mike_b12

Arrive in Amsterdam on the 15th
Leave for Brussels on the 19th. One day in Brussels and one day in Brugge.
Leave to Koblenz, Germany visit Burg-Eltz, next morning take K-D day river castle from Koblenz to Rudishiem.
Leave for Cologne for one day and night.
Leave for Berlin for three nights.
Leave for Hamburg for two nights.
Fly home
This is an early itinery. Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks

mike_b12

TTT

WallyKringen

You say "Leave to Koblenz, Germany visit Burg-Eltz, next morning take K-D day river castle from Koblenz to Rudishiem". Is that a Rhein river cruise? Does it leave you in Ruedesheim?

Seems to me it would make more sense to first go from Brugge to Cologne/Koeln, then to Koblenz, then to Ruedesheim (check the map).

Brugge-Koeln by train takes 3:14 hours, you have departures once per hour at xx.31.

Koblenz is further south of Koeln, and Ruedesheim is upstream, further south yet again.

From Ruedesheim it would make the most sense to take the train to Frankfurt am Main (a major travel hub) and then the train to Berlin, it's the fastest route:

The 10:56 or 12:56 or 14:56 or 18:56 departures from Ruedesheim (only one change, in Frankfurt Hbf!) take 5:23 hours to Berlin.

The 10:10 departure from Ruedesheim (change in Wiesbaden, Frankfurt Hbf, Hannover) takes 6:00 hours to Berlin, same thing for the 12:10, 14:10, 15:10 or 17:10 departures.

The others go north via Koblenz and Dortmund and take more than 7 hours.

The rest looks just fine - I presume you have an open-jaw ticket that flies you into Amsterdam and out of Hamburg?

Enjoy!

Wk

mike_b12

Wally..
We are going from Brugge to Koblenz via Cologne. Then we will be taking the
Rhine River cruise from Koblenz to Rudisheim.
From Rudisheim we will be taking the train to Cologne for an overnight stay.
Why are you mentioning Frankfort when we are not even planning on going there?
From Cologne we plan on going straight to Berlin.

Thank you for your help.

mike_b12

ttt

WallyKringen

I suggested Frankfurt as the departure point for Berlin because you're getting pretty close when you come up the Rhine to Ruedesheim, but if you prefer to backtrack down to Koblenz and on to Koeln before heading for Berlin, why not. I was just looking to streamline your itinerary to save you some time: Bruges - Koeln - Koblenz - Ruedesheim - Frankfurt - Berlin, all in a straight line (well, crooked straight line)...

Either way, say Hi to the lovely Lorelei for me when you wave to her from the boat!

WK

RufusTFirefly

I might have missed it, but what month?

PalQ

Investigate the German-Benelux railpass, a flexi pass for two months that starts at five days of unlimited travel spread over two months. Not sold in Europe, marketed by RailEurope - for details i recommend BETS (800-441-2387) for their expertise and not charging some of Raileurope's fees. Seems you are traveling enough to make it pay off but compare real prices on the German rail web site - the 'bahn sit' the easiest way to get the English schedule of this site is to visit www.budgeteuropetravel.com and on the home page click on All european train schedules and instantly up pops the English schedule page where you just put in the two cities and date and get all the rail links and fares - BETS home page tells important things about how to use the site. Then you can make an objective comparison between the pass and real prices at the station in Germany. Spelling is important to use the site (Rudesheim)

mike_b12

I will be going in Mid- October.
Thanks

PalQ

To catch KD boats try to go as early in Oct as possible as service peters out by the end of the month, down to winter schedules of 1 or 2 shortened daily trips. www.k-d-.com for 2006 schedules.

mike_b12

PalQ,
Thanks for your help. I had already taking a look at Rail Europe and the German-Benelux pass will save me alot of money. I plan on taking the K-D river cruise on Oct. 22nd. The winter schedule is in effect then.
Mike

DAX

If I were you, I would avoid taking the KD cruise upstream, it's slow enough going downstream. Take the train to Rudesheim & board the boat there. If you have time,I recommend a stop in one of the charming towns like St Goar.

I've been to Cologne a number of times for tradeshows. In my opinion, Cologne doesn't have significant tourist attractions beyond the cathedral which is about 100 ft away from the train station. You can see the whole thing in three hours including lunch (unless you want to attend mass in German). It's easy to leave your suitcase in the station locker then pick it up before you hop on the train again to spend the night elsewhere (like Bremen if you're heading to Hamburg). Cologne & Dusseldorf hotels can be ridiculously expensive during major tradeshows in the fall.

mike_b12

Thanks everyone for some great advice. We still have about 8 long months to go. Dax I will consider some of the other cities you suggested.
Mike

mike_b12

It is getting closer to the trip.
The only change is staying two nights in Cologne and skipping Koblenz or at least an overnight there. We will drive down the Rhine and make it to Koblenz.

DAX

If you stay in Cologne, I'd recommend staying on the west bank of the river where the old town/cathedral/museums are. The eastern side is more for conventions, not much else. Old town is crowded with tourists and locals (endless shopping area).

bellacqui

The back end of the trip looks fine to me, just wondering where in Berlin and Hamburg you are thinking of staying -- both are large and sprawled so we can comment further on the areas and guide you better. With the limited time in both you will want to be centrally located.

mike_b12

Thanks,
In Cologne I will be staying at Four Points by Sheraton Central Köln. In Berlin at the Comfort Hotel Fruehling am Zoo. Finally in Hamburg the DORINT NOVOTEL Hamburg Alster. From other Fodors posts and using points for some free stays I hope these are good choices. Any input and advice will be appreciated.
Mike

DAX

Mike, the 4 Points is just on the other side of the train station, so all you have to do is walk through the station to get to the old town. In terms of tourism, Cologne is the least impressive other than the Dom itself, but the people are more outgoing/friendlier. Go to a Kneipe to get a taste of the Koelsch beer.

The Comfort Inns in Berlin tend to be very old/worn in all aspects. You probably don't want to hear this, but I think it may bring down your Berlin experience. I would try other options if I were you. I'm actually going to arrive there on October 25 for a tradeshow, I found out that many hotels in Berlin are having lower occupancy during that week. I have 2 reservations going till I decide which one I want to stay at.

DAX

Just reread your thread, I might have sounded negative about Cologne. I actually enjoy it for the friendliness of the locals. Tons of bars & restaurants along the crowded pedestrian streets of old town. I find Berlin to be another place where people are more outgoing/less reserved in general. Have a great trip.

traveller1959

> Cologne is the least impressive other than the Dom itself <

Can it be true that someone has written this?

Here some things in Cologne:

- The Roman-Germanic Museum, a wonderful museum on the grounds of a Roman villa, with full-size mosaic floors, a Roman tomb (two storeys high) and thousands of artifacts including the very best glass artifacts that have ever been found in the Roman world. A must see.

- The Wallraff-Richartz Museum with an excellent collection of medieval art.

- The Museum Ludwig, one of the world's greatest collections of modern art. Currently they have an exhibition which is centered on Dali's magnificent painting "Perpignan Station".

- The gothic city hall, with a Roman palace in the cellar and a walkable 2000-year-old sewer.

- 12 (twelve) romanesque churches.

- And about a dozen more museums...