Is Cologne worth a 3-day trip?

I like Koeln, Nearby Bonn is also worth a stop, then you can spend some time in the Rhine Valley. All-together, it would be a busy three days.

I can't see spending 3 days in Köln, but it is close to the Rhein/Mosel area. If you get bored with Köln after a day, you can always take a train up the Rhein to Koblenz and see that area. There is certainly enough to see in the Rhein/Mosel area for 2-3 days.

Not that I would recommend RyanAir to anyone but my worst enemy, but it looks like they fly from Prague to Hahn, which is close to that area (and not much else).

ETA: Unfortunately, Ryan's only flight from Prague to Hahn gets into Hahn at 11:10 PM.

Thanks for the information. Perhaps I should think about a completely different approach!

What's wrong with Ryanair? Have never taken flights in Europe, just to Europe.

Every time someone writes in here about booking to someplace like "Frankfurt-Hahn" and then finding out that Hahn is nowhere near Frankfurt, the Ryan apologists rise to Ryan's defence and say, "Well, that person should have checked it out." Or maybe someone complains that Ryan only flies in the early morning before public transportation can get them to the airport, or arrives late at night, after public transportation stops running. Again, their apologists say, "Well, you should have known that."

Well, I'm telling you, so no one can say, "You should have known that". Of the fifteen or so most popular airports on the European continent, Ryan uses, at last count, 1, Madrid. Most of the time they fly to remote airports, hours away from the town you thought you were going to, usually with only bus connections. Hahn is about 2 hours by bus from Frankfurt, but they misleadingly call the airport "Frankfurt-Hahn". Beauvais (which they call Paris-Beauvais) is over an hour by bus from Paris. Treviso is over an hour farther from Venice than Marco Polo.

Here is a case where, if you wanted to go to the Rhein/Mosel area, Hahn is pretty well located, but arriving at 11:10 PM makes it difficult to get to your ultimate destination that day.

I won't even begin to get into fees for bags if you check in online, fees for bags if you don't check in online, administative fees, etc. Fare are never as low as they advertise. In most cases you can't avoid some of these "extra" fees.

And Ryan takes no responsibility other than to get you there sometime. If you have a connecting flight and you miss it, even if it is their fault, they accept no responsibility.

I'm not saying you should not use Ryan, just that you have to check out all the angles. How far is the airport from where you want to go? How are you going to get to the airport in time to catch you flight? How are you going to get from the airport? Don't just blindly book and then ask questions. Just be informed.

Another hint, Skytrax rates world airlines. Most European airlines (British Air, Lufthansa, Air France, Swiss Air) have 4* rating. Most US flag airlines have 3* ratings. Ryan is about the only European Airline with only a 2* rating. But don't take it from me. You can read what others have said about their experiences here. I particularly like the comment where the flight attendant told them they could not put their coats in the overhead compartments - they had to put them on the floor - and the floor was filthy and wet. Is that what you want?

You might consider a Rhine cruise from Cologne (Koeln). We did that cruise between Bacharach and St. Goar and it was a highlight of our Germany-Austria trip. I found it fascinating that the Rhine is still a working river. The river itself is not beautiful, kind of murky. The scenery around the river is great, lots of castles and such.

To add a story to what Lee is talking about, I'll never forget how an Asian couple, who were checking out of our hotel in Heidelberg at the same time as we were, asked for our help with programming the GPS on their rental car. They had a flight to catch and needed to make sure they put in the Frankfurt Airport correctly. The woman happened to be holding their paper airline reservation and I noticed it was with RyanAir. I told them they didn't need to go to Frankfurt, they needed to get to Hahn. Then I showed them on a map. They were floored.

Anyhoo, Kim, I wish I could help with your decision about Köln, but unfortunately I haven't been. I HAVE been to nearby Bonn and absolutely LOVED it. As others have indicated, there is plenty to see in the area without getting bored.

Have a great trip!