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Travel in Germany: Six reasons why Mainz is worth visiting this autumn

Sometimes overshadowed by other large German cities, Rhineland-Palatinate's capital offers visitors a fascinating taste of history, culture and wine.

Published: 29 September 2020 10:30 CEST
Travel in Germany: Six reasons why Mainz is worth visiting this autumn
This historic fortress from the 1880s especially stands out amid the fall colours. Photos: DPA

In “normal” years, Mainz is perhaps best known around Germany for its Fassnacht carnival full of political satire, starting on November 11th and stretching on for six months.

This year’s events might be off the table, but there are many more attractions in the city worth exploring, as I discovered on a sunny September weekend.

Admittedly, I had been to Frankfurt several times, but had yet to visit this fascinating city only a half hour train ride to the south. Boasting a population of around 210,000, the middle-sized city of Mainz is packed with big attractions to be explored amid a relaxed atmosphere.

READ ALSO: Fastnacht first timer: Behind the scenes of Mainz’ famous carnival

Wine wonders

If you order wine in Mainz, it will almost always come from these regional rolling hills.

Mainz is also the capital of Germany’s largest wine producing region, with many nearby areas growing grapes on gently rolling hills along the Rhine river. The centre of Mainz is dotted with Weinstuben, or wine taverns, serving locally produced wine. 

Following a common practice, we enjoyed a glass in the early evening with Spundekäs’, a homemade cream cheese sprinkled with pieces of onions and scooped up with a small pretzel (or 16…).

We also ventured out into the valleys of the Rheinhessen and Rheingau to sample newly harvested wines with BottleStops, a wine and tasting tour company which picks most visitors up in Mainz.

Roman ruins

The director of the Roman-Germanic Central Museum (RGZM), Alexandra Busch, points to a Roman sarcophagus. Photo: DPA

Flash back 1,600 years, when Mainz was the mighty Mogontiacum, one of the strategic sites of the Roman Empire. The city served as a powerful military base for campaigns into the central and northern parts of Germany. 

Today many ruins remind us of this long lost society. Particularly impressive is a preserved stone theatre which at one point seated over 10,000 spectators. In rainy weather, the city also boasts a number of museums devoted to its Roman past, and with impressive collections of artifacts.

Pedestrian paradise

A jogger runs along the Rheinufer early in the morning. Photo: DPA

Especially in the autumn, Mainz is the perfect spot for a Spaziergang (walk) or run along the Rheinufer, which divides it from Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse. 

And if you’re trying to find your way back into the city centre, it’s next to impossible to get lost. Any street sign that runs parallel to the Rhine is marked in blue, and any that run away from it are coloured red. The system, in place since the mid-19th century, was partially put in place to help a growing number of foreigners in the city find their way around.

The Blue Wonder

The famous windows of St. Stephan's Cathedral. Photo: DPA

Dubbed “Der Blaue Wunder”, the windows of Mainz’ St. Stephan’s Cathedral bears a rare work from one of the greats of impressionism, Marc Chagall. 

The Jewish artist, who had fled to the US from France during the Nazi occupation, came to Mainz in 1978 to paint the windows as a sign of the Jewish-Christian connection. 

An honorary citizen of the city, Chagall finished the last window shortly before his death at the age of 97. 

Fit to Print

An employee at the Gutenberg Museum, after it reopened to visitors in May. Photo: DPA

As a journalist, I gravitated towards the Gutenberg Museum, named after the inventor of the printing press over 500 years ago. Its sprawling collection doesn’t just include many rare relics – such one of two remaining editions of the Gutenberg Bible – but also an extensive exhibition on printing’s beginning in many parts of the world, from Asia to Africa. 

READ ALSO: 10 essential inventions you didn't know were German

After watching a daily demonstration of printing carried out by a real life replica, I could appreciate the ease of publishing in modern times.

Innovative architecture

From the half-timbered houses of the Altstadt, to a metallic cube shaped synagogue – which just celebrated its 10th birthday – the buildings of Mainz reveal a long history with a very diverse population. 

Whether as a monument or repurposed restaurant, Mainz preserves its buildings to see and enjoy. We ended the trip with dinner and regional Riesling at the Heiliggeist (Holy Spirit), a former public hospital and church converted into a brewery in the 19th century. 

