Travel in Germany (Cologne-Dortmund)

[Gambo]

My missus booked up a cheap weekend away from edinburgh to dortmund (as advertised) with easyjet, great, only problem is that they actually fly us into Cologne-Bonn airport and not Dortmund (only noticed this after it was booked).

 

Does anyone know how easy it is to get a train (and cost) to Dortmund either from the airport or from Cologne main station? We are arriving in Cologne-Bonn 9pm.

 

Whilst i am at it , anyone been to Dortmund before, quick look at websites it does not look like much to do, we leave late Sunday night so have 2 days to kill (Borrussia Dortmund game not an option as it seems to be an international weekend..............that was the first thing i looked into). Might look at changing last night of hotel stay to Cologne.

 

This was booked as an 'easyjet holiday' with hotel included, does anyone know if it is easy for the Holiday Inn (the hotel easyjet booked us with) to 'swap' hotels for the one night when it was booked as a package?

 

Chhers for any help.

[Pete Seeger]

I can't help you with travel but I'd highly recommend changing your plans and spending the weekend in either Cologne or Dussledorf. Both outstanding cities with extremely friendly people, great beer and lot's to see/do. :thumbsup:

[JamboJen]

When we went to Germany for pre-season a couple of years ago we did the train between Bremen and Hamburg.

 

The DB website was really easy to use and even posted my train tickets here.

 

Looks like it's about an hour and a half to the main station in Dortmund. Put your departure point as K?ln/Bonn Flughafen.

 

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/index.shtml

[Gambo]

Phoned Easyjet............to change hotel from Dortmund - Cologne they wanted an extra ?300 per person.

 

Easyjet advised that the cheapest option would be to keep package but forgo the hotel and book our own hotel in Cologne...............................there must be something on in Cologne that weekend struggling to find anything under ?350 for 2night stay!!!

 

Easyjet do not have a 'transfer partner' in Cologne so we have to find our own way from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund, yet they advertised the holiday as Edinburgh to Dortmund!!!

[DETTY29]

Phoned Easyjet............to change hotel from Dortmund - Cologne they wanted an extra ?300 per person.

 

Easyjet advised that the cheapest option would be to keep package but forgo the hotel and book our own hotel in Cologne...............................there must be something on in Cologne that weekend struggling to find anything under ?350 for 2night stay!!!

 

Easyjet do not have a 'transfer partner' in Cologne so we have to find our own way from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund, yet they advertised the holiday as Edinburgh to Dortmund!!!

PM Braveheart.

 

Spends half his life over there.

[The Real Maroonblood]

Phoned Easyjet............to change hotel from Dortmund - Cologne they wanted an extra ?300 per person.

 

Easyjet advised that the cheapest option would be to keep package but forgo the hotel and book our own hotel in Cologne...............................there must be something on in Cologne that weekend struggling to find anything under ?350 for 2night stay!!!

 

Easyjet do not have a 'transfer partner' in Cologne so we have to find our own way from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund, yet they advertised the holiday as Edinburgh to Dortmund!!!

Have a look at booking.com website it may help you.

I stayed at this hotel and it was very good.

http://www.booking.com/hotel/de/belmondo-koln.en-gb.html?sid=4f007f6319289c1fcefdd17bc7f0f42e;srfid=c986342ef5d43d83f388c4fdfe36582aX20

[leginten]

Hi Gambo

 

I've only been there for a night in a hotel so I can't say I know it at all. I do know there has been a lot of regeneration of post-industrial sites there and that the cultural centres/musuems they've opened are absolutely first-class.

 

http://www.dortmund.de/en/index.html

 

It's obviously not Germany's most glamorous city but I'm sure you'll find more than enough to keep yourselves occupied if it's only for a weekend. A new city to explore, loads of great restaurants and bars - what's not to like?

 

If you're really desperate to get out of Dortmund for a day, you'll find train travel really cheap within Nordrhein-Westfalen (the federal stae that Dortmund, Cologne and Duesseldorf are all in). All the states do a Weekend-Ticket which offers multi-person rail travel within state boundaries on certain trains at ridiculously cheap prices. Unlimited travel for the whole weekend. Cologne is great, or you could go down to Wuppertal for a shot on the suspended monorail they have as a public transport system there.

 

Have fun!

[davemclaren]

Only ever been to Dortmund for the football. I agree with the poster above who says that Cologne or Dusseldorf are the more for the tourist. I'm sure getting a train from Cologne to Dortmund is quite easy.

