Germany - Dusseldorf Airport to Cologne

I was wondering if anyone could help me. I am flying to Dusseldorf tomorrow from London. When arriving, I need a quick connection to Cologne - I'm just going to Cologne for one night for the opera to see Maria Bengtsson in Don Giovanni. I am presuming train would be much less hassle than renting a car and parking; also, I have no need for a car for any other part of the trip. I've checked the train schedule out and it looks the best way to go at 40 minutes with a train running every 20 minutes.

Can someone please tell me.....can I rely on a regular train service? Is there first class available on the Regional-Express? Does anyone know what the fare will be very roughly? Can I purchase a ticket on the train? And lastly, I'm staying at the InterContinental Cologne - when the train arrives in Cologne, would anyone know which station I will arrive at, and how I would get to my hotel from there (I'll have a small cabin bag and a suit carrier)?

Apologies for all the questions....but many thanks in advance!

I agree that taking the train makes sense - you can be half-way to Cologne by the time you've sorted out your paperwork for the hire car.

You have the choice between ICE trains (with one change) and local (Regional-Express) trains which are direct. Time-wise there is little difference between them. ICE is more expensive but has the advantage that you can book online and print your own, so you won't have to worry about buying a ticket when you get there. (Although your online ticket will mention a specific train it will be valid on any train). The fare is EUR 18.50 one-way in second class, first class will be 1.5 times that.

If you choose to go by Regional-Express (which is cheaper, and direct) you must get a ticket before you board. You can save money by getting your ticket from a machine, but German ticket machines aren't the most user-friendly in the world.

You will arrive at Hauptbahnhof. Google says that your hotel is 1.4 km from there so you could walk if you feel up to it. Going by Underground appears to involve a change (from what I could make out from the Underground map). Taxi may be easiest.

All trains (except the local DUS train) leave from the so called "Fernbahnhof". You have to take the Skytrain from the Terminal building to the Fernbahnhof.

All trains to Cologne usually depart from Track 4. Vending machines (they got pretty user friendly in the last year there) are on the left when you walk from Skytrain towards the tracks. Trains for Cologne during the main hours of the day leave every hour .31 and .51. First Class is not worth it unless you take the train during peak time when these trains get rather crowded (usually you still get a seat at the airport but it will be packed after the next stop which is DUS main station)

From the main station in Cologne, I'd take a taxi to the InterConti which should be within 10 Euro. The walk to the hotel is through the "Altstadt" which has the old traditional bricks in the ground (a pain in the ... to pull a trolley)

Alternatively, get off the train in "Köln Deutz" which is the stop before main station and from there take one of the two subway lines (not sure if 1,7 or 9 but whichever two leave from there) towards direction of "Heumarkt or Neumarkt". Get off at either one of these two stops, your hotel is right in between, you will actually see it if you stay on after Heumarkt and go to Neumarkt, just look out at the right side window.

Currently, there is lots of construction in the hotel area. I'd take the taxi from the main station.

Excellent summary Phil !

From the main station in Cologne, I'd take a taxi to the InterConti which should be within 10 Euro. The walk to the hotel is through the "Altstadt" which has the old traditional bricks in the ground (a pain in the ... to pull a trolley)

I don´t agree.
I often arrive at Cologne by train, am staying regularly at the IC and can confirm that it really is just a 10min walk from the central station to the hotel.
Just ask your way through to the "Kaufhof". The IC is located right behind this large store.

The way is "trolley-safe", way is all plain without old-style bricks.
If weather is ok, safe the money for the taxi and enjoy the short stroll.

Many, many thanks all of you! That has been excellent information and advice...I really appreciate it!

Just reporting back......

The info you all provided was great! lemieux66, the info you gave about the location of the hotel was very helpful, though, with my wife in Chloe shoes, and her decision to take an extra couple of bags, we did need to use a cab.

Aviatrix and supermasterphil - both of you were amazing for us! Knowing the correct platform and having the train times and the different levels of service, really, really helped.

The machines were easy to use (though, not working at the airport on the way out to Cologne - we bought a ticket at the ticket desk from a very grumpy gentleman....though, only one of two grumpy people we met during the whole trip....everyone else was lovely), available in many languages, and it cost us Eur 9.80 for a single ticket each. We got on the 16.31 train; when we boarded it, the train was completely packed, however, by the time we arrived in Dusseldorf (a few minutes later), there were plenty of free seats. On the way back, we took the train again. We took the 11.31 from Cologne this morning; the train was completely empty and this time, the machines did work. We couldn't find an information board to tell us which train or which platform to go to, however, from the bottom of the stairs, we could see the information board on platform 2 listing the 11.31 to Emmerich as the next train, so, it wasn't difficult to find. We liked how the whole system seemed to run on trust - no one checked our tickets on either train.

The cabs were pretty cheap too. The cab from the main station to the hotel was Eur 6.10 and the return cab was Eur 5.20.

It was definitely better taking the train than hiring a car. Again, thanks so much....you were both great!

Thanks for reporting back - so glad it all worked out for you!

I'm just going to Cologne for one night for the opera to see Maria Bengtsson in Don Giovanni.So, how was Ms. Bengtsson? I did see her in the same opera (in German translation) at the Komische Oper in Berlin a few years ago in the Peter Konwitschny production. I don't recall whether she sang Anna or Elvira, but I do remember that the cast was uniformly good and that they executed Konwitschny's personenregie at a very high level.