My family of 5 will be travelling by train from Paris to Braunschweig in July. We will have a stop in Koln probably for 2 nights. Does anyone have a suggestion of a reasonably priced hotel, pension, hostel? We of course will go to see the Cathedral, but we are wondering what else we should see or do since we will have a good day and a half. Is there somewhere else along the train route that would be worth stopping to see? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Jackie

The Cologne HI hostel is located just across the big bridge (plus a couple of blocks more) from the Cathedral and the Station. It was just remodeled. It's a massive hostel with nearly 500 beds. You can book a family room there for around $100 total for 5 including breakfast.

http://www.jugendherberge.de/interna...h.jsp?IDJH=450

Cologne's Cathedral is your main objective there, right?? If you have no other "must-sees" and no requirements to spend more time there, you might consider a minor change in plans. I don't know the exact route you have in mind, but if possible, you might head across France and into Germany via Luxembourg or Saarbruecken and travel along the pretty Mosel River to Koblenz, then north to Cologne. The scenery in both France and Germany is much much better here than along the fast but dull Thalys route that heads north from Paris, especially along the Mosel, where you'll pass lots of vineyards, castles, and other scenic spots. And if you do this, I'd suggest overnighting in a smaller, more atmospheric place on the Mosel, like Cochem or Trier, and making Cologne just a stop along the way rather than a destination. It's a decent city, especially if you are museum lovers, but it is in many ways just another city, and if you are museumed out and citied out after Paris and would like to just relax a bit and see something different, a town like Cochem makes a much better stop. The next day, train to Cologne, drop your bags in lockers there, and spend a couple of hours seeing the cathedral and having a nice lunch in the town center.

I was in Cologne last Oct., although I was technically on business, we did have down town there. We stayed at the Savoy in the aldstadt section of the city. I have no idea what the rates were, but it was lovely. We were pretty close to the Cathedral, which is amazing at night. Wander around the streets of the aldstadt. Enjoy!

For accommodation you may also want to try the Hotel Reservation Service www.hrs.de

With kids I'd suggest a visit at the chocolate museum. It's in the southern part of the Altstadt directly at the Rhine and very interesting. You can see the whole production from the cocoa plant to the bar of chocolate. And they have a fountain with chocolate in it...
http://www.schokoladenmuseum.de/engl..._of/index.html

Also pretty close to Cologne is a big amusement park (like Six Flags) which is called Phantasialand.
http://www.phantasialand.de/cgi-bin/...FMCF=phantasia

Russ- the hostel you suggested looks great and right along the line of what we would like. Unfortunatly it is all booked up for the time we need. Any other suggestions?
We did plan to take the Thalys train from Paris. Is there another line we should look at that would allow us to take advantage of your suggestion of going along the Mosel River?
Jackie

Jackie: Leave Paris Est at 8:50, arrive Cologne 16:43, changing trains in Saarbruecken and Koblenz.

Honestly, Jackie, I can't be much more help to you with acommocations in Cologne itself. Things are generally pretty pricey in the bigger cities with 5 people. If you are interested in other hostels in the area, there is one in Koln-Riehl, at the south edge of town, that I know nothing about. Along the above route, there is a hostel in Trier (right on the Mosel), a brand-spanking new one in Cochem overlooking the Mosel, a castle-hostel in Koblenz (a bit far from the center - many other accommodations there too) and one in Bonn.

I can recommend a B&B in the center of Cochem, if you're interested, for about the same price as the hostel (we're staying there ourselves in July as we have in the past.)

If you stick with the Thalys, you might try Aachen, just west of Cologne - there's a hostel there, but it's a bit far from the center, I believe.

You might look into the availability of Ibis hotels (budget doubles and triples) along the Thalys route (Aachen - Cologne).

Try www.choicehotels.com and look for this Cologne hotel:
Comfort Central Am Dom Hotel

They have doubles, twins and triples - obviously you would need 2 rooms. We have reserved one overnight here in September (twin room) for 106E, includes cont. breakfast.
It is located very centrally, a few blocks from train station and the cathedral.