Day-trip/short-trip from Frankfurt using public transportation
 

Hi,

I am set to land in Frankfurt in mid-July & will make my way to Amsterdam, then Berlin, Prague, Vienna, etc finishing in Rome, in that order. I have 5 weeks with me.

Is there a small charming village / must-see town (in Germany, or then Belgium / Netherlands) that I can visit from Frankfurt for a day-trip or 1N halt? It would help if it is in general direction towards Amsterdam / has good connection to Amsterdam.

I would be traveling solo & always use public transportation.

Not small towns but I think Köln is a must see (hello, Köln Dom!). Or Aachen (Aachener Dom -- for more than 600 years, every German emperor/king was coronated there).

Best to make either an overnight on your way to AMS.

@sparkchaser, sounds like a good idea.

I can see trains from Frankfurt airport ("Frankfurt Flug Fe") to Cologne ("Koeln HBF" and "Koeln Deutz") at 8 PM / 9 PM. After landing at 6:40 PM, do you think I can catch the 8 PM train from airport train station to Cologne?

Which of the 2 Cologne train stations should I be looking for? HBF or Deutz?

Further, are there any buses from Frankfurt airport to Cologne? Buses seem to be cheaper as against last minute train bookings. To pay ~85 euros for a 1 hr train journey seems brutal to me :(

Is 1D/N stay in Cologne ok to see major highlights? I need more time in my trip for other destinations.

The Dom is right by the Köln Hbf. So you should go there. ;)

There are buses you can take but their times may not be convenient for you.

You don't mention where you are flying in from but if you land at 18:40, trying to catch a 20:00 train might be a bit of a stretch. In my opinion, you should stay overnight at the airport (the Hilton Garden Inn is nice and not horribly expensive) then take an early-ish train to Köln. Stay overnight in Köln then move on the next day. In addition to the Dom, there is an excellent museum nearby called the Roman-Germanic Museum. There is a crazy amount of Roman ruins in Köln.

I forgot to mention that Köln is a great visual aide in seeing how a city just build on top of itself. I was there over Easter and at one of the excavation sites (not far from the Dom and Roman-Germanic museum), you can see the Medieval buildings from the old Jewish Quarter that were discovered. http://www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu...very/%E2%80%9D

@sparkchaser, you are v knowledgeable about this. Thanks. I am going with your idea in general. I shall do a night stay in Frankfurt followed with early morning direct bus to Cologne (managed to find 10-12E fares for 2:15 hrs travel time). I shall spend the day there and then make my way to Amsterdam.