Trip to Germany - Dusseldorf/Cologne/Bonn

[IReallyNeedATimeMachine]

Hi everyone

I am thinking of going to Germany for 3-4 days in December to give my elder daughter the opportunity to speak German and experience the culture as she is doing it for GCSE next year. From what I have read, the Dusseldorf/Cologne/Bonn area seems to be a good area with this purpose in mind as I am looking for somewhere with not too much of an accent (if I have got this wrong and you have other suggestions, please let me know).

I haven't been abroad for nearly 20 years and am finding it difficult to get information I need. I don't know whether I am looking in the right place for the information/whether it is accurate. Essentially I want to fly in to either Dusseldorf or Cologne and travel between the 3 cities. What options do I have for this please and which is cheapest/best and which are the best websites to look at?

Also, any suggestions for good places to visit in December would be much appreciated as well as places to eat. We would do a couple of Christmas markets too so suggestions for the best ones would be helpful.

Thanks so much in advance.

There’s no umlaut on a standard British keyboard OP. You add an e after the letter that has an umlaut instead.

Enjoy Cologne. I’m going myself in February (by train BTW. Eurostar to Brussels, then it’s 1hr 50 by train to Cologne).

I lived in Bonn for two years and loved it. For a short visit and in December, I’d recommend staying in Bonn as it’s more picturesque and walkable (university town), and visiting cologne and Düsseldorf. Or staying in Köln Deutz as a p.p. said. By the way, I found the accents virtually incomprehensible at first (and my German is very good) but people don’t tend to use it with foreigners, and Bonn is really international for a smaller city.

This is my favourite way to travel to Cologne - by train from St Pancras via Brussels. Very easy, quick and no hassle with luggage restrictions

In cologne, visit the chocolate museum. It is fabulous and there are free chocolate samples.

It is! And right next to it, there is the sports museum which we also like very much.
I like this Christmas market:
https://www.stadtgarten.de/en/events_regular/garten-restaurant

It is not so central but easy to reach by tram and on weekdays at least it’s a bit more relaxed than the other markets.

We spent a week at cologne . We did a day trip to Königswinter, the cathedral, contemporary art gallery, day at phantasialand, the zoo, the chocolate museum.

Chocolate museum eh? I’ll add that to my list.

Check that you both have a bank card that doesn't charge exchange fees. We used them for public transport in the Netherlands as there you tap in and out on buses and trains so we both needed a card. DD16 got a Starling teen account especially for that purpose.
Guided tours can be a good thing to do for listening practice.

Have you thought about Dortmund? Easy flight, excellent Christmas market. Easy train to Cologne to see its lovely sights. Accommodation in Dortmund is cheaper.

Berlin? meh. It's easy to get around but frankly it is heaving all the time.

Am nearly crying-laughing at the idea of someone in Frankfurt, where i was recently threatened with a knife for... existing, and was robbed by a junkie, saying that Cologne going down. Yes, it isn't what it was but it hasn't reached Frankfurt (a city, incidentally I absolutely love) levels. Having said that, Frankfurt is fantastic if you can keep away from the station area always, and the Konstablerwache and the Hauptwache at night. And it has the fantastic Kleinmarkthalle (food market)

@IReallyNeedATimeMachine Aachen it's a pretty, old city and very compact. The market is in the center, as is the cathedral which is ancient and a UNESCO world heritage site. Free to go in. From the station to the middle of the Altstadt is about a 10 minute walk

In Düsseldorf: you can walk up Immermann Str. from the Hbf, it takes about 15 minutes to get to The ShadowArkaden and thusly to Königsallee/Altstadt on foot and you then go past all the cool Japanese places. Veer off at Oststrasse and go across where Kaufhof is and you can walk down the newly revamped and pedestrianised Shadowstrasse with all the big chain shops. There are also Christmas market stalls there as well as in the Altstadt.

As for the Deutschland ticket, as i understand, if you book it between 1 - 9th of a month, and cancel before 10th, it is valid until the end of the next month. So you have a 2 month ticket, but I'm not sure.

Just saw Hamburg recommended - my favourite city. You can also do a day trip to Lübeck as mentioned, but also Bremen, and maybe somewhere like Lüneburg which is very pretty. Any of those Hansa cities, tbh are worth it.

