Mainhattengirl

The Belgian Quarter has beautiful old houses in it and a great park nearby, with flocks of parrots living in the trees. Really noisy ones too.

kfusto

Thank you all. I have booked a room at the Dom Hotel Le Meridien in Cologne. I will definite post a trip report when we return.

cranberryskies

I haven't been to Cologne, but I thought Heidelberg was adorable with the cobble-lined streets in the shopping area, the river nearby, and the Heidelberg castle off in the distance. It's worth at least a day to browse around.

VolCrew

kfusto, of the responses above, I most agree with Echnaton, I think. I have been to both cities a couple of times each.

In Köln, I enjoyed the Old Town around the waterfront. I did a Kölsch brewery crawl to sample the varieties of the local brew (Früh Brauhaus was my favorite). I climbed to the top of the dom (509 steps) and enjoyed the spectacular view. Of course, the river rides are popular and looked fun, but I did not try one.

But I like Heidelberg, too, and it will be much more convenient to Nurnberg for you; it will be quite a drive up to Köln. I like to photograph churches and there are some quite interesting ones (at least to me). I was actually there in November and there is quite a bit of Christmasy stuff to look at. I like those cobble streets that cranberryskies mentioned, too.

On my first trip to Heidelberg, I visited the castle above the town; there is quite a view. It was being renovated the last time I was there and had a lot of scaffolding covering the town exposure.

If you like chocolate, you might try the Studentenkuss, a Heidelberg special treat.

As for late November, the main problem I have with that latitude is the short days. I must prefer the long, warm days of August in Germany.

kfusto

Late November is the best time for us to travel so we plan our European trips at Thanksgiving most every year. We can stay longer so are willing to sacrifice warm weather for the extra time and lower prices.

"But I like Heidelberg, too, and it will be much more convenient to Nurnberg for you; it will be quite a drive up to Köln."

We are traveling by train and Cologne and Heidelberg are about the same distance, with Cologne actually shorter as there are direct trains.

I will continue to read and research but it seems that both will offer a pleasant stay for two nights.

Thanks everyone who has responded so far - I appreciate the insights.

joannyc

kfusto,

Are you doing this trip in conjunction with your late November trip to Italy? How much time are you spending in Austria, Germany, and Italy in total?

Will you adopt me???

lavandula

Cologne has good shopping. I quite like it, although is you are looking for cutesy Fachwerkhäuser this isn't the place for it. And Cologne Cathedral really is a landmark. In this age of skyscrapers you have to consider what it really took to complete a building the size of this cathedral before cranes were invented. There are also some Roman ruins in Cologne. I'd take at least a day here. I like Heidelberg too, but it's a different scene altogether. It is cutesy, has the atmosphere, has a castle, but not the landmark like Cologne.

Lavandula

LSky

Cologne has the Ludwig- what a museum! We spent hours there before we came up for air.

kfusto

joannnyc, Italy is next year....I plan ahead It is rare we go to Europe twice a year but a girl can dream!

We were invited to join my brother and SIL on their trip next fall to Ireland so that caused us to step back and think about what we want to plan for 2011 so we could let them know our decision. We both would prefer to return to Italy rather than Ireland so that got me thinking about where in Italy would be a different experience from past trips. Our other thought is actually Bruges and to build a trip around that area.

If Heidelberg is cutesy like Rothenburg ober der Tauer, that is not what we are looking for. We enjoy those kind of places for a few hours but not for two days. From the photos and what I have read , Heidelberg reminds me of Salzburg and that is a city we have visited multiple times and really enjoy both for itself and the access to the countryside.

Hans

In Heidelberg you have a small, very touristy part but it isn't a city living from tourism. It's in the middle of one of the most prosperous areas in Germany and most residents work in companies in the region or in the university. I think this results in a very different feel to a place like Rothenburg.

Close to Heidelberg you have several places well worth a day-trip, as for example Speyer.

The same is true for Cologne. There's for example Bonn close by. The Haus der deutschen Geschichte focuses on post-war German history, if that's something you're interested in.

I think both places offer easily enough to spend two days. But in case that you're there on the 11th of November, definitely go to Cologne. At 11:11 11.11 is the official start of carneval. While it's nothing compared to the celebrations in February, it might still be interesting to see and to participate in the pubs.