Dusseldorf or Cologne

mobby

Having booked cheap flights to Düsseldorf in December to visit the Christmas markets etc, was wondering would I be better heading to Cologne which I believe is only about 30/40 mins from the Dusseldorf by train. Anyone advise on which is the better city to visit for a few days.

tricky D

As a regular visitor I'd say Cologne, but they are so close that you could easily get in a day trip to Dusseldorf. It's only 20 mins by the ICE (high speed train) which has a station in the airport anyway.

Leadership

They will be good in both but my preference would be Cologne, it will be flooded with tourists though. The best Christmas markets IMO are the smaller towns as they have the most atmosphere my favourites are Hameln (3 hours by train though) and Paderborn.

Hearvee

Definitely Cologne. I lived in Dusseldorf for a year and love it to bits, but for a weekend trip I'd recommend Cologne.

Christmas markets are better than Dusseldorf's (although absolutely mobbed).
Shopping area is bigger too.
Nightlife in general is better (check out the area around Friesenplatz).
And the cathedral is amazing and Roman museum next door to it is well worth a visit.

If you've got cheap flights then I've never been through the Ryanair destination, but generally from Dusseldorf central to Cologne is about 30 mins by train and there's trains ever 20/30 mins.

mobby

Yep Cologne seems to have more to see and do, so Cologne it will be.
It a Mon - Wed so hopefully it will not to be to crowded .

An Citeog

I'd definitely recommend Cologne ahead of Düsseldorf aswell. Those cheap flights are with Aer Lingus, yeah?

Here's a couple of posts I made in other threads on Cologne,

An Citeog wrote: »

This time of year is the best time to visit Cologne (apart from Karneval). Weihnachtsmarkt begins on the 26th of November and runs through until 23rd December. The Christmas market in Cologne is probably the best in Germany and definitely worth seeing.

There isn't much in the way of actual tourist attractions there, about 90% of the city was destroyed during the second world war. The main reason the cathedral is still standing is because British bombers used it to help them navigate when flying over Germany. It's the tallest cathedral in the world iirc and is definitely worth a visit. You can climb all the way up to the top but there's no lift and it's an old windy staircase. Probably a bit much for a 70 year old.

Cologne is more a place to relax and enjoy a bit of German culture. He could take a stroll up along the Rhine or visit the chocolate museum. Depends what he's into really.

As for places to eat and drink, the area bound from the cathedral on the north to a tram stop called Heumarkt to the south have a lot of traditional German breweries. They're not particularly expensive and usually do some really good food aswell. He'll find American steakhouses, Hard Rock Cafe etc there aswell if he wants. The beer there is so good aswell. Koelsch is the local beer, comes in lots of different varieties and will have been brewed freshly. Incidentally, the Christmas market is also concentrated around here and bounded to the west by a tram stop called Neumarkt (you can pretty much get to anywhere in the city from here). It's all within 10 minutes walking distance aswell.

He shouldn't have any trouble with the language either. Almost everybody in Cologne can speak English, especially around the areas mentioned.

You can find details on everything here: http://www.koeln.de/en/

An Citeog wrote: »

It all depends on whether you want to find something cheap and cheerful or something a bit more expensive. The main Weihnachtsmarkt is at the cathedral (beside the central station) with the rest within a 5-10 minute walk away. Have a look here for hotels: http://www.koeln.de/en/tourism/hotels.html
The city is relatively safe, particularly in the centre, so there's no particularly dodgy areas to watch out for. Public transport is very good aswell which means that you don't necessarily have to stay right in the centre.
Have you booked flights yet? I'm only asking because there are no direct flights from Ireland to Cologne during the winter. German Wings fly Dublin to Cologne but it's only during the summer months. Alternatively, you could fly to Frankfurt-Hahn with Ryanair and get a bus to Cologne from there (takes about 2.5 hours) or fly to Düsseldorf with Aer Lingus and take the train from there (takes 35 minutes).

mobby

An Citeog wrote: »

I'd definitely recommend Cologne ahead of Düsseldorf aswell. Those cheap flights are with Aer Lingus, yeah?

Here's a couple of posts I made in other threads on Cologne,

Thanks for the Info. Yep cheap Aer Lingus flights