3 Days to spend outside of Cologne

Too many to chose from. What are you interested in? Not too far from Cologne would be the Rhine and Mosel river valleys, Amsterdam, Bruges, Antwerp, Heidelberg, a lot of beautiful mountain ranges with small and authentic villages... but of course you could also fly down to Munich and do three days in Bavaria and the Alps. There are plenty of cheap flights between CGN and MUC airport. You can also fly to Friedrichshafen at the Lake of Constance (or Memmingen) to explore that part of the country...

Thanks. We will be in Thanks for the idea on the flights. WeWe were thinking about getting a train pass but it may make sense to fly to Munich if we go that route. Right now I am looking at the Mosel area or Amerstam. My husband & younger son are going back to the U.S. but I am staying back with my step son who is 21. Looking for one room with two seperate beds & that is hard to find in the Mosel area. He likes beer so he likes the idea of the beer gardens, etc. Is Amsterdam safe for the two of us? I would like to find a place that if he wants to go out he can & walk back to the hotel & I can relax with a glass of wine & wind down.

"WeWe were thinking about getting a train pass but it may make sense to fly to Munich if we go that route." 3 days is just about right for the Middle Rhine Valley and the Mosel. Wasting time on flights, railpasses, or long distance train travel, or the money on all that, doesn't seem wise to me when you've got great scenery, old-world villages, interesting cities, wineries, and lots of history right at your feet. Trains will get you nearly everywhere here. A 3-day mini-group ticket/railpass for Rhine/Mosel trains between Oberwesel in the south, Remagen in the north, and Cochem and Bullay to the west, an area that includes Marksburg Castle in Braubach, Burg Eltz Castle near Moselkern, Reichsburg Castle in Cochem and Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar, as well as all of Koblenz, costs only 40€ for 2-5 people traveling together: http://www.vrminfo.de/en/tickets-and-fares/ticket-offers/leisure-ticket/ To take advantage of this ticket, you would only need to get regular tickets to Remagen from Cologne - probably about 10€ each. Remagen is a good stop to see the WW II museum there anyway - www.bruecke-remagen.de Beer: I don't know why, but everyone seems to think you can only find beer and beer gardens in Munich. Everyone in Germany likes it, and you'll find good selections throughout Germany. I'm a beer guy and have yet to find a dry town in the Rhine/Mosel area.

(cont.) "Looking for one room with two seperate beds & that is hard to find in the Mosel area." Not really. What you need is an apartment. In St. Goar we had this amazing place with 2 bedrooms and a view of the Rhine: http://www.loreley-apartments.de/die_4_wohnungen_rheinblick_en.php Boppard could be a good base for exploring both Rhine and Mosel - it's just a 15-min. ride from Koblenz, the train hub for both. In Boppard, the largest of the Rhine villages and a very nice place, there are also apartments with 2 bedrooms, like this one right in the middle of town, 350 m. from the station, which runs 42€/night for two (expect a small supplement/cleaning fee, however for short stays with apartments.) The owners speak English, according to Boppard's TI pages (see final link for complete apt. list.) http://www.fewo-falk-goar-hartenfels.de/FGH-Dateien/FGH_wohnung.htm http://www.fewo-falk-goar-hartenfels.de/FGH-Dateien/FGH_Kontakt.htm Boppard TI info & contact page: http://www.boppard-tourismus.de/48-1-home.html More about Boppard: http://flyhahn.com/cities/boppard-travel-guide.htm Boppard apts: http://www.boppard.de/index.php?id=8&L=1

If Munich you might like to stay at the Meininger Hotel/Hostel (meininger-hotels.com). They do have twin bed rooms, are only two easy tram stops from the central train station and are full with young people. They have their own small beer garden in the front of the house and almost a beer hall inside. It's very inexpenisve and you and especially your son will meet like minded people to hang out with... Then again you probably already had all that in Cologne already (a great beer city, great beer halls and beer gardens)...