Trip to Essen, Dusseldorf and Cologne
Mar 24th, 2012, 01:40 PM
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Trip to Essen, Dusseldorf and Cologne
My husband and I are going to Essen the first week in May where he is giving a talk at a convention. The first night accomodations are being provided by our hosts. We would like to explore Dusseldorf and then spend time in Cologne. We would also like to go down to Mainz. We were told that one could take a boat ride down to Mainz and then get back to Cologne train the same day. I do have several questions since I don't know this area at all.
1. Can we get from Essen to Dusseldorf and back to Dusseldorf by public transportation easily? We are senior citizens. any idea of price? this wil be on a Sunday.
2. I understand we can we get from Essen to Cologne by train and that the trip is about 30 minutes. Any idea of price and how often trains run? this will be on a Monday
3. Any ideas of a nice clean hotel not ridiculously priced in Cologne?
4. We would like to go to Mainz. for one day. It would be nice to take a river cruise down there. I understand this is beautiful. How often do the boats run? How much would this cost? Can we get back to Cologne by train? Cost?
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. thanks
this is my first time on this site and I would be most appreciative of any suggestions
Thanks,
1. Can we get from Essen to Dusseldorf and back to Dusseldorf by public transportation easily? We are senior citizens. any idea of price? this wil be on a Sunday.
2. I understand we can we get from Essen to Cologne by train and that the trip is about 30 minutes. Any idea of price and how often trains run? this will be on a Monday
3. Any ideas of a nice clean hotel not ridiculously priced in Cologne?
4. We would like to go to Mainz. for one day. It would be nice to take a river cruise down there. I understand this is beautiful. How often do the boats run? How much would this cost? Can we get back to Cologne by train? Cost?
Any suggestions would be most appreciated. thanks
this is my first time on this site and I would be most appreciative of any suggestions
Thanks,
Mar 24th, 2012, 06:00 PM
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Yet another question mislabelled as a trip report. This is at least five on this particular forum that I have reported this week. Does this not suggest that the design of the forum needs more clarity?
Mar 24th, 2012, 09:02 PM
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Getting around on public transport is easy, all these places are well connected. For all train questions, refer to http://www.bahn.de
About the river cruise: http://www.k-d.de/english/home/
The most beautiful part is the Middle Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz: www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de - I'd highly recommend a) doing the cruise downstream, not upstream because upstream takes notably longer, and b) doing maximum the stretch between Bingen and Koblenz, and the rest by train. Seeing Mainz and the Rhine gorge in one day is ambitious anyway.
Keep some time for Essen. Essen is a lot more interesting than Düsseldorf. I never understood the hype about the latter, IMHO Düsseldorf is highly overrated unless you are either into posh shopping or beer drinking - and since you plan to go on a Sunday, you canot even enjoy the posh shopping.
Here#s my two cents about Essen: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f86bd/fd22/
About the river cruise: http://www.k-d.de/english/home/
The most beautiful part is the Middle Rhine Gorge between Bingen and Koblenz: www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de - I'd highly recommend a) doing the cruise downstream, not upstream because upstream takes notably longer, and b) doing maximum the stretch between Bingen and Koblenz, and the rest by train. Seeing Mainz and the Rhine gorge in one day is ambitious anyway.
Keep some time for Essen. Essen is a lot more interesting than Düsseldorf. I never understood the hype about the latter, IMHO Düsseldorf is highly overrated unless you are either into posh shopping or beer drinking - and since you plan to go on a Sunday, you canot even enjoy the posh shopping.
Here#s my two cents about Essen: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f86bd/fd22/
