Cologne catherdral...is it worth it?

Check with www.koelner-dom.de (select English flag) for more information on this great cathedral. In my opinion it IS worthwhile plus it's just a short walk from the train station. It's the 2nd tallest church building in Germany and the 3rd tallest in the entire world! It's also the 3rd largest gothic cathedral in the world (Seville is 1st, Milan 2nd).

http://flickr.com/photos/melekalikimaka/2232555611/

just back from there, excellent place

Since Koln is on the most direct route it would not be far out of the way to stop there. The cathedral in very close to the train station. You might consider the train to Koln and transferring to a river boat down the Rhine.

Joshua: Koln cathedral is one of the great experiences
but probably just for a couple hours. You might consider visiting Koln and then traveling south to
stay on the Rhine or Mosel. Europe has a 'million' or
so wonderful churches. Part of your decison will be based upon train vs auto transportation. Bruges Belgium
is also a great 2 day experience as you travel south.
Enjoy!
Dale

Jeff, "Down the Rhein"? That would take you back to Holland. I think you mean "up the Rhine", in the direction of Koblenz.

However, the current on the Rhein is strong and the boats going up the river go excruciatingly slow. The one K-D boat per day takes 3 hours just to Bonn (9:30-12:30), 5 hours to Linz, and that's not even the most scenic part of the river.

The Koln Cathedral is indeed impressive. So impressive that it seems so much more a symbol of wealth and power than a place of worship.

I was making a train connection in Koln and it was worth taking a later train in order to walk across the street to view the Cathedral. I wouldn't recommend making a special trip. Then again, if you have always been fascinated by photos and you are a fan of Gothic architecture, you will not be disappointed by it.

Unless you're also a fan of the noise and smell of big cities, plan to see the Cathedral and move on to stay in one of the area's smaller cities or towns that are much more friendly and charming.

I agree with Maggie. Staying over at Bonn is much nicer. The downtown is lovely and you can visit Beethoven's house etc. Also you the views into the rhine river valley are quite nice from Bonn, e.g. from this great riverfront restaurant: http://www.rohmuehle.de/

Hello Joshua. The reason for going through KOLN en route from Amsterdam to Interlaken is to see or visit the medieval castles along the Rhine River in Germany, between Koblenz and Bingen. And some travelers like to visit a winery that is near the Rhine river, in that region. A train trip from Amsterdam to Koblenz (major railroad junction) can be done in approximately 3 hours and 30 minutes. The passenger is likely to change trains at KOLN. People who like gothic churches choose to walk out of the train station at KOLN to visit the KOLN cathedral. I recommend a quick look in that church, and return to the train station to ride in the next train to Koblenz. Overnight accomodation can be at Koblenz or at a smaller town at the Rhine, such as St. Goar or Bacharach. Trains go between those towns, quickly, frequently. For a knowledge of what to do at that part of the Rhine river (April - October) and Mossel River, read about it in the book "Rick Steves' GERMANY and AUSTRIA, 2008".

The Koln Dom is really nice. It was about 600 years in construction. It's really neo-gothic because it was built later. Climb the tower for a good view of the butresses and gothic detail. Inside, the stained glass and the "three kings" relic are worth seeing.

Next door is the Roman museum. It has tons of Roman artifacts from the area. Or just walk around the building, there is a lot outside and you can look through the window to see a complete tile floor that was discovered there.

Walk around downtown to see remains of an ancient road and city ruins. Visit the Rathaus. Really good food in the area and home of Kolsch style beer.

Everything is an easy walk from the train station. If you are driving, it's easiest and cheapest to park accross the train bridge from the Dom and walk accross.

I agree about visiting Bonn, it's a beautiful small city. Visit Beethoven's birth house there. Hopefully you can also make it to Salzburg and see Mozart's birth house.

Well, you could also stop in Frankfurt for Goethe's birth house. It really looks like he's just stepped outside. Also you can visit the private rooms of the wife of the last German emperor (Kaiser) at the Bad Homburg castle. It, too, looks just like she'd just left it...

We drove to Koln arriving in later afternoon.We saw the Cathedral and had a nice dinner.We left the next morning.I thought Koln was a rather nice town.

Koln's Dom is a neat site, but I have to agree with Maggie, there are many beautiful churches throughout Europe. If you are planning to go to Koln, see the Cathedral and move on. Chocolate factory and other museums are just okay.

My wife and I loved our stop in Cologne, particularly the Cathedral. It is an impressive structure and it's history of survival in WWII makes the stop even more awe inspiring.

Köln cathedral is well worth a visit. We were lucky enough to overhear a tour guide speaking in English to a group of English school kids, and followed discreetly along so as to get more information about the rather overwhelmingly large cathedral. If you are a church-going person, of course, it's all the more impressive. There's a short, ecumenical service at noon every day (I think it's every day) in which we participated, and found it a very moving experience to pray for world peace in a foreign land, foreign language, surrounded by tourists from all over the place. A different kind of thrill is available to those with the fortitude and healthy knees necessary to climb to the top of the tower! The view is wonderful; it's fairly flat land and you can see forever. The graffiti along the seemingly endless stairway is also interesting. The stairs are not for the faint-hearted, however! 8-)

The cathedral is wonderful and the Roman Musem next door is one of the best we have seen in Europe... there are some great "pubs"/restaurants weithin a couple of blocks...do it. George

As soon as you pop out of the train station in Koln, the cathedral is staring you in the face--so it's very easy to visit as a short stop over.

If you love cathedrals, however, try to see Chartres (which is my favorite so far). It can be done as a day trip from Paris.