GERMANY

You will have a four country railpass for an eight day trip? That doesn't sound necessary (or very possible to use). You might be better off with point to point tickets. You aren't going till June, so that gives you about seven months to look at guidebooks to see what is where, and what you might like to see. If you use the Rick Steves guide to Germany it will give you an idea of what he considers "must sees". You might be tied in to Cologne at this point, but Munich might be a better base for you if possible, since it has easier access to the castles in Bavaria, and to Salzburg.

Shiela,

You said a day trip to Berlin. Berlin is over 4 hours each way by train from Koln, so that wouldn't leave much time to see the city. I'd suggest a few days in Berlin if you visit, though it is all the way across the country from Koln. You could do day-trips down to Bacharach/St. Goar to see some of the Rhine castles, but that is still 1.5-2 hours each way by train. There are some neat castles down there though!

Maybe the suggestion of Bavaria might be a better option. You could do day trips from Munich to King Ludwig's castle, and maybe do an overnight (or day trip) to Rothenburg and some of the other cities along the Romantic Road.

I would also suggest the Rick Steve's Germany book to get. It would help you decide on an area to concentrate on. I bought a copy of the book, but you can also check out copies at libraries. I'd guess if the 2009 book isn't out yet it will be in the next month or so.

Jed

Sheila,

I can't believe that you didn't find a usefull book about Germany. Have you tried Frommer's ,Fodor's, Lonely Planet, DK collection? The first 2 are my favorite books with a lot information.

STOP SHOUTING (using all caps)! We can hear you.

Next to your posting is an edit button. Use it to redo you posting in normal text.

Normally, I would offer no assistance to someone using all caps until they changed it, but I am traveling (in Germany) and I will not have Internet access for the next few days.

I agree with the suggestion of the middle Rhein (Koblenz to Bacharach). It's close. Also try the Mosel (Koblenz to Trier). There is too much to see close to Köln to venture to Berlin.

As for a railpass, on this trip I've gone from FRA to Cochem with a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket and from cochem to the Harz (Bad Harzburg) with a Dauer-Spezial-Ticket. I will use another Dauer-Spezial-Ticket tomorrow to Karlsruhe and a Rheinland-Pfalz-Ticket on Tuesday to Mainz - all four legs for €102 (about $130). Two people would be less than twice that. If you know the system and plan a little, you can do better than with a railpass.

Shiela, Scroll down to Maggies "just got back from 8 weeks....etc" and look at the part of her journal covering her trip in Germany. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

Rescue is a lovely place.

So is Germany. If you plan to stay in Köln the whole time and do daytrips from there, that's a reasonable plan, but certainly not to Berlin.

"YOU HAVE TO GO" to the Middle Rhine; see medieval Marksburg Castle in Braubach! A little shuttle takes you from the town center to the castle for a tour:

www.marksburg.de

In the same area, visit Bacharach and St.Goar.

Other good daytrips include Aachen (cathedral, old town) Remagen (WW II museum and train trip up the Ahre River Valley to Ahrbrück from there), and the Mosel river towns of Cochem and Trier.

A Daytrip by train

I think you need to decide how long of a train ride you want to commit to, then get out a map and draw a circle around Köln extending out that far. For example, if you only want to spend 2 hours max on a train, you can cut out Berlin, but you can go to Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Trier, etc. If 4 hours is ok, then go to Berlin, Paris, Brussels. You just won't have any time in those cities to see ANYTHING.

I would plan a cruise on the Rhein. Visit Dusseldorf. Definitely visit Frankfurt. If time allows, go to Heidelberg. Go to the other places mentioned. Your week is then up.

If you're using Koln as a base, try the Rhineland for some castles. Koln, however, is not an ideal base for daytrips, as Berlin and Munich are quite distant, even by intercity express trains.

Rick's guidebook skips over large areas of NW Germany, so I would recommend using another source, like Lonely Planet or the Rough Guide.

Hi Shiela,

your message is a bit confusing as it's pretty much impossible to have a base in Koeln AND visit Berlin on a daytrip from there. Is there a special reason to have your base in Koeln?

If not I'd suggest to split your time: use 4 days to explore Koeln and the Middle Rhine Valley with its castles. And the other 4 days to visit Berlin.

