We have a day/night to spend somewhere north of Cologne as we are on our way to Amsterdam, actually Noordvijk. We are already planning on hitting Brussels on our way down to Paris later in the trip. So I figure somewhere in Northern Germany may suit us. My husband and I will be traveling with our 3 children ages 7, 9 & 10 - so it needs to be appealing to them as well. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Look up den Haag (the Hague)in your tour guide. You can pick up the Autobahn A-3 east of Cologne (Koeln)nd head north where it becomes the Netherlands A-12, which takes you to the Hague. When we lived in Belgium, our kids loved that city, especially the Madurodam outdoor model exhibit of the Netherlands. The nearby sea resort Scheveningen is a nice place to stay.

Thank you for your suggestion. We intend to visit there during our 5 night stay in Noordvijk which is just north of den Haag. I was hoping to find a middle place on our way to Holland that might be lovely to visit for a night, preferably in Germany.

The Altstadt of Dusseldorf is nice, but maybe it's too close to Cologne for you. Xanten (http://www.xanten.de/en/) and Kalkar are two historic (small) cities, but of course nothing like Amsterdam, Brussels or Paris. This is not exactly the most interesting part of Germany.
Maybe you can consider Nijmegen. It's one of the nicest and oldest cities of the Netherlands and just across the Dutch border.

The more I try to research towns north of Cologne and the more I look at the map, I think we need to just change our route. I think we will now go from Cologne to Brussels for a night, then head to Noordwijk. After Noordwijk, hit Bruges on the way to Paris. After Paris, loop back up through Luxemburg for a day visit, then hopefully a castle stay somewhere in Germany on the way back to Dusseldorf - where we fly out to the US.

Consider Maastricht, almost on a direct line to Amsterdam from Cologne. Would be a lovely place for kids to walk in the old town. Could be half way to Amsterdam. Richard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maastricht

There is really nothing espcial between Cologne and Amsterdam, at least for the average tourist. If driving you may want to stay in the Arhnhem area and hit the Kroller-Muller Museum - world famous collection of Van Goghs and modern art and a stellar outdoor statue park - in Arnhehm the Bridge Too Far - but really I would go right from Cologne to Amsterdam.

Whatever you do don't go to Maastricht thinking it is a direct line between Cologne and Amsterdam. It is not. Nowhere near.
It is a fine city to visit, but not a logical one from Cologne to Amsterdam.

As others have suggested it is probably better to go direct from Cologne to Amsterdam and add the day on to one of the cities.

If you do choose Arnhem there is also the very fine open air museum there, and a zoo which your kids might enjoy.

For something very different you could consider http://www.landschaftspark.de/en/home/index.php in Duisburg.

Are you driving or relying on trains btw?

I did go between Amsterdam and Cologne once via Maastricht and also Aachen, once home to Charlemagne and once one of the biggest cities in Europe but today rather a dud for tourists IMO - one of the least pretty German cities I've seen - war damage probably caused this probably - I did it all in one day and hopped on an overnight train in Cologne.

Maastricht was really nice but I would not make a major detour for it and it would be as hetismij, who lives in Holland, says.

Thanks for all the input! We are driving this trip. I checked out Duisburg - looks interesting and might very well appeal to my engineering professor husband, but not for an evening stay.

We actually have an unaccounted day/evening in between Cologne and Noordwijk. We already have 5 nights in Noordwijk and will have had already spent about 10 days in the Cologne/Bonn area, so I really don't want to add on more to that part of the trip. I'm also worried about burning the kids out with too many museums.

I think I am still leaning towards going to Brussels at that point of the trip instead of on the way to Paris. I think a day and a half in Brussels should be sufficient, no?

Agree with 'hetismij' and 'Pal' on Maastricht not being convenient. Should look at a map, before making a definite comment. I just happen to love that city. Richard

Maybe you could do Duisburg and then stay in somewhere like http://www.deneerhof.nl/index.php?page=hotel in Kessel.
The kids may well enjoy Duisburg too.
http://www.booking.com/hotel/nl/deneerhof.en.html has info on the hotel in English.

Arnhem offers things for the kids - the zoo http://www.burgerszoo.eu/?ce=1, and the Open Air museum http://www.openluchtmuseum.nl/en/ would burn off lots off energy and make a change maybe for them.

Or go to the Hoge Veluwe NP - you can see the Kroller Muller museum and then take the kids for a bike ride through the park - the white bikes are free. http://www.hogeveluwe.nl/en/14

Or even head to Maastricht and surrounds.

HETISMIJ!!! The open air museum and the Hoge Veluwe look fantastic, especially for the kids. The free bikes are great, (however, I will be 6 mos pregnant and don't know how if I would balance well)- hubby can take the kids and I can have my feet up in the shade This all sound better than Brussels, for sure.

Looks like I have some new research. Thanks!

Liz - Dutch women ride bikes in labour .

But no if you aren't used to cycling with a bump it's probably not a good idea. Send them off for a bike ride while you enjoy the Kroller Muller museum and a spot in the shade (or sun).

Have fun