Cologne is so active compared to Dusseldorf. How to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne? Useful tips for tourists. An impressive boat trip

IN eastern part of Germany on Rhine River There are two magnificent German cities, separated by only 40 kilometers of the Autobahn. But despite their geographical proximity, these cities are so far from each other in terms of thinking, atmosphere and other important aspects of life that it is simply difficult to believe. This is about Cologne And Dusseldorf . Although both cities are located in federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, they are radically different in terms of atmosphere, architecture, people, sights, and perhaps most importantly in Germany- beer. So if you are traveling to North Rhine-Westphalia, don’t miss the opportunity to look into each of them and see and feel with your own eyes what you read below.

Given the geographical proximity of these two major German cities (Cologne is the 4th in Germany city by population, Dusseldorf– 7th) there has always been and continues to be a strong rivalry between them. If you happen to be in the company of residents of both of these cities, then rest assured that your harmless question about where you should go for the weekend - to Cologne or Dusseldorf– will result in many hours of discussion! Because everyone is one hundred percent convinced and will passionately prove that their city is the best.

Story

The history of the rivalry between these two cities is rooted in history and, in fact, is a classic story of a struggle for power. Cologne was a Roman city that was founded in the 50th century AD and reached its peak in the Middle Ages when it became an important trade route. With its Roman history, the city also became an important center of Catholicism. Evidence of this to this day is the famous Cologne Cathedral , which is important place pilgrimages for Catholic believers, and also receives about 20,000 tourists every day.

Dusseldorf same, unlike Cologne, quite organically and gradually grew into Big city from a small village located in a place where rivers meet Dussel And Rhine. Unlike Cologne, Düsseldorf was inhabited by a more secular society. Years later Dusseldorf took over from Cologne capital status federal state North Rhine-Westphalia. IN last years Rivalry between cities is fueled by a variety of factors, mainly sports and beer.

Atmosphere

Dusseldorf– this is business, high fashion and chic. Center for financial, insurance and mobile conglomerates in the Rhine region, Dusseldorf It also has a variety of entertainment options that the local business elite enjoy when leaving their pseudo skyscrapers. With a deep respect for art (Kunstmuseum, K20 Kunstsammlung), good cuisine (many Michelin-starred restaurants) and upscale shopping ( Koningsalle in Dusseldorf- this is a kind of German equivalent of the famous Champs Elysees in Paris) the city is simply buzzing with cultural events, meeting the expectations of its demanding citizens.

Cologne- it's industry, media and simplicity. Every fifth resident of this city is engaged in production, in addition, it is in Cologne a third of what German television produces is created. By its atmosphere and way of life local residents, the city is noticeably simpler and more relaxed than its northern competitor. The city is also quite diverse in terms of culture, with over 40 museums and various outdoor festivals and concerts regularly held. Locals enjoying their free time over leisurely conversations and drinks in one of the many city cafes.

Architecture

Dusseldorf- This modern architecture with charming Old town. In terms of architecture, Düsseldorf has a lot to offer its guests, ranging from super modern ( Gehry's Neuer Zollhof And Chipperfield's Kaistrasse 16) and ending with buildings in the expressionist style (Ehrenhof and Wilhelm Marx Haus). So-called Old city (Altstadt) is the historical center of Düsseldorf, located along the banks of the rivers Rhine And Dussel. The cobblestone pedestrian strip is filled with restaurants, beer gardens, pubs, museums and markets, offering plenty of options for how to spend the day. Besides, in Dusseldorf home to the largest in Germany Japanese community. For this reason, the city has an atmospheric Japanese quarter along Immermannstrasse, where can I find traditional food, bookstores and other cultural attributes.

Cologne features a functionally designed urban space with a charming Old town. As you can see, there is at least one similarity between the two rivals - the Old Town is good as in Cologne so and in Dusseldorf. Wherein to Cologne you'll see more tourists than locals leisurely strolling through the winding streets of the old town. Despite the fact that due to heavy bombing during World War II, most of the buildings were destroyed and later rebuilt in the style of the 50s and 60s, the city still retains some of its former charm. Famous Cologne Cathedral, impressive in its scale and grandeur, is one of the main attractions Germany.

