txeagle

I have a quick question. I am in the process of finalizing plans for our late August/Sept trip through Europe. We are a family of 4 travelling by car.

We are planning on visiting the Colonge catherdral. It is the only site in the city that we want to see. You should also know that I really hate to pay for parking, and will go through hastles to avoid it.

I am debating these two options. 1) Staying overnight in the outskirts of the city in a zimmer and taking the train to/from the catherdral and leaving the car.
2) Driving to the center and parking the car seeing the Dom and leaving town.

Please advise how much a two hour garage would cost? Is two hours enough to see the Dom? Any other advice is also appreciated.

Thanks

mindylt1

There is an underground parking garage right next to (maybe even under) the Dom. I believe that we just followed signs for the city center, and then signs for the Dom parking... no problem. I honestly don't remember how much we paid, but I don't think it was very much. In a big city like Cologne, I can't imagine where you're going to park for free.

Since you aren't interested in seeing anything else in the area, paying for a hotel room and train tickets for 4 seems like a really expensive way to avoid paying a few euro for parking. Since the train station is very close to the Dom, maybe you could just make Cologne a daytrip from somewhere else?

And yes, I think you could see the Dom in 2 hours.

Good luck, and have a great trip.

Robespierre

The cathedral is right across the platz from the Köln Hbf, where several U-bahn lines converge (see map, below). In other words, you can get to the Dom from just about anywhere in five minutes (probably less time and lower cost than driving into town and finding a car park).

Here's a map of the territory:

http://www.kvb-koeln.de/german/fahrp...ennetz2006.pdf

annhig

WE did exactly this last year - April time in school hols. I can't remember how much it cost to park near the koelner dom so thta means it can't have been too expensive. I do remember how difficult we found it to drive out of the city, as opposed to driving in, which was a doddle - just follow signs for "stadtzentrum" and "dom". 2 hours would be enough just to see the dom, but if you wanted lunch [and why not], and to look at the city a bit more it wouldn't be wasted. Good Luck

Alec

'Das „Parkhaus am Dom“ ist 24 Stunden geöffnet, von 9-19 Uhr beträgt die Parkgebühr je angefangene 20 Minuten 0,60 Euro, von 19-9 Uhr je Stunde 1,00 Euro.'
"The multi-story parking 'Parkhaus am Dom' is open 24 hours. From 9 am to 7 pm the charge is 0.60 euro per each period of 20 min, and from 7 pm to 9 am it's 1 euro per hour."

Robespierre

"I can't remember how much it cost to park near the koelner dom so thta means it can't have been too expensive."

Well, let's see: with unleaded regular at $6.30/gal...

(http://www.aaroadwatch.ie/eupetrolprices/, June 2006)

txeagle

Thanks everyone for your replies.

I am going to consider both options. The parking garage at just under 2E a hour is very reasonable and a pleasant surprise. I was expecting it to be like 10E for parking.

Depending on where we stay the previous night we still might just take the train. The kids would enjoy the chance to experience the train.

I am trying to put out of my mind the cost of gas, so please don't remind me

annhig

Robespierre - I was talking about the parking, not the petrol. Yes, it is expensive in europe, more so in Germany I believe than in the Uk. But for a family, driving is probably still cheaper than trains.

Robespierre

Do you think I don't know what you were talking about?

Since the OP was inquiring about costs, my post was to the point. For a comparison to be meaningful, the total cost of driving, including fuel and parking, has to be compared to the alternative(s). If their rental counts mileage, that has to be reckoned, as well.

A group ticket (5 persons) on the U-Bahn costs 6,50€