Cologne - things to do and getting there by train

lc180

Hi, I will be in Cologne for a couple days over Easter and I'm looking for any tips people might have.

Hotel wise I am wondering what is the best area to stay in? I'm looking for somewhere pretty central with good connections to the and airport and central train station.

There's some good itineraries online with things to do, just wondering has anyone recommend any good walking or bike tours.

Also I will be arriving by train from Brussels. I haven't booked my train ticket yet but there seems to be so many different websites to choose from so I'm a little confused. I'm guessing Thayls or Bahn would be best but any advice would be great. I don't want to accidentally book through a third party site and get left high and dry if something goes wrong.

Cheers.

Victor

Pick your date carefully, as the city hosts trade fairs.

The city is fairly compact, with most things worth seeing is within 1-2km.

Obviously see the Cathedral and the Roman ruins, also beer halls and there is also a cable car across the river near the zoo.

Note that while many things were rebuilt, the city was completely destroyed in WWII, meaning most buildings are modern.

The suburban trams operate as a metro in the city centre.

Bogger77

try the Ibis beside the train station, it's actually part of the station, but when I stayed, I didn't hear or feel the trains.

As Victor says, everything "old" is a re-built copy. TBH: there's not a whole lot to see/do, Victor's mentioned most of them, and remember lots of shops etc, will not be open on a Sunday, this maybe a problem.

in terms of trains, I've tended to book on German rail site. It's easy to do. SNCB may have an allocation for the ICE train from Bruxelles-Midi, so do check with them. DB do operate a pre-booking is cheaper policy, so sooner you book, the cheaper the trip. I've only ever done that route first class, and it was worth the extra 10e I paid.

zagmund

I would book via bahn.de - they're about as reliable as you are going to get for a train starting or finishing in Germany. To get an idea of the basic & discount fares, just lash in todays date and then another date ~90 days in the future. Booking the next ICE will cost you €54 right now. Booking one 90 days out will cost you €24. This gives you an idea of the fare spread. The next Thalys will cost you €65, or €51 for one 90 days out.

I can't comment on things to do in Cologne unfortunately, other than that the DB Lounge is hard to find (I spent 20 minutes walking around the station following signs before finding out that it's up at platform level) and that it serves a very nice breakfast.

z

otnomart

SNCB sells both ICE and Thalys https://www.b-europe.com/Travel/Destinations/Cologne

lc180

Cheers for the info folks! Much appreciated.

hfallada

Buses are super cheap in Germany. But trains are really expensive. Germans love car sharing as its so cheap and quicker than trains(well the trains were on strike about over the summer). Try blabla car.

Cologne has a chocolate factory that's OK. Like there isn't much to see in cologne. A boat ride on the river is good. Maybe check out Düsseldorf as they are beside each other. Düsseldorf is far richer and more "typical German". The altstadt and TV tower is good in Düsseldorf. So is königstrasse.

Slunk

Last time I was there there was a bar down by the river made into a beach bar. Sand, loungers, beds. Its beside where you get off the cable car. Nice to relax with a few drinks by the river.

keithclancy

hfallada wrote: »

Buses are super cheap in Germany. But trains are really expensive. Germans love car sharing as its so cheap and quicker than trains(well the trains were on strike about over the summer). Try blabla car.

Cologne has a chocolate factory that's OK. Like there isn't much to see in cologne. A boat ride on the river is good. Maybe check out Düsseldorf as they are beside each other. Düsseldorf is far richer and more "typical German". The altstadt and TV tower is good in Düsseldorf. So is königstrasse.

Worst Advice Ever.

The Public Transport is very cheap in Germany if you buy the correct ticket.