I have German A level. Our exchanges went to Nurnberg . I had no issue at all with the accent and it does seem it was selected as a good place for exchanges. But then they were being sent to us in Glasgow

DS went on a music exchange to Bamberg which is lovely but I'm not sure about accessibility as they took a coach.

Nuremburg Market is great but depending on where Op is flying from there may not be as many flights there as other cities, for example you can no longer fly there from Manchester. Also its Bavaria where the accent might be a bit tricky
OP, I think your plan to visit 3 cities in as many days is a LOT. We generally do 3 days in one city - markets a couple of days (usually half days or a big break in the middle) and then a spa/therme

You can get from Nürnberg to Bamberg with a direct train.

I lived near Nürnberg for 3.5 years and had a long-distance relationship for 4 years and wouldn't touch the Christmas market on a weekend. It's absolutely mayhem.

It's lovely, on a Monday.

There is an accent but doable, a lot better than the south Bavarian one.

Yes, I remember now that's why we didn't go to Nurnberg a few years back and went to Dortmund.

Dortmund and Cologne are perfectly possible in 3 days.

I think everyone should go on public transport abroad as a compare and contrast activity - I love German trains!

If you go to Aachen Lindt factory outlet is well worth a visit - prices were so cheap.
https://www.aachen-tourismus.de/en/discover-aachen/details/poi/lindt-factory-outlet/

Thanks @reluctantbrit What would you recommend to see/do in Hamburg? I went there several decades ago with school but the only things I can remember are the fishmarket and the Reeperbahn which isn't quite the vibe I was going for... the flights look a good price though.

Thanks @MinnieMountain I did look at the train and it is appealing but it was somewhat more expensive than flying unfortunately.

Have a great time when you go!

This is definitely going on the list - thanks @parietal
How long would you say to allow for a visit?

@LadyGreySpillsTheTeaHa, maybe it’s because the dialect / accent was so ridiculously strong where I lived as a student that anything other than that is easier to understand for me 😂 (except maybe Swiss German…)

Dd had a year abroad with uni at Bonn uni. We went a few times and find staying on the edge of Bonn, but near the tram was the best. Especially in holiday periods as they discount all the rates in the business hotels.
Our favourite was the Hotel Maritime Bonn. Near a tram, near the buses, near a big park. Really big, 1980s style glass, open spaces type of hotel. Breakfast was SPECTACULAR! Rooms were standard Holiday Inn type, service was great. Public transport between the hotel and Bonn, and Bonn and Cologne was really, really good. The ubers are also decent.
We have visited various gorgeous uni buildings, parks, haribo shop, lego shop, sooooooo many cafes for coffee and cake and the cathedral which was so tall I'm sure you have to stand in a different postcode to fit it all in one picture. Great place.

If you like Marzipan then Lübeck is your city.

if you are in Bonn a visit to the Haribo factory shop is quite fun- although you may not need a trolley load if you are going hand luggage only! In Cologne the Roman museum is rather wonderful too.

Definitely a daytrip to Lübeck, Marzipan, a beautiful mediveal town. It has the European Hansemuseum, the Hanse was a commercial trading network of agroup of towns, very powerful in the late mediveal ages. The displays are all in English, it's very well done.

Hamburg itself has several markets, the main one is at the Rathaus, the town hall. It's near all the shopping streets.

Hamburg has it's Docklands, an area called the Speicherstadt with lots of converted warehouses and small canals. This is also where a huge miniature train exhibition is, Miniatur Wunderland, honestly, even with not being a big train fanatic (unlike DH), it's really interesting, there are also some museums, one of the history of the area (Speicherstadt Museum) and a Spice museum.

You are perfectly safe near the Reeperbahn during the day, just stay away from a street called Herbertstrasse.

Normally I would say take a boat tour around the harbour or the Fleets (the canals) but maybe not in December.

These are all excellent tips, thank you!

@ConBatulations That is very good advice and not something I'd really thought about so have been looking in to it and it turns out my bank does charge so I will look at getting a card with a different bank.

@BeyondMyWits The Hotel Maritim Bonn looks beautiful but unfortunately for the time we're looking to go it's beyond our budget sadly. If you have any suggestions for how to get a discount I'm all ears!

@GirlofInkandStars The Roman Museum looks good - I hadn't heard of it, thanks!

I am taking on board all the comments about other places to visit and will put them on my list as they all sound great!