Best way to travel to Cologne? BO Germany, Swiss, Austria Tour

Fly to Frankfurt, then train to Cologne. Check to see if your airline is part of the Rail and Fly program

How many stops did it take on the airlines from the United States?

It all depends on where people are flying from in the United States.
The city I live in has a direct flight to Frankfurt and Brussels.
I'd fly to the one of those two with the lowest cost and take the train the rest of the way.

What Stephen said above. If you can get to Frankfurt easily on an airline that participates in Rail & Fly, that could be your best bet.

As an example, this past September we flew nonstop from Seattle to Frankfurt on Lufthansa with our final destination being Cologne. We had the Rail & Fly option added to our airfare. Lufthansa sent us a voucher that we did need to redeem with Deutsche Bahn (DB) before we left home - other than that, it was easy peasy.

Upon arrival in Frankfurt we walked off the plane (with our carry-on bags), through passport control and went straight to the airport long-distance train station (“Flughafen Fernbahnhof”). At the station we just caught the next train to Cologne (Koln). An hour later, we were at our hotel by the station. It was seamless - no stop to buy a ticket, no worry about reserving seats on a train that we might not make.

The DB Rail & Fly link above should answer most questions but please let us know if you have more.

Kartalcott, it just occurred to me that you need to get home from your final stop in Austria. Or maybe you’re extending your trip? The Rail & Fly doesn’t work outside of Germany. I’m guessing you may want a multi-city flight itinerary.

Let us know your full itinerary - including home airport and final location at the end of your trip and we can give you more complete advice on booking flights and any additional transportation.

Funny you posted this today. A friend was asking me the same thing in a conversation yesterday and today. Her closest International hub is Salt Lake City and from there to Frankfurt is a bit awkward so she decided to fly to Paris, spend 2 nights then take the train to Köln which is about 3h20m.

I find it very strange that the heavily populated cities of Cologne and Bonn don't have any direct airline service to North America. Alternative gateway city connections are required to fly into Flughafen Köln-Bonn.

Frankfurt is just over an hour by train to Cologne. Brussels is just over 2 hours. Amsterdam is about 2 hrs. and 40 minutes.

Of the three, Amsterdam is by far the most interesting city. Stop and enjoy a visit there.

I find it very strange that the heavily populated cities of Cologne
and Bonn don't have any direct airline service to North America.
Alternative gateway city connections are required to fly into
Flughafen Köln-Bonn.

And I find that statement very strange. They do have direct airline services to North America, it is 45-50 minutes from central Köln to Frankfurt airport, one of the largest airports in Europe. So there is no need to to try to find a flight to Köln-Bonn. And if you really don't want to use Frankfurt, there are a few transatlantic flights to Düsseldorf airport, 40 km from central Köln.

(I guess it makes sense if you're from a country where the public transportation varies between horrible and nonexistent, but I'm still struggling to understand the North American obsession with having to fly to your destination city's airport when it might be much easier to fly to a larger airport nearby and continue by train.)

kartalcott, you need to at least add your home city to your public profile if you are going to ask, "How many stops?"

Maybe because Lufthansa is a global partner with United, and also code shares with them, we had an easy trip from EWR. I forget which Lufthansa hub we flew through, but the one segment from there to Cologne cost virtually nothing more.

Do not view Frankfurt as the only way to get to Germany.

Personally, I'd take a 2-stop flight itinerary straight into Cologne over connecting to the train in Frankfurt.

Cologne has had on-again/off-again non-stop service from Newark. The undependable economics of the route drove United to use its planes elsewhere.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am flying out of Miami, however my sisters will be coming from Portland, Oregon (sister's trip.)
The ideas of nearby airports vs rail options are very helpful and we now we can start to plan accordingly.

Thank you all for your suggestions. I am flying out of Miami, however
my sisters will be coming from Portland, Oregon (sister's trip.)

Lufthansa has direct flights from Miami to Frankfurt and Condor has direct flights from Portland to Frankfurt. Both participate in Rail & Fly so that would be the easiest way in my opinion.

We’ve booked the same tour and are flying direct from Denver to Frankfurt 2 days before the tour starts. Taking our own Rhine River Cruise, following Ricks guidelines for the Romantic Rhine, staying in Bacharach and exploring the castles in that area. Train to Bacharach, boat/train to Koblenz, train to Cologne the day we meet up with Tour. We’re also staying in Vienna an extra day at the end.

Very similar to Jim. I’m on a Delta nonstop from Salt Lake City to Amsterdam a week before the tour begins. A few days there, then by train to Boppard for a couple of days to enjoy that section of the Rhine before taking the train up to Cologne on the day the tour starts.

Haven’t taken this tour but train traveled from Amsterdam to Bacharach with our kids. We had to change trains in Cologne, so visited there for a couple hours. Easy train ride from Amsterdam and a great place to get over jet lag.

I find it very strange that the heavily populated cities of Cologne and Bonn don't have any direct airline service to North America.

No direct service?? Not quite. Düsseldorf is a mere 25 miles from Köln; you can fly nonstop to/from Atlanta which would be convenient for you considering you’re from Huntsville, AL. I’ve flown in & out of DUS a few times. Frankfurt Airport is only a 55 minute train ride from Köln.