 

http://www.bahn.com/i/view/GBR/en/trains/index.shtml

[Sexton Hardcastle]

To save starting a new thread...

 

 

Any things to see/do in Munich in late October?

 

Bayern are at home but bar that it looks like drinking most days.

[leginten]

To save starting a new thread...

 

 

Any things to see/do in Munich in late October?

 

Bayern are at home but bar that it looks like drinking most days.

 

Depends what you're into. In terms of museums, galleries, interesting buildings etc, Munich is probably better served than any other German city outside Berlin. Huge BMW centre, Oympic park and stadia, tour of the AllianzArena, the Alps about an hour away by train, lakes and forests just on the city's southern fringes, Dachau if you're that way inclined, Art Nouveau districts and buildings all over the place, food and drink to die for. Loads of concerts of all sorts.

 

I went last October for a week. It was about my sixth or seventh visit to Munich. I could happily spend a month there - you'd only scratch the surface in that time. In fact, I'd happily live there. Although compact, it's one of Europe's great cities.

[The Real Maroonblood]

Depends what you're into. In terms of museums, galleries, interesting buildings etc, Munich is probably better served than any other German city outside Berlin. Huge BMW centre, Oympic park and stadia, tour of the AllianzArena, the Alps about an hour away by train, lakes and forests just on the city's southern fringes, Dachau if you're that way inclined, Art Nouveau districts and buildings all over the place, food and drink to die for. Loads of concerts of all sorts.

 

I went last October for a week. It was about my sixth or seventh visit to Munich. I could happily spend a month there - you'd only scratch the surface in that time. In fact, I'd happily live there. Although compact, it's one of Europe's great cities.

Munich is my favourite city to visit.

I have been there 3 times and never tire of it.

Berlin and Cologne are good but Munich is tops.

[leginten]

Munich is my favourite city to visit.

I have been there 3 times and never tire of it.

Berlin and Cologne are good but Munich is tops.

 

Berlin is a fantastic place. Even today it retains some of the electric atmosphere it had during the Cold War. It's also absolutely vast in terms of area. Another city that would take months to get to know. Cologne is also right up there among my favourite cities. Its charms are much less obvious than those of Berlin and Munich and the people are definitely different in terms of their humour and general outlook on life. Very subversive and very non-conformist despite the deeply religious seam that runs right through the Rhineland culture.

 

By the way, things I forgot to mention for Munich:

 

- Englischer Garten - huge park in the middle of the city (bigger than Central Park in New York)

- Public training sessions at Bayern's HQ in the south of the city

- Munich 1860 matches if Bayern aren't playing.

 

And beer. More varieties than you could shake a stick at. Quality and value for money second to none (if you avoid the honeypot Bierkeller, that is).

[The Real Maroonblood]

Berlin is a fantastic place. Even today it retains some of the electric atmosphere it had during the Cold War. It's also absolutely vast in terms of area. Another city that would take months to get to know. Cologne is also right up there among my favourite cities. Its charms are much less obvious than those of Berlin and Munich and the people are definitely different in terms of their humour and general outlook on life. Very subversive and very non-conformist despite the deeply religious seam that runs right through the Rhineland culture.

 

By the way, things I forgot to mention for Munich:

 

- Englischer Garten - huge park in the middle of the city (bigger than Central Park in New York)

- Public training sessions at Bayern's HQ in the south of the city

- Munich 1860 matches if Bayern aren't playing.

 

And beer. More varieties than you could shake a stick at. Quality and value for money second to none (if you avoid the honeypot Bierkeller, that is).

I loved The Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

I am considering Hamburg for my next visit to Germany.

Have you been there or have you heard from anyone who has?

[Gambo]

Hi Gambo

 

I've only been there for a night in a hotel so I can't say I know it at all. I do know there has been a lot of regeneration of post-industrial sites there and that the cultural centres/musuems they've opened are absolutely first-class.

 

http://www.dortmund.de/en/index.html

 

It's obviously not Germany's most glamorous city but I'm sure you'll find more than enough to keep yourselves occupied if it's only for a weekend. A new city to explore, loads of great restaurants and bars - what's not to like?

 

If you're really desperate to get out of Dortmund for a day, you'll find train travel really cheap within Nordrhein-Westfalen (the federal stae that Dortmund, Cologne and Duesseldorf are all in). All the states do a Weekend-Ticket which offers multi-person rail travel within state boundaries on certain trains at ridiculously cheap prices. Unlimited travel for the whole weekend. Cologne is great, or you could go down to Wuppertal for a shot on the suspended monorail they have as a public transport system there.

