, Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 74, ☏ +49 6131 2106660. Excellent steak house with Chilean dishes. Good service. Quality but casual restaurant. (updated Jan 2023)

Sweet

Drink

Bars
  • 🌍 Hafeneck, Frauenlobstr. 93, ☏ +49 6131-4801977, . Tu-Sa 18:00-01:00. neighborhood bar that manages to simultaneously cater to football fans, local hipsters and an endless streams of niche musicians ranging from the Whiskey Rabbi to Vicky Vomit. The kitchen (open 17:00-23:00 daily) also serves up huge salads, a few German classics like schnitzel, plus giant savoury pancakes (Eierpfannkuchen) with unusual fillings, many of them vegetarian — try the Hades to add some spice to your life. (updated Aug 2022)
  • 🌍 Good Time and Alexander the Great, Hintere Bleiche 18a and 8, ☏ +49 6131 9716660. M-Th 17:00-04:00, F Sa 17:00-07:00, Su 18:00-04:00. Popular Hard Rock pubs quite close to the main railway station. They serve mead in horns and play anything from Death Metal to classical music (depending on the day of the week). (updated Aug 2022)
  • 🌍 Beim Budiker, Raimundistraße 13, ☏ +49 6131 6069739, . M-Th 17:00-01:00, F Sa 17:00-02:00, Su 17:00-midnight. (updated Aug 2022)

Beer gardens

Sleep

Budget

Mid-range

Splurge

Cope

Go next
  • Bacharach in the Middle Rhine Valley is an extremely well-preserved medieval town right next to the Rhine river, with a castle, which is now a youth hostel, overlooking the town. Trains from Mainz to Bacharach at least hourly, takes about 40 minutes.
  • Bingen am Rhein
  • Darmstadt, 30 minutes by train RB
  • Ingelheim
  • Frankfurt, take the S-Bahn S8 from Hauptbahnhof or S1, SE10 or S9 from Mainz-Kastel.
  • Heidelberg is an hour away by train
  • Continue down the most scenic part of the Middle Rhine Valley towards Koblenz.
  • Oppenheim, 20 minutes by train RB
  • Wiesbaden is just across the Rhine, take the S8 (13 min), the train RB (11 min.) or Bus linie 6 (30 min).
  • Worms, 45 minutes by train


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