Beer

Beer is perhaps the most important aspect when it comes to... Germany. Dusseldorf proud of his Altbier, whereas for Cologne residents their local Kölsch (Kolsch)- the only and favorite drink. Try ordering both drinks at one of your local bars in Cologne or in Dusseldorf, and you may find yourself already on the street or, at best, you will be ridiculed by the waiter. Both beers, contrary to our usual ideas about beer standards, are served in small narrow glasses by special waiters Kobes, which are capable of holding more than two dozen of these same glasses on one tray, making their way through the crowds filling the bar. In both cities, you won’t even have time to take your last sip before a new portion will already be waiting for you. At the same time, the waiters have their own way of keeping your score - they make notes about the amount you drink directly on cardboard coasters. When you are ready to leave the establishment, simply walk up to the cashier with your coaster and pay.

Altbier- This is a dark, hoppy ale. Altbier gets its name from an old style of brewing - alt is German for old. In the mid-20th century, about a hundred breweries produced this drink, while now there are no more than ten of them left. Altbier itself is a top-fermented beer, and brewers have adopted cold-conditioning technology in its production, which contributes to its unique taste. In breweries Zum Uerige And Brauerei Im Fuchschen in the Old Town or in a pub Brauerei Ferdinand Schumacher next to the train station you can feel the atmosphere of traditional German beer gardens.

Kölsch- This is a light, refreshing beer. Cologne beer, despite the similarity in production techniques, is lighter in color and taste. In 1885, more than twenty breweries signed “Kölsch Convention” according to which beer can be called Kölsch, only if it is cooked in Cologne, has a light color, brewed using top-fermentation technology, filtered and brewed at certain temperatures. Although at first glance it might be mistaken for a lager, Kölsch is fruitier and sweeter in taste. Currently Cologne is the leader in Germany in terms of the number of breweries. The most famous beer cities are Fruh Am Dom, which is large complex in the Old Town Near Cologne Cathedral, Brauerei Zur Malzmuhle, slightly removed from the center, but more traditional in its atmosphere, as well as Paffgen Brauhaus, a traditional beer hall destroyed during the Second World War and later restored to its true grandeur.

Night life

Have some fun in the Old Town of Dusseldorf. Most of the city's nightlife is in full swing here. Old city boasts 260 bars and restaurants within a half kilometer area. In addition to Altbier, be sure to try another traditional drink that the Dusseldorf - killepitsch. Killepich is a digestif with the aroma of more than 90 herbs, fruits and spices. Wherein killepich stronger and more complex than often compared to it as well German liqueur Jägermeister.

To have some fun in Cologne, get out of Old town. To plunge into nightlife Cologne, you won't find best place, how Kwartier Latang, which is the student center Cologne. Bars, pubs and clubs fill the streets Zulpicher Strasse And Aachener Strasse. Also, an event that should not be missed in Cologne is the Carnival, which takes place in February and is a huge street party with costumes, beer and traditional German songs.

Cologne Carnival– this is perhaps one of the best carnivals in Europe. Sorry, Dusseldorf!

Let's leave aside the already much worn out joke about the fact that Russian people have a tradition of visiting Germany in early May. Still, the holiday must be treated with respect. And reasons to visit Germany without reference to calendar months great amount: beer, practice German language, medieval castles, cars of German concerns, etc. We flew to Germany because - and this is quite surprising - it is geographically close to Holland. There was simply a great desire to return to the Netherlands, but there was no desire to spend a lot of money on a flight to Amsterdam. Therefore, it was decided to fly to Dusseldorf for relatively little money, at the same time stop in Cologne, because it is located invitingly close (only 40 km) to Dusseldorf, and only then get to Holland in a couple of hours.

Photo by @suglosta

How to get to Cologne

It is now quite easy to fly from Moscow to the western part of Germany, where Cologne, Dusseldorf, and Bonn are located, relatively cheaply. In addition to the low-cost Pobeda, which flies to Cologne-Bonn Airport, other airlines offer flights to the large and modern international airport of Düsseldorf. A round trip flight without luggage will cost approximately 12 thousand rubles. per person.

The 40 km distance from Dusseldorf Airport to Cologne Cathedral is best covered by car. Having landed and gone through passport control, we go to the first floor to the rental counters. About 25€ per day, a deposit of 250€, which is returned to you upon return, and in 20 minutes you are “on wheels”.

Some things worth knowing about traffic in western Germany:

There are no toll roads in Germany ( until 2019!) with the exception of special tunnels. Despite this, all highways are of excellent quality.
Even on intercity routes there may be traffic jams, for example, due to road repairs. Take this into account when planning your route.
The speed limit in cities is 50 km/h. Outside cities - most are 100 km/h, but sometimes more - watch the signs.
In the central part of European cities it is quite difficult to park directly on the street. On the other hand, there are a significant number of paid or multi-storey car parks. In Cologne, the cost of parking at such facilities is 1-2 € per hour. You can park right under the cathedral.
The cost of fuel in Europe is significantly higher than in Russia. On average, a liter of diesel will cost about 1.20€.