If you have to keep your base in Koeln you might want to consider to spend some time discovering the Ruhr Area. I would definitely consider it a back door that could be very interesting especially if you're not that much into museums. For example, we took a fascinating boat tour of the Duisburg-Ruhrort Port, the largest inland port in the world. I'd never thought that seeing the largest scrap yard in Europe could be exciting!! If you're travelling in June you might also be able to take in a Bundesliga soccer match at one of the very popular clubs in the area, be it 1. FC Koeln or maybe Schalke 04 (in Gelsenkirchen). This website could give you some ideas about what to see in the region:

http://www.ruhrgebiettouristik.de./daten/in_1.php?LA=en

A good website on the Middle Rhine Valley and its castles:
http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php?id=318&L=3

As Tom mentioned NW Germany (especially north of Koeln) doesn't get much coverage in Rick Steve's book. And it's not usually considered a prime tourist destination. To be honest, when I grew up in this region the only "tourists" I saw were NATO fighter pilots who did their low-level military flying practice above my head ... But if you are indeed staying in the region and are interested in some more ideas for back-door destinations I can give you additional suggestions.

Shiela,

First of all, June is a long way off so you should have time to check at least one book. As others have suggested, RS Germany is an excellent and very well written resource and should help you to make sense out of the various locations. It also provides LOTS of information on sight seeing options in each city, so you'll be able to find the ones that interest you the most.

I'm a bit curious on why you purchased a 4-country Rail Pass if you'll only be travelling in Germany? Also, were you planning to fly to and from Germany via Koln, or would open-jaw flights be possible? It would help to have a bit more information about your travel plans and sight seeing preferences.

One city I'd recommend (if possible) would be Germany's best preserved medieval city, Rothenburg. However, it would be preferable to spend at least one night there to enjoy the "Night Watchman's tour".

There are Castles all over Germany, but if you're going to be based in Koln it won't be possible to see Neuschwanstein as a day trip. Burg Eltz should be an easy day trip from Koln, but I'd have to check the transportation links.

If you haven't been to Europe before, I'd strongly recommend reading the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door or the equivalent section on this web site.

Good luck with your planning!

I forgive you for doing all caps. My wife does it too even though I try to explain all caps is the equivalent of yelling on the internet.

Berlin from Koln is like taking a daytrip from San Francisco to Los Angeles. It's a long trip and there is too much to see for a day trip.

Possible daytrips from Koln by train.

Down the Rhein to Bacharach and St. Goar, use your train pass to take the river cruise as part of your daytrip. Marksburg castle and Rheinfels ruins (this will be a long day if you do everything).

Down to Cochem and Trier with a stop for Burg Eltz (Not quite as big of day trip).

Bonn for a day (easy trip).

Aachen, Maastricht and/or Brussels (can be easy or long depending on how many stops and what you decide to see).

There is at least one nice castle in the area with surrounding park and gardens (I can't remember the name off hand).

There are several Bads (spa towns) within daytrip range. Most have co-ed no clothing bathing. A few allow bathing suits. Don't go if the nudity thing will be overly uncomfortable.

It's hard to do too much recommending without knowing what you are interested in.

Remember that the faster trains don't stop at the smaller towns. A good technique is to take the fast train to the furthest point in the day then work back on local trains. When you have had enough you can head back to your hotel without any more stops.

A stop at the tourist information office in Koln is a good start. Tell them the kinds of things you like and let them make some recommendations.

Hello Shiela. I totally agree with Lee and Russ and Brad. Being in that part of Germany for 8 days, I think the places of high priority for sightseeing are : ride on a big K-D ship on the Rhine river from Bacharach to St. Goar. Visit Marksburg castle at Braubach (reserve your tickets for a tour date and time, before you leave the U.S.A. An English - speaking guide is not important). Burg Eltz (near the Mosel River), but public transportation to it is complicated. I recommend : from KOLN, do not go a longer distance than to Bacharach (at the Rhine River) and to Beilstein (at the Mosel River). The train station at Koblenz is a good railroad train station, it has frequent train departures to every direction, and it has a train schedule information office (the man working there talks in English, and he can print a train trip itinerary for you, onto paper). I recommend : read about the Rhine and Mosel Valleys in the book "Rick Steves' GERMANY AND AUSTRIA 2009". --Auf Wiedersehen.