Koln / Cologne or Luxembourg?
 

I will be heading from Bruges to the Mosel, and plan on spending one night in between.
It takes almost exactly the same time to go via Koln as Luxembourg.

Which route would you recommend? Is one more scenic as far as the train trip goes? What about Koln and Luxembourg themselves? Which is a better place to spend a single night? We would arrive at about 1:00 in the afternoon, and leave at 9:00 the next morning. Is that enough time to see any of Luxembourg? I had figured it is just the right amount of time to see the Cathedral in Koln, so was leaning towards that, but I would love to hear your comments!

I assume you are talking about Luxembourg City. I haven't been to Koln, but I would definitely pick Luxembourg City. It is beautiful. It also has a great church. Lots of history in the area regarding WWll.

Curious

Thanks curious!

Yes, I did mean Luxembourg City. I have heard that it is beautiful. What would you recommend we do in our limited time there?

Just came back from Germany a couple of weeks ago and had a short layover in Koln. I found it kinda miserable; rude people; trash all over; grimy. Didn't care for it. Was glad I hadn't stuck with my original plan for an overnighter.

If it matters to you, the cathedral is currently covered in scaffolding, although the inside is nice.

Go to Luxembourg!

Sounds like Luxembourg it is! Thanks!

Do you like beer? Koln brews a special type of beer called Kolsh. They server it in special glasses. You have to be able to see the cathedral spires in order to brew it. One town about 40 miles away built a tower on their hill so they could see the spires and then start brewing that type of beer.

My husband could spend a week in Koln just for the beer alone. The cathedral is also beautiful. I've never been to Luxembourg, but Koln is a great place for a beer afficianado.

I hope someday you'll have the opportunity to do BOTH these places as I doubt you'll regret it...it is unfortunate that you have yet to hear from anyone else who actually HAS done both (for a possibly further/more objective comparison) so will top this once again for you.

Cologne is a city, whereas Lux is just a town. If you're looking for nightlife, restaurants, bars, etc. by all means go to Cologne. Great museums in Cologne too. Lux is pretty and nice, but like many other smaller European towns.

Well, I've not only been to both, I also studied in Koeln many, many moons ago, my first foray out of the US, as a matter of fact. And as between the two, there is absolutely no question that there is more to see and do in Koeln-quite apart from the Koelner Dom. Koeln is a vibrant city with a thriving arts scene-one of the most important art fairs in all of Europe is held here. It has world class museums -Walraf Richarz and the Roman-German Museum are two examples, as well as some beautiful ancient smaller churches that should be seen, and probably aren't seen enough.

But it is the action in and around the Alter Markt that really makes the city-one of the best walking cities anywhere in Europe-full of some of the best jazz clubs anywhere in the world (Koeln is renowned for its jazz), its many weinstube and of course, biergartens (in summer) set up where one can savor the excellent Koelsch beer (I don't know how to type umlauts-so I'm not even trying)-of course EVERYWHERE in Koeln you'll find Koelsch, of course! It has quite the sophisticated restaurant scene due to its position as a German media/arts center, and it is right there on the Rhein River, so if you want to go cruise for an hour or so by boat you can do that too.

The above is just a sampling-but walking and wandering this city on your own you can find much to see and enjoy-I highly recommend a visit.

As for Luxembourg, well let's see. If you blink twice, you've seen it all. It's got a couple of lovely palaces, etc. but as far as a nightscene-there simply isn't any. It's the home of the European Court of Justice, and a business and banking center-that's pretty much all you need to know-BORING! I don't know a single European who spends any time there whatsoever.

Koln - one of Europe's least appealing cities outside of its cathedral and nice riverfront - all modern with a vest-pocket old time re-created from war rubble. Nice enough and a good choice. But the route via Luxembourg is much more scenic and Luxembourg City itself is one of the most gorgeous cities in Europe - a deep gorge runs right down its center. The city itself is blah like Koln but the countryside is so nice and the drive down to the Mosel to wherever you'll end up is also great (though the autobahn will get you there quicker). so a hard choice. You also go thru the Ardennes for miles before Luxembourg.

"Koln-one of Europe's least appealing cities..."

This fits the description of those who have blown through Koeln and not bothered to spend any time here. I would suggest, Sockboy-that you do a little research-if you want to savor a vibrant European city atmosphere and nightlife, you should do Koeln-as you mention-the Koelner Dom is truly a cathedral to see-and the area in the shadow of the Dom is lovely to walk around in, sit in a cafe, sip a Koelsch and people-watch. If you want to look at a couple of pretty palaces, in a pretty little business/banking center town, and then go, uh, okay, now what? Then go the latter route.

I have been to both and would go with Lux in a heart beat. It is the place that I would go back to again. good food, there is night life, great people, relaxing, easy to see on foot. Now for the person making a quick trip, there is no need to spend more than 1.5 days in the City, but the country side has so much to offer too. Some outstanding castles, wine country, and it is so close to so many neat sights in Germany, France and Belgium. It is really a good base for seeing so much in an area of Europe that I think is over looked.

"Koln-one of Europe's least appealing cities..."
Spygirl retorts to my description:
"This fits the description of those who have blown through Koeln and not bothered to spend any time here."

Well i dare to say i've spend a whole lot more time in Koln than Spygirl - i stayed for fours days in this city for ten years - have jogged thru every one of its streets perhaps - seen it all - not a bad town but least-appealing in sense that it's all modern - nice riverfront - not that it's not an interesting city - especially the Turkish ghetto - and i don't blame Koln because they were bombed to bits in war - not their fault - but amongst European large cities as whole, yes amongst the least appealing from what an average tourist is looking for?

Funny, that somone who has spent such a long time in a city still doesn`t know the name of the place. It`s Köln or Koeln or Cologne, not Koln ;-)

It's not that i don't know how to spell Koeln as i don't know how to put the umlaah or whatever those two dots on over the U - thus here i will put in an e in place of the dots as Germans are want to do. And it's pronounced kind of like "cune" as rhymes with tune. A city by any name is still unappealing under whatever name - unappealing in comparison to most other German towns, but appealing.

I am suprised by the number and passion of these posts! I think I am going to a bit more research before I decide . ..

Your choice depends on your interests, sockboy.

If you want to enjoy a scenic train ride and then have a walk through a very scenic city, pick Luxembourg. The actual city part of Luxembourg City isn't all that exceptional, but it is situated on a river gorge that provides all kinds of texture - parks, bridges, rocky outcroppings, meandering river - a real eyefull. I loved it.

The ride to Koeln is almost a non-event, really. Koeln is big and modern. It's an easy walk around the city from the station. Go there for the restaurants and the museums and the cathedral.

Thanks for all the thoughts everyone. Luxembourg sounds like the route I would prefer, however, something offwego said made me wonder if I really need to spend a night between Bruges and Cochem. I checked the train schedule and I definitely don't. I still have to get from A-B though. If I was pretty much travelling straight through, with just a 3hr stop in Lux or Cologne, would this change any ones idea of which place is better for just a couple of hours?