Need help: 4 days in Germany- from Amsterdam to Lucerne
 

This is my husband and I's first time to Germany (we are in our mid 20s)- we will be traveling from Amsterdam to Lucerne, Switzerland (mid November) and have about 4-5 days to see the western part of Germany. We are trying to figure out an itineray... We are considering heading to Cologne and then making day trips to Bonn and Dusseldorf. Any suggestions for restaurants, bars, attractions? ... not thinking we will be able to enjoy the countryside too much because of the weather...any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you! =)

We trained from Amsterdam on this route:
Amsterdam - 2 nights
Arnhem - Outdoor folk museum on the way to Cologne - 1 night
Koblenz for lunch stop, on to St Goar - 2 nights
Boppard/St Goar sights
Freiburg - lunch stop on the way to Basel - 1 night
Lucerne - 2 nights; sights and lake cruise
Zurich - 1 night

In the Rhine area, we visited the Rheinfels ruins above St Goar, St Goar itself being about 2 blocks long, and took the chairlift above Boppard, then rented bikes from a shop in Boppard for a couple of hours' riding. The view of the river is very beautiful from the top of the chairlift, and there's a terraced cafe up there with an overlook.

We are an Air Force Family stationed at a small American Air Base in Germany. Cologne is nice. Try to swing by Brussels if you can. You can also do Luxembourg City and Trier all in one day. Trier is Germany's oldest city - 16 B.C. My family web page has a small blurb and picture of the Porta Nigra (black gate). http://www.thecheckleys.com/Trier.html By the way, Trier is on the famous Mosel River and we think the wine here puts the Rhine to shame! :-)

Hi megan_le,
my thoughts on Cologne:
People your age go to the area around Friesenplatz (subway stop by the same name) for the nightlife. There's tons of bars and restaurants... Or try the area of Zulpicherstrasse around Zulpicher Platz (also a tram stop). It's very close to the university with a lot of 20s partying and inexpensive restaurants. The Altstadt is really more touristy or caters to an older crowd.


If you're willing to do a little bit of culture, I suggest the Museum Ludwig, a museum of modern art. While you're there they have an Edward Hopper Retrospective going on. The museum is right next to the Cathedral (Dom) and the main railstation.
http://www.museenkoeln.de/english/museum-ludwig/

You've probably heard about the chocolate museum in Cologne before.
The museum used to have an English homepage as well, right now I can't find it. So the address is: Imhoff-Stollwerck-Museum, Rheinauhafen 1a, 50678 Köln. Open Tuesday Friday 10 - 6, Sat/Sun/holidays 11-7, closed on Mondays. Admission is 6 Euros.


When I think of Dusseldorf I think mainly of the pubs in the Altstadt and fancy (very fancy and very expensive) shopping. You might have come across this site already: http://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de
Then just click on the British flag.

I wish the two of you the best possible November weather, have fun!

I'm not sure how much time you're planning to spend in Cologne, but I wouldn't recommend much more than a day. The chocolate museum is interesting and the Dom is worth checking out.

We stayed outside of Cologne for a few weeks last spring while my husband was there on business. We didn't visit Bonn or Dusseldorf because we heard they were more business centers...not sure if that's entirely true.

Not sure if it fits into your itinerary, but we really enjoyed Brugges (more than Brussels, but we generally like smaller cities).

I'd also recommend some time on the Rhine or Mosel rivers. The weather might be chilly, but several of the castles on the Rhine are still worth visiting.