Hi,

My husband and I have been invited to a friend's wedding in Bonn in Germany (so will be flying to and from Cologne airport). Just wondering whether there are any short 1 or 2 day trips that we could do in the area before and/or after the wedding. Any suggestions and advice would be welcome.

Munna

It is hard to come up with suggestions if you don't tell us what you are intersted in...

We were thinking of a Rhine cruise, perhaps, and we are both interested in places of natural beauty, historical buildings, classical and Renaissance art, classical music. Does this help? Apologies if this still sounds rather clueless, but that is precisely why we would really appreciate the help of more experienced travellers.

Assuming you have never been to Cologne the cathedral there will be a "must see" (and very hard to miss).

You might also consider taking a trip over to Aachen which has some historical buildings.

Aachen is a nice city (I'm there very often) but except for a few carefully restored buildings of great historical importance, most of the city was rebuilt in a rather fast and cheap way after WW2. It is a nice day trip but you have to know what you are looking for.
As to classical music - the Cologne conservatorium (right near the Cathedral and main station) is hard to beat. Also nearby is the Museum Ludwig and the Roman-Germanic museum (Cologne is the second oldest city in Germany (->colony) and there are a lot of Roman artfacts still dug up).
For the Rhine cruise it would rather make sense to take a train to Koblenz and a boat from there, or even further down the Rhine to Mainz and a boat downriver (takes much less time, the current is very strong in the Rhine gorge). You can get off the boat on many places and hike up to the various castles.
Between Cologne and Bonn there is also the baroque palace in Brühl - worth visiting as well.

Bonn itself has classical concerts as befits the birthplace of Beethoven. Cologne offers more.
Nearby, the Siebengebirge hills overlooking the Rhine provide gentle hikes and good views. One of the hills, Drachenfels is associated with Siegfried legend (of Wagnarian fame) and has a cablecar to the top from riverside town of Königswinter, pretty with half-timbered houses. It's much visited by Germans, as it's near Rhöndorf, the resting place of Konrad Adenauer, the former Chancellor responsible for much of post-war reconstruction.
Near Cologne, in Brühl, are a handsome chateau and the popular theme park Phatasialand.
Further afield, there is a pretty valley along the river Ahr, famous for red wines made around the town of Altenahr. The light pinot noir wines, little known outside of Germany, are refreshing when served chilled. Further south is the Eifel, of volcanic hills and lakes. The biggest is Laacher See, with a Benedictine monatery on its shore, Maria Laach, famous for daily Gregorian chant sung by monks.
For the Rhine cuise, KD Line has landing stages in Bonn where you can board for the Rhine gorge.

The most popular and scenic stretch of the Rhine is from Boppard or St. Goar in the north to Rudesheim in the south. You can take a train to either town then cruise to the other, either round trip or take the train back. This is a beautiful stretch of river that has castles around every corner. Here is the website for the KD Rhine cruises, which offer regular service.

http://www.k-d.com/englisch/index.html

Here is the website for the the German train system. www.bahn.de
click on international guests, and you can get timetables.

Have fun!

I recommend the Augustusburg Palace in Bruehl, halfway between Cologne and Bonn. Most regional trains stop there, and the train station is within easy walking distance of the palace. The palace is beautiful, and the gardens are very nice as well.

http://www.schlossbruehl.de/deu/startseite/

(couldn't find a site in English, sorry)

The Westerwald national park is directly accross the river from Bonn, and the Ahr wine valley is just a half an hour away...the Nelles winery there is lovely. Those are things that can be done in an afternoon.

For a day trip, one could go Trier on the border with Luxemburg, quite lovely.
It is an old Roman city, one of the oldest in Germany.

Düsseldorf is also a wonderful place to spend the afternoon, on the Königsallee.
One of the best shopping streets in Germany.

Just some ideas!!