Hi,
My husband and I are thinking of going to Germany on Good Friday (Fri 21st March)for 4 nights. It works out a good bit cheaper to go to Frankfurt rather than Dusseldorf. Flight times are more or less the same. According to the flight schedule with Ryanair, we would be flying into Frankfurt-Hahn (HHN). Is this the main airport in Frankfurt or would we end up miles away?
I don't really know anything about either city only that both of them seem to be near the Rhine. We like to take the train, sightseeing, nice food, city sight seeing bus tour, a few drinks before bed time, shopping, quaint streets, strolling around markets etc. Not that much into museums. Which place would you recommend us fly to or to stay in? Would be travelling from Ireland so jet lag would not be a problem.
I would imagine taking the train or bus would be easy enough over there, do you have any suggestions for unmissable trips? Also any suggestions for accomodation. Would prefer one or maximum 2 hotels 3 or 4 star for the duration. If travelling to Dusseldorf, our flight gets in at 10.05 am on Friday and leaves at 10.50 am on Tuesday or if travelling to Frankfurt, it arrives at 9.45 am on Friday and departs at 10.10 am on Tuesday. Would you think the weather will still be very cold then.
Any advice would be a great help, Thanks, Martina.

Frankfurt HHN is more than 100 km from Frankfurt main airport, not convenient for transport.

It would be more conveneitnt to fly to Dusseldorf, take direct and frequent train (less than one hour)from airport to Koln. you could either stay at Koln ( beautiful cathedral and romanesque churches, good shopping, nice food, very convenient for daytrips), if you prefer big city; or change train to some town along Rhine, then either take boat or local train for daytrips also.

Around end of march last year, I stayed at Boppard (on Rhine, a bit more than one hour train from Koln)for one week, interesting small town, quiet and relaxing; the only drawback for you could be a bit too quiet in the evening.

It was a bit chilly and damp last year, but not unpleasant to walk around.

The Dusseldorf-Weeze airport is also some distance from Dusseldorf, I believe, although not so ridiculous as Hahn.

I agree with flying to Dusseldorf, and then going to Cologne, or even Aachen (or both Cologne and Aachen). Aachen is the best for quaintness, of all these options.

If you are interested in Easter services, I have a feeling the Cologne Cathedral one would be quite stunning, based on the processional I saw pre-Carnival.

Another place that has been recommended to me is Mainz, a short train ride from Frankfurt, but I haven't been there yet. You could look into that town to see if it would interest you for the weekend. It seems to have a lot to recommend it.

Dusseldorf has a nicely reconstructed old town, but it's very much a large, sprawling city. I've only spent a few hours there, so I'm not an expert, but just my quick impression. Certainly you could find enough to do, I'm sure.

If you do visit Cologne, and want a pleasant, friendly, but simple 3* hotel, try the Breslauer Hof am Dom. This should be in the 70 Euro range with breakfast included. It's right by the train station, so extremely convenient when you are coming by train.

I guess you are coming from Shannon, so don't have any options other than Ryanair.

Note that shops in Germany will be closed on Good Friday, Easter Sunday & Monday, further smaller shops and boutiques might close early/all day on Saturday, too, so your shopping opportunities will likely be limited to museum shops and some newsstands at stations etc.

Weeze is more than 1h by bus from Düsseldorf, there are direct busses to Cologne, too. Check the airport-homepage for details: http://www.flughafen-niederrhein.de/

Düsseldorf is really nice and pleasant for strolling, but though I know there is a sightseeing bus, I cannot imagine if it is worth the money, as the city centre is rather compact and the sights aren't that spectacular.

I agree that Düsseldorf/Cologne would make a fine base for a couple of days (let's add Aachen, Brühl and Bonn to a possible list of sidetrips).

Anyway, I think the flight into Hahn merits some thought, too. http://www.hahn-airport.de/default.a..._bus&cc=en will show the range of shuttle busses you can take a pick from, which (apart from obvious Frankfurt) will take you to places like Trier (roman ruins, Mosel valley)/Luxemburg, Bingen (scenic Middle Rhine valley), Mainz (nice small oldtown & splendid romanesque cathedral) or even Heidelberg.

If you want to be in Germany at Easter, I would skip Ryanair's options for both Duesseldorf and Frankfurt...the Ryanair served airports are too out of the way. Instead, I would look for a cheap flight to Baden-Karlsruhe...the airport is close to Baden-Baden and from there you can catch a train to a variety of destinations.

Other Ryanair destinations in Germany that would be superior to either Frankfurt (Hahn) or Duesseldorf (IMHO) for an Easter week-end.

1. Fly to Leipzig and spend Easter week-end there or in Dresden. Attend Easter services at the Holy Cross church in Dresden. Fantastic boys choir.

2. Bremen. An interesting, attractive city off the usual tourist radar.

3. Fly into Basel and catch a short train ride up to Freiburg in the Black Forest.

Thank you all for the info. I have checked again and I see I can get an Aerlingus flight from Dublin to either Dusseldorf or Frankfurt (international airport). Dusseldorf is a bit more expensive.
If we fly to Dusseldorf, our return flight home departs at 10.50am, so we would probably need to stay in Dusseldorf that night as we would have to be there 2 hours ahead of departure. So, would you recommend flying to Dusseldorf and going directly by train to Koln or Koblenz and staying there for the 3 nights, taking daytrips by train and head up to Dusseldorf for the last night. If so, would Koln or Koblenz be nicer?
Otherwise, we could go to Frankfurt (international)and stay there for the 4 nights, taking day trips or perhaps stay in Mainz for either 3 or 4 nights. Our return flight from Frankfurt is at 10.50am, so again we would need to be there at 8.50am.
After that, it's any suggestions for hotels!
I see that most of my shopping will have to be done on the Saturday. Will restaurants be open over Easter as normal. Also what would you expect the weather to be like then as Easter is early this year.
Happy New Year to you all!

I already gave my Cologne hotel recommendation. My Frankfurt one is a little premature, because I haven't stayed there yet, but the Hotel Excelsior right by the train station is a 3* hotel, with very good reviews, and I got a cancellable rate of 69 Euros per night for a twin room, and this includes free drinks from the minibar, free breakfast, and free Internet.

I haven't been to Koblenz, but it seems to be a very interesting area. That said, with Cologne, and daytrips, I'm sure you'd be well-occupied, and the Easter service would be stunning, I'm sure.

<i>I don't really know anything about either city only that both of them seem to be near the Rhine.</i>

Dear clueless martina,

Tip: In your local library and bookstores they have things called maps and guidebooks.

Thanks WillTravel and Hopscotch! By the way Hopscotch, not all of us are able bodied enough to get to a bookstore or library! Thought the whole idea of this site was to exchange ideas and experiences!