Burned during World War II bombings, it was rebuilt – like most of Mainz’ city centre – to carry the city’s culture forward.

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TRAVEL NEWS

Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Almost 800,000 fewer UK holidaymakers have visited Spain in 2023 when compared to 2019. What’s behind this big drop?

Published: 23 August 2023 11:36 CEST
Updated: 26 August 2023 18:32 CEST
Why are fewer British tourists visiting Spain this year?

Spain welcomed 12.2 million UK tourists between January and July 2023, 6 percent less when compared to the same period in 2019, according to data released on Monday by Spanish tourism association Turespaña.

This represents a decrease of 793,260 British holidaymakers for Spain so far this year.

Conversely, the number of Italian (+8 percent), Irish (+15.3 percent), Portuguese (+24.8 percent), Dutch (+4 percent) and French tourists (+5 percent) visiting España in 2023 are all above the rates in 2019, the last pre-pandemic year. 

German holidaymakers are together with their British counterparts the two main nationalities showing less interest in coming to Spanish shores.

Britons still represent the biggest tourist group that comes to Spain, but it’s undergoing a slump, with another recent study by Caixabank Research suggesting numbers fell particularly in June 2023 (-12.5 percent of the usual rate). 

READ ALSO: Spain fully booked for summer despite most expensive holiday prices ever

So are some Britons falling out of love with Spain? Are there clear reasons why a holiday on the Spanish coast is on fewer British holiday itineraries?

According to Caixabank Research’s report, the main reasons are “the poor macroeconomic performance of the United Kingdom, the sharp rise in rates and the weakness of the pound”.

This is evidenced in the results of a survey by British market research company Savanta, which found that one in six Britons are not going on a summer holiday this year due to the UK’s cost-of-living crisis.

Practically everything, everywhere has become more expensive, and that includes holidays in Spain: hotel stays are up 44 percent, eating out is 13 percent pricier, and flights are 40 percent more on average. 

READ ALSO: How much more expensive is it to holiday in Spain this summer?

Caixabank stressed that another reason for the drop in British holidaymakers heading to Spain is that those who can afford a holiday abroad are choosing “more competitive markets” such as Turkey, Greece and Portugal. 

And there’s no doubt that the insufferably hot summer that Spain is having, with four heatwaves so far, has also dissuaded many holidaymakers from Blighty from overcooking in the Spanish sun. 

With headlines such as “This area of Spain could become too hot for tourists” or “tourists say it’s too hot to see any sights” featuring in the UK press, budding British holidaymakers are all too aware of the suffocating weather conditions Spain and other Mediterranean countries are enduring. 

Other UK outlets have urged travellers to try out the cooler Spanish north rather than the usual piping hot Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol destinations.

Another UK poll by InsureandGo found that 71 percent of the 2,000+ British respondents thought that parts of Europe such as Spain, Greece and Turkey will be too hot to visit over summer by 2027.

There’s further concern that the introduction in 2024 of the new (and delayed) ETIAS visa for non-EU visitors, which of course now also applies to UK nationals, could further compel British tourists to choose countries to holiday in rather than Spain.

READ MORE: Will British tourists need to pay for a visa waiver to enter Spain?

However, a drop in the number of British holidaymakers may not be all that bad for Spain, even though they did spend over €17 billion on their Spanish vacations in 2022. 

Towns, cities and islands across the country have been grappling with the problem of overtourism and the consequences it has on everything from quality of life for locals to rent prices. 

READ ALSO: ‘Beach closed’ – Fake signs put up in Spain’s Mallorca to dissuade tourists

The overcrowded nature of Spain’s beaches and most beautiful holiday hotspots appears to be one of the reasons why Germans are visiting Spain in far fewer numbers. A recent report in the country’s most read magazine Stern asked “if the dream is over” in their beloved Mallorca.

Spanish authorities are also seeking to overhaul the cheaper holiday package-driven model that dominates many resorts, which includes moving away from the boozy antics of young British and other European revellers.

Fewer tourists who spend more are what Spain is theoretically now looking for, and the rise in American, Japanese and European tourists other than Brits signify less of a dependence on the British market, one which tends to maintain the country’s tourism status quo for better or for worse.

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