The second week of dec i will be in amsterdam. I am was wonder if i could visit to colonge and aachen in one day. If not which one would be the better city to visit or is it worth takeing 2 day trips. I'll only be in amsterdam for 4 days.

I think you could do both in a day with an early start. Nearly everything worth seeing in Cologne is withing walking distance of the train station. The center of Aachen is pretty compact too.

Aachen and Cologne are one hour apart. Aachen to Amsterdam is around three and a half hours. Amsterdam to Cologne is about three hours, although there is the occasional faster train.

That gives seven and a half hours of train travel plus waiting time.

I would say you are putting a lot of pressure on yourself with this itinerary. Aachen is not that great a place to visit, and the sights are a good 15 minute walk from the station. Cologne has the cathedral and the German-Roman Museum right at the main station, plus an underground system to get you around the centre.

I would restrict myself to Cologne. It also has lots of nice little pubs to use if it's raining.

Actually, harzer is probably right on this. If you leave Amsterdam at 7:04, you arrive in Cologne at 9:48. I too would suggest spending most of the day in Cologne rather than Aachen - but how much time you spend there really depends on what your interests are. The bugaboo is that there isn't a whole lot of daylight at that time of year! If you feel finished earlier than expected in Cologne, you could perhaps stop in Aachen before heading back to A'dam, but you probably won't see much. The Dom there is super, but if you won't be able to get in - I don't know the hours for visitors - and if the town is dark, the stop in Aachen will not be especially worthwhile, IMO.

Thanks for the advice. Something else i was wondering. How is the christmas market in Cologne or does Cologne have one. The other think i was wondering is how hard is it to get around in germany/Cologne only knowing very little german.

Yes!
Cologne has a christmas market - even several: Around the Dom (cathedral) and on the major open places like Neumarkt, Alter Markt, Rudolphplatz. And one on the other side of the Rine at Deutzer Brücke.

Besides this, there's an historic (medieval) christmas market in front of the chocolate museum and a floating market on one of the cruise ships on the Rhine.
In general, markets are open from 24.11.-23.12.2003, Mon-Sun: 11am-9pm) The two special markets have slightly different opening times. (29.11.03-21.12.03, daily except Monday 11am-9pm)

Another special thing about Cologne in christmas time is the tradition of creches or nativity scenes (says my dictionary) that can be found in all the churches and in additional places. Different materials and sizes and of different ages. There's kind of a numbered hike through Cologne and the `Krippen'(the German word).

I will disagree with my fellow travelers on this one. I will say that Aachen is not a huge city, with a ton of sights to see. But at the same time Koln is not that overly impressive city. (so it is a toss up) The Dom is very large and the Roman museum is a good size, but nothing else major jumps at you) The river is not exactly the place to be at this time of the year either.

If you want to enjoy yourself for an easy day head to Aachen. They have a decent Christmas market. You can see the Town hall and the Dom and the Jewels. You can have a coffee in the old Aachener coffeehouse, which is a neat old building with lots of wooden cookie molds on the walls. Make sure that you get some of the Aachen Prenten cookies, that are the special cookie from the area.

It will make for an enjoyable day trip without trying to squeeze both in on a single trip. BUt check a couple tour books and see if there is anything that strikes you as special that you want to see.
Language is not a problem in these cities
Glenn

I agree with Glenn. In terms of things to see, there's not much difference between Aachen and Köln. In this specific case, Aachen would be even closer from Amsterdam.

Does anybody know how much a 2nd class train ticket would cost from Amsterdam to Cologne? I did chech Die Bahn but they did not list the price. Thanks for your hrlp.

www.railsaver.com will give cost estimates for point-to-point tickets.

Keyser Jon,

I just got back from four days in Cologne. One of those days we took a day trip and spent all day in Aachen. Our flight back to the states was out of Amsterdam so we took the train from Cologne. First of all the train from Amsterdam to Cologne took approx 3.5 hour and cost around $35 Euro pp 2nd class and $50 Euro pp 1st class each way. Your best bet is Cologne. Aachen is nice but Cologne will be more impressive. The Christmas markets were open in each city and there is one right next to the Dom which is right next to the train station. There is also another market about a quarter mile from the Dom market. Personally I would never take a day trip to Aachen from Amsterdam. I think it is even farther away then Cologne. The brats are great. Enjoy!

My husband and I are going to Europe with our 4 kids (in their 20's). We find ourselves in Amsterdam an extra day due to cancellation of our flight to Prague.
We thought we would take a day trip to cologne- what is the cheapest way for 6 adults to travel - my quick check on train travel had it coming to almost $1000! Is this the only way? WE are leaving in 2 weeks.

I know one day car rentals aren't easy to find, but it seems to me that this might be your best bet in comparison to $1000 for tickets on the train. We too were astounded at the price of train tickets in Germany.

alyflex: That price of $1000 is inaccurate. Netherlands rail travel from Amsterdam to the border and back should cost you no more than 35-40 Euros each. Once in Germany, regular tickets from the border to Cologne cost only 14 Euros each; alternatively, you can get a daypass to cover 5 of you on local trains for 30 Euros total or less and buy one regular ticket.

There is no reason to pay more than 300 Euros total. Of course, you may well be able to get a car for that amount.

If you are looking at prices at Raileurope, they are usually wildly inflated because of commissions - but not usually that much.

Thanks for your quick response. I really never thought of renting a car since there is so many of us - I know the cars in Italy were always so small- but will definitely look into. Tooling around in car would be the BEST thing!
We are very excited.
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