E.G. If you travel in a Group on a weekend day you can get a Happy Weekend Ticket:
http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/happy_weekend_ticket.shtml

40 euros for the first person and 4 euros per additional person up to 5 people for unlimited travel on all transport (excluding ICE & ICE Sprinter
Intercity (IC) and Eurocity (EC))

Cologne has many more attractions than Dusseldorf, The Dom being the main one, the train station, museums, the Zoo, Botanical Gardens, the Rheinseilbahn, the Neptunbad (Saunas/Relaxation Pools)

More stuff than I could list, just have a look at Tripadvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187371-Activities-Cologne_North_Rhine_Westphalia.html#TtD

For travelling between Dusseldorf and Cologne you would want to be off your rocker to drive, Its takes between 45 minutes and 1hr 30 minutes depending on traffic. I work Dusseldorf and I wouldn't bother going by car unless I was going to somewhere far from the Center of Cologne.

I'd skip Dusseldorf and go to Cologne, yes it's richer, but it's also very industrial, similar to Rotterdam really but not very German like Aachen, Cologne, Berlin, Hamburg etc. It's more similar to Frankfurt except with less assholes

lc180

Thanks again. I've no intention of getting a bus, I'm not on a tight budget this trip so a nice hassle free train journey sounds best.

I'm only gonna be in Cologne for 2 days so not gonna bother with Dusseldorf. I suppose if I run out of things to see and do I just have to force myself to sample some of those awful Germany beers

Victor

hfallada wrote: »

Düsseldorf is far richer

I would have said the other way around.

irish_goat

There's a Nazi museum which is quite interesting. http://www.cologne-tourism.com/attractions-culture/museums/ns-documentation-centre.html

I didn't rate the Chocolate "museum" much, it's just a walk round a mock Lindt factory and you barely get any chocolate. Think it's €9 too so it's not exactly cheap.

As for bars, you should check out Papa Joe's. Surreal place to have beers. http://www.papajoes.de/

munchkin_utd

Victor wrote: »

I would have said the other way around.

in Cologne the catholic church is indeed super rich (but not the city or its citizens really).
Aparantly, the diocese of cologne has investments (as in, this is their spare change separate from churches and buildings they use in regular business) of €3.35 billion. http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/soziales/kommentar-zu-koeln-katholisches-erzbistum-mit-milliarden-vermoegen-a-1019173.html
Lots of cash there all right !

But for the real folk/ city, Düsseldorf is much better off.
Sure didnt the city decide to build a brand new 55000 seater football stadium(10% bigger than landsdowne road redeveloped), with roof, on the offchance they'd get a worldcup game or 2.
Which they didn't, but they built the stadium anyhow for their team which was then in the regional league (div 3 or 4).
€250 million stadium, because they have so much spare change lying about.
The reason for this cash is that the city gets a cut on the corporation tax, and with 100s of international companies with their HQ in Duseldorf, thats a heap of regular income for the city, and a lot of rich bosses living in the city.

I dont find either Düsseldorf or Cologne particular nice places, but if you just want to drink and have the craic then both are spot on.
Düsseldorf especially seeing as they have the "longest bar in europe" which is a 1km stretch of nothing but bars and restaurants !

SimonLynch

irish_goat wrote: »

There's a Nazi museum which is quite interesting. http://www.cologne-tourism.com/attractions-culture/museums/ns-documentation-centre.html

I didn't rate the Chocolate "museum" much, it's just a walk round a mock Lindt factory and you barely get any chocolate. Think it's €9 too so it's not exactly cheap.

As for bars, you should check out Papa Joe's. Surreal place to have beers. http://www.papajoes.de/

Papa Joe's are great, there's the surreal one in the video and the jazz bar not far away.


On the train travel, there's something about checking your ticket before departing Cologne stations, don't know if there's a punching machine or what. When we were pulled by ticket inspectors on the way back to Dusseldorf they had a problem with us not doing that. With us not speaking German and them not speaking English I think they decided it wasn't worth pursuing.

hfallada

keithclancy wrote: »

Worst Advice Ever.

The Public Transport is very cheap in Germany if you buy the correct ticket.

