NIGHT SLEEPER TRAIN - COLOGNE TO HAMBURG
Koln Cathedral Stopover Tour Visit
I was asked in a forum about parking in Cologne for someone traveling through Germany who wanted to stop briefly to explore the cathedral and a bit of the city without a lot of extra time and complication. I offered advice on various parking structures and concern about the congestion tax if traveling with a rental car from elsewhere. But the advice I suggested might be that which I took myself. Take a night train from Cologne (Köln) station. It doesn’t matter where else you might be going in Germany on your trip, if your next destination is a good distance away. I was making a tour across the country starting in Aachen and making my way east with stops in Hamburg, Berlin and Leipzig, then on to Vienna. Part of my trip was with a rental car, but I had a convenient Rail Pass from RailEurope, I could easily add an overnight.
The night sleeper train leaves late in the evening, so rather than trying to park in Cologne, I could avoid the traffic and congestion by dropping a rental car at the Bonn-Cologne Airport, and then a short train ride into the city on a S-Bahn. I would have a few hours in Cologne to explore. The main train station (Hauptbahnhof) in Cologne is rather notoriously located right across from the Cologne Cathedral and the Roman Museum behind it and within an easy walk to the old town or the main shopping district with bars and nightclubs, so perfectly arranged for a short stopover to get the flavor of the city.
I had to put up my luggage for a few hours because you don’t want to be hauling roller bags around cobblestone streets and crowds. I was confronted with a new baggage locker automat storage system in Koln than I had seen elsewhere. I would usually put bags in a locker bank, drop in coins and take the key. In Cologne station, right in the heart of the ticketing concourse is a new luggage dumbwaiter storage locker. It was a bit new, trusting that if the machine swallowed your bags, it would return the right ones. The bags go in the numbered box - you pay the rate based on the number of hours and close the door. The box with your luggage move in an elevator/carousel system, unseen below the floor. When you return, you enter your number and the bags return. It works.
After exploring the city area around the station, with a look at the famous cathedral, known as the tallest of its kind whose relics and the pilgrims attracted in the Middle-Ages partly made Cologne the city is today, strolling among the shops and a meal at a local restaurant, rather the traditional neighborhood style, though many of the establishments in the area are very modern and trendy (also the ubiquitous McDonalds), the time for my journey onward drew near. I gathered my bags from the luggage machine and made my way to the platform to catch the night train.
A night sleeper train can save the cost of a hotel on a long trip, and offers the advantage of saving the days for exploration, or in my case, I had an early meeting appointment in Hamburg. I had a three berth compartment on this trip from Cologne HBF to Hamburg HBF. Three beds stacked with a wash basin closet, modern and clear, with sealed cups and water bottles for each passenger. I was lucky on this trip, that I had no other travelers in my sleeper berth compartment, so had the place to myself – first class for a second class price. The luck of the draw, your experience may vary. If you’re traveling as a couple, you might easily be alone, or take a two berth to be sure. Most night train routes in Germany are longer than four hours. Cologne to Hamburg is one of the shorter routes, so arrival at Hamburg’s main station is very early in the morning. Just before 5 am.
With a Select Rail Pass, the next day’s travel is counted as the same as the night you departed, so you could explore the whole day by rail, a trip to Bremen or Glückstadt on the Elbe, then back to the city by lunch time. In my case, I had a meeting, so I searched for an inexpensive hotel in Hamburg and wanted one convenient to rail as I was heading on to Berlin in a couple of days, for which I would use the Rail Pass for the ICE High Speed train. There are many modest priced hotels, or high end luxury brands within walking distance from the main station Hamburg Hauptbahnhof, but I actually found one near the Altona station, close to where my meeting was scheduled. It was a quick train ride on the city underground system, past all the tourist stop stations of the Hamburg Harbor and Reeperbahn. But then, Hamburg is a story all on its own. © Bargain Travel Europe
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Getting to Cologne (Koln) By Rail: Get a German Rail Pass
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See Also:
AUGUSTUSBURG & FALKENLUST PALACES
CITY
NIGHT LINE - NIGHT TRAIN DRESDEN TO ZURICH
EUROPE HIGH SPEED TRAINS - TGV - ICE
THALYS HIGH SPEED PARIS TO BRUSSELS