 

Have fun!

 

As it is somewhere different i am actually looking forward to Dortmund ( some world food convention on in cologne making hotels there really expensive).

 

Just a pain to organise trains etc when not sure exactly what time your flight gets there. Looks like plenty of train options available but half price if booked in advance, but hard to book certain trains incase flights delayed. Hard to tell if the tickets are 'open' and can get earlier/later train etc.

[ToadKiller Dog]

You will be fine in dortmund, even if they have that horrible team, its a hard working city a lot like northern english cities. Being scottish helps german for some reason like us some even like the english, my friends are from gelsenkirken. The near rivals.

Never been to a bit of germany I dont like .

German trains are ok but are often late or cancelled for no reason.

[leginten]

As it is somewhere different i am actually looking forward to Dortmund ( some world food convention on in cologne making hotels there really expensive).

 

Just a pain to organise trains etc when not sure exactly what time your flight gets there. Looks like plenty of train options available but half price if booked in advance, but hard to book certain trains incase flights delayed. Hard to tell if the tickets are 'open' and can get earlier/later train etc.

 

Do you arrive on the Friday night? I've been having a think about the best kind of tickets to get to cover all your transport needs (including any buses, trams etc) throughout the weekend.

[Gambo]

Do you arrive on the Friday night? I've been having a think about the best kind of tickets to get to cover all your transport needs (including any buses, trams etc) throughout the weekend.

 

 

Arrive 9.10pm friday.

[The Vulture]

Public transport in Germany is excellent. Went to Dortmund a few years ago to watch Scotland play and flew into Cologne/Bonn, and caught the train to Dortmund. We caught a bus from there to the city centre and walked to the main train station. Think (from memory) the journey to Dortmund took about 1.5 to 2 hours, that was on a local train, would be quicker on the Inter City. You could also stay in Bonn which is about 30 minutes from Cologne on the train to the south. Trains run very frequently between Cologne and Bonn.

[Denny Crane]

Never been to a bit of germany I dont like .

 

Take it you've not been to Chemnitz or Gera?

[leginten]

Arrive 9.10pm friday.

 

Looks to me as if a standard return rail fare from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund is going to cost a minimum of ?94 for the two of you. On top of that you'd have any other bus, tram etc fares for the weekend.

 

My suggestion would be a Sch?ner Tag Ticket NRW for the Friday night journey to Dortmund. This would cost ?36 and is valid to take you anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen until midnight that day. It's valid for up to five people, so if there's anyone else on your flight in the same position as you, you could share the cost. You can get the ticket from a machine at the station at the airport. It will also be valid for any form of public transport - tram, bus or underground - that you needed to get to your hotel from Dortmund station.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...ag_ticket.shtml

Then on the Saturday morning, get a Sch?nes-Wochenende-Ticket from any train station or travel agent with a DB sign. This will cost ?39 and entitles you (and up to five people) to travel by train anywhere in Germany for the whole weekend. It will cover your return journey to the airport and I'm pretty certain (but check) that it will cover buses and trams etc too.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...de_ticket.shtml

 

Just a couple of points: if you get these tickets, you'll have to ensure that they've either got a starting time printed on them or that you validate them by putting them in one of the date-stamping thingies they have at stations. It'll probably be the former. And you'll also have to limit yourself to normal trains - not the posh ICE express jobs.

[I.T.K]

Looks to me as if a standard return rail fare from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund is going to cost a minimum of ?94 for the two of you. On top of that you'd have any other bus, tram etc fares for the weekend.

 

My suggestion would be a Sch?ner Tag Ticket NRW for the Friday night journey to Dortmund. This would cost ?36 and is valid to take you anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen until midnight that day. It's valid for up to five people, so if there's anyone else on your flight in the same position as you, you could share the cost. You can get the ticket from a machine at the station at the airport. It will also be valid for any form of public transport - tram, bus or underground - that you needed to get to your hotel from Dortmund station.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...ag_ticket.shtml

Then on the Saturday morning, get a Sch?nes-Wochenende-Ticket from any train station or travel agent with a DB sign. This will cost ?39 and entitles you (and up to five people) to travel by train anywhere in Germany for the whole weekend. It will cover your return journey to the airport and I'm pretty certain (but check) that it will cover buses and trams etc too.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...de_ticket.shtml

 

Just a couple of points: if you get these tickets, you'll have to ensure that they've either got a starting time printed on them or that you validate them by putting them in one of the date-stamping thingies they have at stations. It'll probably be the former. And you'll also have to limit yourself to normal trains - not the posh ICE express jobs.

