I had long been looking for a place to celebrate New Year's. I found most flights and then hotels to be far too expensive for my budget. What I then typically do, is see if I can visit a city known for trade and business. Hotels in these cities typically cater business travelers, whom don't travel during the holidays and on New Year's. Cities such as Frankfurt then offer hotel rooms at lower rates. And that's what I found, the Favored Hotel Domicil cost me just 37EUR for a single room, excluding breakfast. I negotiated the breakfast rate as it was 17EUR but that was not very much appreciated. Either way, there's lots to do in the city, also on New Year's. Even though there's not many tourists and it's not the typical city to go celebrate this time of year, obviously there's still people living there and enjoying themselves. It's the fifth largest city of Germany and a booming center for banks as well as the stock exchange and trade fairs. In fact, it's one of the world's most important financial centers.

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The city is quite large but has an excellent and very expand public transport network. Cities such as Wiesbaden and Offenbach are quite close so if you'd like to get out, there's good opportunities for day trips. The center of Frankfurt itself is easy to walk about, with most sights such as the Frankfurt Cathedral and Römer at just some hundred metres apart. The Römer is the city hall and has been so for over 600 years. Right nearby is the Eiserner Steg, the Iron Bridge over the Main river. Right on the other side is Sachsenhausen. Around the Klappergasse street is a whole area with many bars and restaurants, arguably Frankfurt's coziest area to enjoy a good apple wine  (Apfelwein), which is a local specialty. Frankfurt city has it's own dialect and one can hear apple wine being called Ebbelwoi as well. I was the only person drinking it in the bar but really enjoyed the drink.

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There were lots of fireworks at the river bank, not an organized show but just people firing off their own. The Germans sure love their fireworks. The view with all of the skyscrapers was stunning. There's obviously many bars and clubs to welcome the new year - the city was very much alive even though internationally it's not very well known as a place for party-goers. I would go back to Frankfurt but rather to another German city like Munich first.