Hi!
We are flying into cologne on a saturday morning. We get to the airport at 8:30 AM. I wanted to catch the 10:48 train to Amsterdam that same day. Is this enough time? Can we make it through customs, and get to the train station on time? I want to make a reservation so we can have a saved seat.
The second part of my question would be - if we do have a reservation and we miss it can we be booked on a later train? Or if we have a later reservation and get to the train station ealier, can we board an earlier train?
Thanks for your help!
Maria
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DB timetable
http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en
From: CGN
To: Amsterdam
You will note that the timetable will suggest mainly connections which are not via Cologne Hauptbahnhof (main railway station). As this would be a detour - albeit a small one.
%26gt; The second part of my question would be - if we do have a reservation and we miss it can we be booked on a later train? Or if we have a later reservation and get to the train station ealier, can we board an earlier train?
This will depend on the type of the ticket you buy.
A normal international ticket is valid 2 months and allows stopovers en route. With a ticket for the ICE trains you can downgrade to other trains, but if you have a ticket for one of the RE/IC connections you have to pay the difference and a service fee if you want to use an ICE instead.
There is one reason to travel via Cologne Hauptbahnhof: if you can get one of the Europe-Special tickets from there to Amsterdam (from EUR 19,00).
reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en…
In this case buy just a normal ticket from the airport to Cologne Hauptbahnhof (EUR 2,30).
The Europe-Special is however not a flexible ticket and valid only for the booked connection.
But you should be able to make it on the 10:48 train. You could choose also a later one (there are 2-hourly ICE trains to Amsterdam).
In Cologne they have built the main sight directly next to the Hauptbahnhof ;-)
And there are also lockers (automatic storage system) in the Hauptbahnhof.
www.koeln.nicecity.de/english/index.htm
http://www.koelner-dom.de/index.php?id=2%26amp;L=1
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thanks! It sounds like we%26#39;d be able to go from the airport to the train station and have enough time for the 10:48 train.
we bought rail passes (germany-benelux 8 day pass) and i think you can use that for the train to amsterdam.
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%26gt; we bought rail passes (germany-benelux 8 day pass) and i think you can use that for the train to amsterdam.
Yes. Covers all trains from Cologne Airport to Amsterdam.
Seat reservation is a bit more complex in this case.
Query the DB timetable for
From: Cologne
To: Oberhausen
And click for the 10:48 ICE on [order]. Than you have the choice to buy a %26quot;Seat reservation only (for self printing)%26quot; online (EUR 3,50 pp).
You can only buy seat reservations online for domestic trips in Germany. Oberhausen is the last stop before the border.
The only %26quot;risk%26quot; using this method is that somebody is reserving a seat from Oberhausen to Amsterdam and this will be exactly yours. This risk is however low. And inside the Netherlands seat reservations are not possible.
If you have a seat reservation you have to take your seats in the first 10 minutes after departure. Than the seat reservation will disappear from the display. And if there won%26#39;t be shown a new one (Oberhausen - Amsterdam) nobody can/will claim your seat.
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Just make sure you do spend at least one day in Cologne and half a day in Düsseldorf and surroundings... There is so much to explore that%26#39;s so different from the Netherlands or Belgium.
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