I've just found out I will be attending a convention in Bonn, Germany in November of 2002. As I'm having trouble finding sites with information about Bonn that are in English, I thought I would try this messageboard. I've never been to Germany (or Europe, for that matter), so bear with me!<BR><BR>Is there a website that lists all of the hotels/hostels/b&bs/etc. in this city? Or if one of you has traveled to (or lives in!) this city and could recommend a hotel? I'm traveling very light (just a backpack), will be staying for five days, and am hoping to go fairly cheap (the convention costs are quite expensive). Is cheap lodging available within the city or in a suburb? If I were to stay somewhere outside of the central city area, does the city have a reliable rapid transit system? I'll be relying on public transit (and walking) for the entire weekend.<BR><BR>Also, I will be traveling from Chicago, IL, USA. Does Bonn have an international airport or will I have to fly into another city and get a connection to Bonn? Personal opinion: Would it be cheaper to fly into another city and get a connection to Bonn?<BR><BR>Is Bonn an expensive city as far as dining and attractions go? I won't have much time outside of the convention to do things, though I will have evenings free. I'm not a club person, but I'm hoping there will be other places to unwind and see what little of the city I will have time to see... <BR><BR>Any help with any of my questions will be greatly appreciated (even just a link to an english site with all of this information!). I still don't have all the details about the convention (a location, for instance, though it is near--or possibly in?--the Maritim) so I'm not able to be more detailed with my questions. <BR><BR>Thanks again!<BR>Estella

I don't know Bonn at all really, but I did a little looking and found that The Maritim lies sort of midway between Bonn's downtown and the suburb of Bad Godesberg. The Maritim does have its own convention center. Both the downtown Bonn and B-D areas have hotels that might work for you. Here are some directions to the Maritim:<BR>http://www.maritim.de/english/tagungen/bundeshaus/anfahrt.htm<BR><BR>I found a site in German and searched for hotels at the lower end - came up with these. You could search the names yourself and see if there are additional sites in English.<BR><BR>Bonn:<BR>This hotel is reasonable and near the town center:<BR>www.roemerhof-bonn.de/eng/<BR><BR>The Aigner Minotel is right in the middle of the old town center and very close to the public transport that would get you to the Maritim. I saw a single price of 74 Euros somewhere. Search the name and see what you can find.<BR><BR>Bad Godesberg: (not sure how you'd get to the Maritim from here, though.)<BR><BR>Zum Adler<BR>Ambassador<BR> <BR>Hope this helps you.<BR><BR>Russ

Go to www.bonn.de, click on the British flag under Tourist-Information in the lower right corner.

You'll find a lot of info in English here:<BR>http://www.bonn.de/tourismus//e_index.htm

Ah, curses, posts disappear when they are too long.<BR><BR>So with less text: I don't know too much about hotels but you could try the hotel Mozart http://www.hotel-mozart-bonn.de/ My former institute puts visitors there since it's very close but that also means that it's neither too bad not too expensive. It's about ten minutes by foot from the railway station. An Ibis hotel is at the Kaiser-Karl-Ring, they are normally acceptable and not too expensive (15 minutes by foot from the railway station).<BR><BR>From the railway station to the Maritim: Go to the subway station and take the 66. It runs at least every 15 minutes and takes about 10 minutes. There's a service station of the public transport system there to buy a pass for several days (ask for combination with museum entries, if you're interested).<BR><BR>Airport: K&ouml;ln/Bonn (Cologne/Bonn), is close but Frankfurt is 2-2.5 hours by train. D&uuml;sseldorf is about an hour by train.<BR><BR>Getting to the ciy centre with public transport: Depends. Some places have good connections, some are awful. Once you're in the centre, walking is no problem. You can reach pretty much everything of interest within 20 minutes. Bonn grew by incorporating villages and small towns, so the centre is small and to a great extend an university city. Don't panick when arriving at the railway/subway station, it's the gathering place of the homeless and drug addicts. It's somewhat intimidating, especially at night, but they are pretty harmless. Otherwise Bonn is very safe. I don't know of a single of my female friends who's afraid of walking alone at night.<BR><BR>

Nightlife: The H&ouml;ttche a the market is a restaurant with traditional Rhenish food. The Machold is a brewer pub with less traditional food. The Tuscolo is a good Italian restaurant with Bonn's best pizza and very good entries (very close to the Ibis hotel). The Sirtaki is a good Greek restaurant. Prices in these restaurants are okay. There are several Irish pubs, the Schnappsuhr/Quiet Man being close to the Hotel Mozart. Othrwise there are a few dozen student pubs around Bonn, mainly Altstadt and S&uuml;dstadt. Cologne is 25 minutes by train. If you go there, try the brewery pubs for at least part of the evening, the Fr&uuml;h being very close to the railway station. <BR><BR>Sights: Beethoven's birthplace and some of the residence buildings of the Archbishop of Cologne are in the city centre. I like the Macke museum, close to the Ibis hotel. There are several museums at the Museumsmeile which is at the street the 66 follows from the railway station to the Maritim. The Haus der Deutschen Geschichte is about post-was German history, quite interesting.<BR><BR>Hope this helps, Hans

You can fly into Cologne/Bonn airport, and take the bus into Bonn for 4.80 EUR. Transpo is good, though more expensive than in the US. The Maritim is along the subway line from the center to Bad Godesberg. Attractions - don't miss out on Cologne cathedral, and also on the Augustusburg palace in Bruehl, halfway between Bonn and Cologne. All regional trains stop at Bruehl, and the palace is 30 seconds from the station. Cologne is UGLY (thanks to WWII), but VERY VERY lively. It has a great Nazi era museum in the former Gestapo HQ (along with prisoner's cells and graffiti on the walls), but the displays are mostly in German. The Chocolate museum in Cologne is also nice.<BR>Bonn also has decent museums, such as the FRG history museum, and the Beethoven museum in the house where he was born.