Trips out of Koln

Old Apr 17th, 2004, 05:41 AM
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Trips out of Koln

I'll be staying in Koln (Cologne) for nearly three weeks at the end of April/beginning of May. Some days I will have a car; other days I will have to rely on the train. I would like to have suggestions for day trips out of the area, as well as weekend road trips. We tend to enjoy smaller towns with more local flavor. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!
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Old Apr 17th, 2004, 05:55 AM
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Hi TravelingMom-

Have you been to that region before? Assuming you have not, a number of places come to mind. BTW, the German rail system is superb and will be able to zip you to anywhere in no time.

You can take the train to Koblenz, and take a Rhine river cruise. Or if you have a car, drive along the Mosel river for wine-tasting. Bonn if you are a Beethoven fan. Further south to Mainz or Heidelberg. I'm sure others will have more suggestions.
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Old Apr 17th, 2004, 06:18 AM
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The Rhine Gorge between Koblenz and Bingen (car or train, nearly every town has a station, shuttle or hike to tour castles like Marksburg in Braubach)

You might enjoy "Wine Witch Night" (April 30) in Oberwesel, a celebration with fireworks, music, dance, a straw witch burning (symbolizes the end of the previous growing season), the crowning of a new wine queen, and of course wine stands around town.

Remagen's WW II museum at the site of the old Luddendorf Bridge (walkable from train station.)

Lesser-explored river valleys: Lahn (near Koblenz) Ahr (near Remagen) and Nahe (near Bingen.) There are some very well-preserved and attractive towns in these valleys. Train or car.

The Mosel also has several interesting towns and cities (Cochem, Beilstein, Trier, Bernkastel are my favorites.) You can see Cochem and Trier easily by train - a car is best to visit the other two, as you'll need a bus connection on top of the train ride otherwise.

Monschau (car), south of Aachen, is a delight, and Aachen itself has a very unique and attractive cathedral (old town is nice too.)

The open air museum (car) in Mechernich, near Monschau, is also good to visit if you are interested in farm life in generations past.
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Old Apr 19th, 2004, 12:09 PM
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Aachen is very nice! Don't miss the Cathedral, the town hall, and the museum with the jewelry.

Also, in Cologne, something to do with kids is the Chocolate Museum, in which you can see a real-life chocolate factory - very informative and fun. On a darker note, Cologne has the only Gestapo HQ in a major city that survived the war. It is now a museum/memorial, and you can see the cells in the basement where the prisoners were held and their scribblings/graffiti on the wall.
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Old Apr 19th, 2004, 01:52 PM
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Yes, I am a small town traveller so in addition to to the Rheintal, go into the Eifel Mts - if you get to Nurburg on Monday (less available other days) you can take laps on the old Nordschleife - the famous and gorgeous former F1 race track - an E squared/perhaps cubed ticket for about $12.US (14.8 mi of amazing roads, but watch your rear and side mirrors diligently as in all of Europe, but especially Germany.
Just S is the lovely Moseltal - Trier to Koblenz with, IMHO the only castle worth seeing in Europe - Burg Eltz just W of Koblenz. I like the Mittelrhein wineries and the Hot Jagdschloss Niederwald a few km above the otherwise touristy vill of Rudesheim am Rhein.
If you have time and have never seen Rothenburg am Tauber, stay at Hot. Burg and fall in love yet again!
Further S, the great Route de Vins in Alsace is a trip to the 16th Century - great food and local wine - the vill of Riquewhir is very special - rec: l'Oriel Hot and the spectacular Sarment d'Or Restaurant.
Full disclosure - my French family was originally from just outside Riquewihr and I can't imagine having or wanting to ever leave. My German GM was born in Karlsruhe.
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Old May 13th, 2004, 02:30 PM
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Thanks for all the responses. We managed to spend some time in Koln. I also got to drive along the Rhine and Mosel, stopping at castles and wine festivals on the way. I made 2 long day trips to Brugges and Keukenhof (Holland for the tulips). We'll be back again (probably annually), so I'll be looking forward to exploring the rest of the suggestions!
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