 

 

 

and Cologne Bonn Airport does have a station, so you should be able to get a train direct.

 

 

[ToadKiller Dog]

Take it you've not been to Chemnitz or Gera?

Have not seen much of the east but actually heard that chemnitz has had a fortune spent on it and has a good mix of medieval and modern sites ,maybe not a place for a piss up though.

[Gambo]

Looks to me as if a standard return rail fare from Cologne/Bonn airport to Dortmund is going to cost a minimum of ?94 for the two of you. On top of that you'd have any other bus, tram etc fares for the weekend.

 

My suggestion would be a Sch?ner Tag Ticket NRW for the Friday night journey to Dortmund. This would cost ?36 and is valid to take you anywhere in Nordrhein-Westfalen until midnight that day. It's valid for up to five people, so if there's anyone else on your flight in the same position as you, you could share the cost. You can get the ticket from a machine at the station at the airport. It will also be valid for any form of public transport - tram, bus or underground - that you needed to get to your hotel from Dortmund station.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...ag_ticket.shtml

Then on the Saturday morning, get a Sch?nes-Wochenende-Ticket from any train station or travel agent with a DB sign. This will cost ?39 and entitles you (and up to five people) to travel by train anywhere in Germany for the whole weekend. It will cover your return journey to the airport and I'm pretty certain (but check) that it will cover buses and trams etc too.

 

http://www.bahn.de/r...de_ticket.shtml

 

Just a couple of points: if you get these tickets, you'll have to ensure that they've either got a starting time printed on them or that you validate them by putting them in one of the date-stamping thingies they have at stations. It'll probably be the former. And you'll also have to limit yourself to normal trains - not the posh ICE express jobs.

 

Cheers for all your info, will look into above.

[leginten]

I loved The Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

I am considering Hamburg for my next visit to Germany.

Have you been there or have you heard from anyone who has?

 

I've only ever spent one day in Hamburg. I liked it, but didn't really have enough time to get a handle on the place. In all honesty I'm much more a fan of central and southern Germany, the Cologne/Bonn area being the exception.

[Denny Crane]

Have not seen much of the east but actually heard that chemnitz has had a fortune spent on it and has a good mix of medieval and modern sites ,maybe not a place for a piss up though.

 

Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Jena, Weimar and of course Berlin is what I'd recommend of the east.

[ToadKiller Dog]

Dresden, Leipzig, Erfurt, Jena, Weimar and of course Berlin is what I'd recommend of the east.

berlin is a great city, my admitted west germany friends tell me to avoid the east, but funny enough there families fled che east at the wars end to end up in the mining industry. Like family to me.

[scott herbertson]

pm my brother craig herbertson

 

or e mail him at the contact number on his website

 

Craig lives full time in Witten, 10 miles from Dortmund.

 

http://www.craigherbertson.com/

[Auld Reekin']

I loved The Hofbrauhaus in Munich.

I am considering Hamburg for my next visit to Germany.

Have you been there or have you heard from anyone who has?

 

All depends what you're going there for and who with, but I'd highly recommend L?beck if you're going to that part of Germany. In fact, if you're flying with Ryanair, that's where they fly to for Hamburg anyway. L?beck is a very nice small city, with a walled and moated mediaeval centre. It was heavily bombed during WWII, but they've done a great job of the restoration. There are plenty of good pubs and restaurants and it has good railway links to Hamburg, the Baltic coast, and on into former eastern Germany.

 

When the girlfriend and I were there, we took a day-trip into Hamburg and I can't say I was particularly impressed and was really glad we were staying in L?beck, but I'll admit that there was probably a lot of good stuff we missed. However, if it's a wild weekend of drunken debauchery with a bunch of mental mates that's planned, maybe you'd be better off with the delights of the Reeperbahn!

[The Real Maroonblood]

All depends what you're going there for and who with, but I'd highly recommend L?beck if you're going to that part of Germany. In fact, if you're flying with Ryanair, that's where they fly to for Hamburg anyway. L?beck is a very nice small city, with a walled and moated mediaeval centre. It was heavily bombed during WWII, but they've done a great job of the restoration. There are plenty of good pubs and restaurants and it has good railway links to Hamburg, the Baltic coast, and on into former eastern Germany.

