Travel
Cologne - known in German as "Köln" - is Germany's fourth biggest metropolis located in Western Germany north of Bonn, the former federal capital. The river Rhine separates the town into a western (left of the Rhine including the old town and Cologne Cathedral) and eastern (right of the Rhine) part.
Cologne is easily accessible via car, train, and airplane:
car
Highway A3 to the interchange Cologne East ("Autobahnkreuz Köln-Ost") (27) via B55A towards downtown Cologne and Cologne Deutz ("Köln-Zentrum, -Deutz")
train
via Deutsche Bahn to Cologne main station ("Köln Hauptbahnhof"), then a short footwalk crossing the Rhine or to Köln Messe/Deutz
airplane
to Cologne Bonn Airport, then via KVB public transportation system 1 or 3 stations to Köln Messe/Deutz stop
Please find the current 2011 flight plane to Cologne here (February 2011 version).
Cheap TGV tickets from France
French participants may buy cheap TGV tickets to Cologne at least three months in advance.
Distances to Cologne
Approximate distances and possible durations of the travel:
Amsterdam, Netherlands
car: approx. 270km (approx. 2:45h)
train: ICE, IC, RE (approx. 2:37-4:55h)
airplane: AMS-CGN KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (approx. 1:10h)
Brussels (Brussel/Bruxelles), Belgium
car: approx. 210km (approx. 2:15h)
train: ICE, IC, RE, Thalys (approx. 2:17-3:42h)
Copenhagen (København), Denmark
train: ICE, IC (approx. 8:58-9:00h)
airplane: SAS Scandinavian Airlines (approx. 1:20h)
London, United Kingdom
train: THA, EST, ICE, CNL (approx. 5:06-7:51h)
airplane: LGW/LHR/STN easyJet, germanwings, Lufthansa (approx. 1:20h)
Luxemburg, Luxemburg
car: approx. 235km (approx. 2:30h)
train: IC, RE, RB (approx. 3:16-4:24h)
Paris, France
car: approx. 490km (approx. 5:00h)
train: Thalys, ICE, IC, IR, RE (approx. 3:51-5:33h)
airplane: CDG-CGN Lufthansa (approx. 1:05h)
Prague (Praha), Czech Republic
train: ICE, IC, RE, ALX, R, VBG, OS, SP (approx. 9:01h)
airplane: PRG-CGN CSA Czech Airlines, germanwings (approx. 1:30h)
Stockholm, Sweden
airplane: ARN-CGN germanwings (approx. 2:00h)
Vienna (Wien), Austria
train: ICE, IC, OIC (approx. 8:32-9:34h)
airplane: VIE-CGN Austrian Airlines, germanwings (approx. 1:30h)
Zurich (Zürich), Switzerland
train: ICE, IC, RB (approx. 5:06-6:55h)
airplane: ZRH-CGN germanwings (approx. 1:05-1:10h)
