eastave

My 8-year old daughter and I are tagging along behind Dad/husband, who is working. We are spending five days in Amsterdam (the main part of the trip). We end by going to Cologne early in the day, spending the night, and then going to Frankfurt the next day, spending the night, and then flying out of Frankfurt the next day.

My plan was just to do some basic exploring in each place for the day-half day we are there. But, we could spend most of our second day in Cologne and travel just the two of us later on to Frankfurt for the night. Or, we could take a day trip from Cologne and end up in Frankfurt, assuming we could leave some luggage at a station somewhere.

Anyone have any advice?

sandralist

What days would you be in Cologne and Frankfurt, and does your 8-year-old prefer some activities more than others?

For ideas, you might find this website useful. In additions to categories like "family attractions" you can also search for specific cities and towns and find a complete list of things to do and see and pick what sounds interesting to you

http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-c...s/cologne.html

http://www.germany.travel/en/towns-c...frankfurt.html

http://www.germany.travel/en/special...eme-parks.html

lavandula

I have not been there, but there is a chocolate museum in Cologne. Your daughter may get a kick out of it .

Lavandula

eastave

Thanks for the links. I was thinking we could explore the cathedral in Cologne and maybe a museum. Frankfurt seems overwhelming to me, so I was thinking of the zoo that day.

For her age, my daughter is pretty interested in art and other museums, as long as we balance it out with typical kid things like running around a park.

Is there some easily accessible small town near either place that has a castle worth visiting or something along those lines?

texasbookworm

Without knowing you or all the details, I'd say the easiest thing to do is spend your half-day or so in Cologne, then travel on to Frankfurt (assuming you get to check in and leave your luggage both times) and spend your half day or so in Frankfurt. Between travel times needed, checking in and out, an 8 year old, and luggage considerations, you may not have as much time as it looks like on paper.

In Cologne, definitely tour the Cathedral; there's an English-speaking tour (when I was there, led by a lady who remembers stepping over the rubble after the bombing). http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=17&L=1 10:30 and 2:30 most days.

I loved the Roman-German Museum (Romisch-Germanisches Museum) right across the square from the Cathedral.

For Frankfurt: In the little time you have, I would not think trying to get to a castle--which aren't that near--would be an easy thing.

Don't feel overwhelmed--I have grown to really appreciate Frankfurt, and the center of it and much of the tourist-y stuff is really easy and mostly walkable.

"Everyone" should start with a visit to the Romer. The Tourist Info office is right there, and the Cathedral (Dom) is worth a visit and also right there.

1.My favorite intro to Frankfurt now is the 4ish hour walking tour by Frankfurt on Foot--but it might be a bit long for you guys. http://www.frankfurtonfoot.com/

2.In 2012 I bought a pass--Museumsufer--and explored the very nice grouping of all sorts of museums along the river. You may not actually have enough time for this to be a bargain, but if you do have time, there are several of them that are wonderful and pretty easy to get to, and maybe free or cheap for your daughter, too. The art museum is very nice, and there are a couple--the communication and film ones come to mind--that are definitely children friendly, even children focused.

3.Haven't been to the zoo so have no opinion or info.

4.The Botanical Gardens ARE wonderful. I rode a tram from the Romer.

So have fun!

lavandula

I think the communication museum would be good for kids - there is a really neat sculpture of sheep made up out of old telephones near the entrance, or at least there used to be. Lots of buttons to press and so on.

In the My Zeil shopping centre in the Zeil (main shopping street in Frankfurt), there is an indoor playground on levels 5 and 6:
http://www.expatbabies.com/frankfurt...--myzeil/17163

You could think about going to visit Hoechst (pron. 'Herkst') if you are desperate for a castle in Frankfurt. There is a small old town and a Schloss, and a very uncharming modern part of the town, so if you happen on that, keep going till you find the old part. It's just outside Frankfurt proper, in the suburbs, accessible by train. You may get your fill of old-time Germany visiting the Römer (the Römerberg), as texasbookworm mentioned, which is an old square with half-timbered houses in Frankfurt itself. Or get out to Sachsenhausen, which is the part of Frankfurt just over the river, which has a lot of applewine pubs (I would not hesitate to take my daughter there during the day), but has a few streets of old buildings.

Lavandula

Mainhattengirl

For kids in Frankfurt, the Palmengarten is great. Playgrounds, row boats, peacocks, mini train, and of course lots and lots of flowers.

Zoos of course are always good for kids.

The Communication museum is a good one, but have a look at the Senckenburg Natural History Museum, Experimenta, or the Childrens Museum.
http://www.kultur-frankfurt.de/porta.../0/0/1441.aspx

For something different, perhaps a visit to Rebstock Bad, which has a wave pool, slides, and indoor plus a small outdoor area to swim in.

spaarne

<i>eastave on Jun 19, 14 at 7:50am
I was thinking we could explore the cathedral in Cologne and maybe a museum. Frankfurt seems overwhelming to me, so I was thinking of the zoo that day.</i>

Good choices. The Dom in K&ouml;ln is very interesting. The Frankfurt zoo is good. We took our 5 yo daughter there.

traveller1959

In Cologne, I recommend the Roman-Germanic Museum (next to the Cathedral). Our kids loved the 2000-year old items which are displayed there.

eastave

We are back! We didn't get into Cologne until almost lunch time. We got some food down by the Cathedral. We visited the Cathedral and the Roman-Germanic Museum. The museum was difficult to fully appreciate since my German is pretty weak, and after eating a big lunch my stomach wasn't feeling so great. We walked back to our hotel, Flandrischer Hof, via the river and the Rathaus. There was some excavation going that DD wanted to watch for WAY too long. We had a rest and then went for dinner at Noa. DD had some ravioli she loved and I had a couscous salad that was very good.

The next day we got to Frankfurt right before lunch again. We stayed at Hotel Liebig up by Goethe University (Husband's work). DD and I walked down by the Opera House and got a sandwich for lunch. Then we walked along the pedestrian street to the zoo. We spent all afternoon at the zoo. After the zoo, we walked along the ring park towards the river. The ring park and several playgrounds and we stopped for brief plays. We walked along the river and then came up by the cathedral. We stopped for a drink, visited the cathedral (not so exciting) and then caught a bus back to our hotel. We were both wiped out at that point. We met DH for dinner near the hotel.

Thanks for the advice. I am glad we didn't try to do anything else.