 

When the girlfriend and I were there, we took a day-trip into Hamburg and I can't say I was particularly impressed and was really glad we were staying in L?beck, but I'll admit that there was probably a lot of good stuff we missed. However, if it's a wild weekend of drunken debauchery with a bunch of mental mates that's planned, maybe you'd be better off with the delights of the Reeperbahn!

Cheers for the info.

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Berlin is a fantastic place. Even today it retains some of the electric atmosphere it had during the Cold War. It's also absolutely vast in terms of area. Another city that would take months to get to know. Cologne is also right up there among my favourite cities. Its charms are much less obvious than those of Berlin and Munich and the people are definitely different in terms of their humour and general outlook on life. Very subversive and very non-conformist despite the deeply religious seam that runs right through the Rhineland culture.

 

By the way, things I forgot to mention for Munich:

 

- Englischer Garten - huge park in the middle of the city (bigger than Central Park in New York)

- Public training sessions at Bayern's HQ in the south of the city

- Munich 1860 matches if Bayern aren't playing.

 

And beer. More varieties than you could shake a stick at. Quality and value for money second to none (if you avoid the honeypot Bierkeller, that is).

 

Good man.

 

The BMW centre and open training sounds decent.

[jvm32]

 

And beer. More varieties than you could shake a stick at. Quality and value for money second to none (if you avoid the honeypot Bierkeller, that is).

 

Anywhere in particular you would recommend? There is a group of us heading over at the end of October and wouldn't mind hearing some personal recommendations for drinking venues.

 

Cheers

 

 

 

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

See getting Bayern tickets...

 

They are due to be at home to Nurnberg but it says its already a sell out. Is that as it isnt open to the public yet or do Bayern tend to sell out well in advance?

 

Quite fancied some value for money soccer.

[Saul Goodman]

Gambo

 

i think you are cheaper hiring a car

 

[Mac_fae_Gillie]

www.Bahn.com

is the german railways site it has english option.

that area is very well covered so be easy journey.

Dortmund is fine for a weekend,less tourist than most cities but is has a very defibed centre which is much like Ostend.

[leginten]

Anywhere in particular you would recommend? There is a group of us heading over at the end of October and wouldn't mind hearing some personal recommendations for drinking venues.

 

Cheers

 

Sorry, no names that I can remember. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh on the more famous venues in the city centre (any direction from the Marienplatz) - although expensive, many of them are quite historic, and it's probably something you should do in Munich. Really you'd have to work quite hard not to stumble upon places to drink beer about every five yards in Munich.

 

Try the Hofbr?uhaus, the Viktualienmarkt (fantastic open-air food market) and the pubs in the district of Schwabing, north of the city centre.

[leginten]

See getting Bayern tickets...

 

They are due to be at home to Nurnberg but it says its already a sell out. Is that as it isnt open to the public yet or do Bayern tend to sell out well in advance?

 

Quite fancied some value for money soccer.

 

Think you might struggle with this one, to be honest - it's a Bavarian derby and will certainly sell out. I know from past experience that Bayern's website does release tickets in batches, so there's a chance you might get something later even if it's showing as sold out now. Problem is, there will no doubt be thousands of people who have priority over you.

 

Best place to get tickets at short notice (there might be returns etc) is at the ticket office in their HQ building in the south of the city (opposite direction from the stadium). Then there's viagogo, but you'll pay top dollar on that. Good luck!

 

 

 

 

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Ah well cheers for the input.

 

Signed up for the site so will see if anything comes up.

 

Is there any other teams within a reasonable distance to travel to?

[leginten]

Ah well cheers for the input.

 

Signed up for the site so will see if anything comes up.

 

Is there any other teams within a reasonable distance to travel to?

 

Apart from N?rnberg (who obviously won't be at home that day!) Augsburg are the only other Bundesliga 1 team in Bavaria. It's not all that far, and train travel is cheap at the weekend. Nice city too.

[Sexton Hardcastle]

Looks like they are away that weekend.

 

Will just hold of and see how the Bayern tickets go.

 

Thanks though

[leginten]

Looks like they are away that weekend.

 

Will just hold of and see how the Bayern tickets go.

 

Thanks though

 

Red Bull Salzburg in the top Austrian league is also a possibility - only an hour by train, and through fantastic alpine scenery.

[Sexton Hardcastle]

To be fair it was a 3 day piss up with football thrown in so not sure how other would feel on travelling about. Could be an option i suppose. They did Krakow last year and wanted a change and Munich came up trumps.