Traveling by train between cities is also quite convenient, especially considering that Central station Cologne is literally next door to the cathedral. However, the cost of a train ticket from Dusseldorf to Cologne is about 13 €. A little expensive.

Cologne and Cologne Cathedral

Bombing during the Second World War destroyed the city almost to the ground. Photographs from that time show the astonishing results - the ruins of the city and the cathedral towering above them, also significantly damaged.

The city, of course, was restored, but other than that, there’s not much really interesting in the city, to be honest. But this allows you not to spend a lot of time studying it.

How to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne? What is the distance between these cities? How long will the trip take? How to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne by train, car or boat? Let's figure out together what methods can be used to overcome this distance and which of them will be the most preferable.

On German roads

You can talk about your trip to Germany for hours. And it’s not even about churches, palaces and other historical and architectural attractions - everything is different here. Clean streets, a decent standard of living and unique monuments, combined with German punctuality and mentality, make traveling around Germany one of the most exciting experiences.

Almost every city in Germany deserves special attention, but now we will talk about two, perhaps, of the most unique Bavarian metropolises in their unsurpassed style. Or more precisely, about how to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne. The distance between them is not that great - only about 50 kilometers. You can overcome it in various ways: by car, train, bus and even by boat. In summer, electric trains and overhead trains run between cities. The journey will not take much time - about an hour and a half.

By train

This is the simplest option. Trains from Düsseldorf depart regularly from the Main Station and arrive at the Main Station Train Station Cologne. In total, about 50 trains pass along this route per day. They all arrive at their destination in about 20-25 minutes. There are also city trains that depart to Cologne every 15-20 minutes.

Along the entire route, the Düsseldorf - Cologne train makes six stops in the north-eastern part of the city. One ticket costs about 12 and a half euros.

By bus

When looking for information on how to get from Düsseldorf to Cologne, you should pay attention to bus routes. Tourists can use transport services offered by Fixbus, City2City, PostBus, etc. They depart every day, but at different time. Information about them can be found at one of the stations.

On commuter buses It is best to travel to Cologne from Dusseldorf in the cool season. In summer, tourists prefer to travel by train. Firstly, because it's faster. And secondly, because it’s more comfortable.

This information will be very useful for those who are deciding how to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne. This route has some similarities with one, no less popular direction: Moscow - St. Petersburg. The fact is that these two cities tirelessly compete with each other for the title most beautiful city Germany. Tourists very often ask the question of how to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne. Therefore, it is worth telling travelers in detail how to do this in the most convenient way.

As mentioned above, there are several ways to get to Cologne from Dusseldorf. This can be done by rail, bus, electric train or car. Many people ask: “Is it possible to get from Dusseldorf to Cologne by boat?” We will definitely tell you how to do this, but a little later.

The most convenient and practical options

The easiest way to get from one city to another is by train. Rail transport departs and arrives at the main stations of each city. No transfer is needed for this. If a tourist decides to use it, the cost of the service will unpleasantly surprise the customer. The fact is that the beautiful Dusseldorf and the contrasting city of Cologne belong to different transport companies. Accordingly, they have different pricing. At Langenfeld-Bahnhof station there is a kind of border. From Düsseldorf you must first get to it, and only after that - to Cologne. It turns out to be a little cheaper than the cost of a simple ticket from one city to another.

It is better to purchase train tickets in advance. To do this, you can use the special service bahn.de. You should find out in advance where the train is arriving. The fact is that there are two train stations in Cologne: the main one and the secondary one (so to speak). The last one is served by ICE trains, the ticket price of which is slightly higher than usual.

Airport

It happens that you need to cover the distance "Dusseldorf - Cologne" as quickly as possible. Buses run regularly from the departure point airport. You can also use transfer services. But this can be done provided there is a group of eight people. You can, of course, go yourself, without waiting for the other 6-7 people, but, as you understand, you will have to pay for all the tickets.

The airport building has an underground railroad station. An electric train departs every 20 minutes to Cologne. The entire trip will take no more than 1.5 hours. At the station you can see the schedule of electric trains. The German company SkyTrain also operates on this route. The city of Cologne is easily reached by suspension train. Many people prefer this particular method of transportation - a trip on the monorail will seem bright and exciting. Besides, this unique opportunity look at the sights of Germany from a different perspective.