E.G. If you travel in a Group on a weekend day you can get a Happy Weekend Ticket:
http://www.bahn.com/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/happy_weekend_ticket.shtml

40 euros for the first person and 4 euros per additional person up to 5 people for unlimited travel on all transport (excluding ICE & ICE Sprinter
Intercity (IC) and Eurocity (EC))

Cologne has many more attractions than Dusseldorf, The Dom being the main one, the train station, museums, the Zoo, Botanical Gardens, the Rheinseilbahn, the Neptunbad (Saunas/Relaxation Pools)

http://meinfernbus.de/

In Bavaria, the buses are cheaper than trains and faster. DB tends to stop at every little town between 2 cities. Where as Buses are direct and cheaper for a single person.

munchkin_utd

hfallada wrote: »

http://meinfernbus.de/

In Bavaria, the buses are cheaper than trains and faster. DB tends to stop at every little town between 2 cities. Where as Buses are direct and cheaper for a single person.

I dont know where youre getting this from.

The OP is going to Cologne from which theres no connections to Düsseldorf by bus, and only a couple of busses per day to Dortmund.

So forget about price, there isnt a bus in the first place anyhow.

Bogger77

it's no more than 13e to go by IC train, maybe 17e to go by ICE between the 2. 30 Mins by train, less than 50 cents a minute, for 40km. regional train, would be slower, but cheaper.

I've traveled all over Germany by train, only places I've gotten buses was intra-urban city buses.

Irish_rat

In my experience I preferred Dusseldorf over Köln.

Loved the Altstadt, the river walk was beautiful, authentic restaurants, less of a tourist trail, good strip of bars and the Rheinturm is ace.

lc180

OP here. Thanks for all the tips, Tis very much appreciated!

I've booked my ticket between Brussels and Cologne with Bahn.de, what's the deal with reserved seats? I didn't choose one and i didnt seem to be any assigned any. Is there usually an unreserved carriage on European trains?

munchkin_utd

lc180 wrote: »

OP here. Thanks for all the tips, Tis very much appreciated!

I've booked my ticket between Brussels and Cologne with Bahn.de, what's the deal with reserved seats? I didn't choose one and i didnt seem to be any assigned any. Is there usually an unreserved carriage on European trains?

If you booked on bahn,de then you are traveling on a german train so reservations are optional. To be honest on that stretch you don't need any anyhow.
But indeed, if you get unlucky you mightn't get a seat on a train if every seat is reserved, but that's not going to happen with yours

Bogger77

from experience, if you're travelling on ICE or IC train, and you booked online then you've got a seat reservation, it's included for sure on the ICE.

I've attached a screenshot of my Frankfurt to Munich online ticket, I traveled by ICE.

I've highlighted the reservation details


I've checked my mails, and last time I traveled Brussels to Köln was on ICE, but I bought from SNCB, and again I had a seat reservation.

ps: FRA to MUN was first class, so was BRU-Midi to Köln .

munchkin_utd

Bogger77 wrote: »

from experience, if you're travelling on ICE or IC train, and you booked online then you've got a seat reservation, it's included for sure on the ICE.<snip>.

no its not.
if you look at the ticket theres a €4 reservation fee! Which is an extra, and is optional. And is sometimes necessary, often not.

funny enough, if you go first class then the reservation is included by default for free since last December.
Also from next year a reservation will be included for second class tickets booked in advance as part of an offensive to encourage more people to use the trains.

Bogger77

doesn't everyone reserve a seat, it's much more civilized, and you know where to stand on the platform.

For the OP, there's A and B section of each platform in Brussels Midi, check which end the ICE will depart from, saves running when you see the train on the other end of platform

lc180

I didn't opt for the paid seat reservation for this journey.

Under the 'Produkte/Reservierung' section of my ticket it just reads "ICE 17". Nothing to indicate a row or seat number.

Bogger77

lc180 wrote: »

I didn't opt for the paid seat reservation for this journey.

Under the 'Produkte/Reservierung' section of my ticket it just reads "ICE 17". Nothing to indicate a row or seat number.

in that case, you'll just grab a free seat, it's a short enough trip!

mind your ears don't pop when you go through some of the tunnels.