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Germany - So Many Options!

My husband and I are going to Germany next month, and need advice on where to stay one night. We were about to flip a coin or throw a dart at the map, but before we resort to that, I thought I'd consult the experts here first.

We'll be meeting up with family in Monschau for 2 nights (May 22-24), but it is the night before we meet them that is up in the air and a giant question mark. We'd like to stay in the general area of Monschau (no more than an hour or two drive), and are considering Aachen or Bonn or ??. Our preference is not to stay in Köln, just because we'd like to avoid cities that large on this trip.

After Monschau, we're heading to the Mosel region (probably basing ourselves in Cochem) for 2 nights and the Rhine (probably basing ourselves in Bacharach or St Goar) for 3 nights.

Any suggestions or tips? Thank you very much!

Posted by
2779 posts

Bonn is a very nice, clean, quiet (compared to Cologne) and beautiful smaller city with many sights, a downtown area worthwhile, many museums, a boardwalk along the Rhine river etc etc. It's definitely worth a night! For dinner I can recommend Restaurant Bönnsch in the heart of downtown. They brew their own beer... It's common in the Rhineland area to serve veggies with melted butter or a butter cream. If you don't like that tell them upon ordering your food...

Posted by
12313 posts

I really like Bonn but I can't compare it to Aachen, I haven't been there.

Posted by
22 posts

Aachen is beautiful and has a fantastic cathedral: of the oldest churches in Germany with Charlemagne's Throne and other treasures.

However, I would recommend Bonn. I lived there for 3 months in 2003 and it has a wonderful central square, plenty to see and do (Beethoven's house), the beautiful Rhine river, great places to eat, a beautiful church and university as well. It's not as stunning as the main church in Cologne, but I absolutely loved Bonn and would love to go back. There's definitely more to see/do here than Aachen (although you could also drive from one town to the other and make a day trip out of it!)

Posted by
811 posts

Wow, thank you all for such great posts - really appreciate all this information! And since it is unanimous, we are unhesitatingly looking for a hotel in Bonn as I type.

Andreas, thank you for the restaurant suggestion. I've already sussed it out on a map and we'll keep our eyes open for it. It's really nice to have this suggestion, because our "dinner stroll" generally consists of us walking around aimlessly for a few hours while my husband waits to get the right "feel" for a place. Then, after we've passed a few dozen great looking restaurants full of people inside happily eating and having the time of their lives, we'll have some sort of dust-up (that passes as quickly as it starts), throw up our hands and end up at a dreary-looking place in an alley somewhere, noshing on stale bread while a guy mops the floor next to our table. But not in Bonn! Sorry for the long story, but I wanted to underscore how nice it was of you to suggest this restaurant. You have no idea.

And Angela, welcome to the Helpline! Nice to have another Angela on board, and you've painted a lovely picture of Bonn - can't wait!