An impressive boat trip

The German company Koln - Dusseldorf offers tourists to take a delightful walk along the Rhine, and at the same time get from one city to another. It's comparable to the real thing romantic trip, which will bring a lot of bright and exciting emotions.

A trip on a boat is a comfortable transfer and a real journey that will bring a lot vivid impressions(unless you suffer from seasickness, of course). By the way, on board the ship you can see football matches, take part in a themed party, and have a fun time. Finding the pier is not difficult - you can find KD signs everywhere, which will lead you to the ship.

What other options might there be?

The problem with buses here is that there are no direct flights as such, only passing ones. Therefore, it’s not worth looking for this route in the schedule - it will cost a pretty penny. This also applies to airplanes. Who wants to travel 40 kilometers for crazy money?

You can cover the route by car. You can rent it directly in the city or at the airport.

Now you know how from one German city get into another. All that remains is to wish you a safe journey and a pleasant journey!

The quiet charm of Cologne

The Rhine-Ruhr region of Germany is far from the most tourist area of the country. This is, first of all, the center of German industry, with a very high density of cities, similar to one another. However, there is also something to see here. First of all, the famous Cologne Cathedral. Actually, for this reason we included Cologne in our route, and Dusseldorf - because of the geographical proximity and transport convenience. Transport in Germany is a completely different story. It is difficult to imagine a clearer and more streamlined system than the German Deutche Bahn railways. Net railways with many stations inside major cities envelops the whole country in a web. Trains run so frequently that there is no difference between the city's underground system and the national rail network. At the same time, the stations are not even as large as in Russia and Ukraine. But on each platform, trains change one after another at intervals of 2-3 minutes. This is where the real German precision lies.

KLM will operate flights from Amsterdam

We arrived in Dusseldorf at half past ten in the morning, having not yet fully recovered from the influence of Amsterdam. The city seemed quite strict and gloomy. On a weekday there were almost no people on the streets; everyone was working in their numerous offices and enterprises. On the way to the Rhine embankment and the old town, we saw a small square with benches and a small pond with ducks. We sat there for a while to gather the remnants of our strength after Amsterdam for the German push.

After wandering around the city for a couple of hours, the only interesting place, and even then with a stretch, seemed to us to be the city square Marktplatz.

It is located in the center of the old town with narrow streets and small German restaurants.

The Rheinturm tower seemed like a gloomy concrete structure hanging over the city, and the city's most famous street, Königsallee, completely resembled a sewer.

In general, after looking at the ordinariness of a typical industrial German city, we went to the more cultural Cologne. The train ride took about half an hour. It is very convenient to buy tickets from vending machines, which are installed everywhere at train stations. Tickets are not valid for a specific train, but for one trip during the day. There are also unlimited daily travel tickets within certain zones and regions. True, this all applies to regional trains. For interregional and international Intercity-express (or ICE) trains, the system is different. You can use them to buy tickets, including online, for a specific train and a specific time, both with and without a seat reservation. In this case, you will have to sit on any free one.

Cologne Central Station is located directly opposite the Cathedral. In general, all the most interesting things in this city are located in a small area. The city hall and the old Alter Markt square are located 800 meters from the station, and a little further away is St. Martin's Church. There is also the Rhine embankment and the Hohenzollern Bridge, which crosses the river.

Cologne Cathedral is by far the most outstanding building that we have seen since the beginning of our European trip. It is difficult to catch the right angle so that it completely fits into the camera frame. A building with a huge history and one of the personifications of the Gothic style in architecture, this cathedral definitely deserves to come to Cologne, if only for its sake.

The inside of the cathedral looks no less large. The high nave, beautiful stained glass windows, organs, and a pleasant atmosphere of tranquility can make you not leave the walls of the cathedral for a long time.

After visiting the main attraction of Cologne, we walked around the city a little more, sat on the Rhine embankment, watching the pleasure boats, and went to Cologne/Bonn airport, also by train. Along the way, we had a snack of fried sausages in one of the eateries at the Cologne train station. Very tasty, but the pleasure costs 5 euros. Not cheap for fast food. Our flight to Prague was delayed by an hour, so we had to walk around the airport a little, which is quite large but convenient. At about 10 pm we arrived in Prague. We took bus number 100 to the nearest metro station - Zličín, and from there to the Grado Motel, which is located near the Jinonice station. The next day we had a full-scale tour of Prague.