I will be in Dusseldorf for 6 nights in October, attending a trade fair in Cologne. Will have 2 colleagues also.

In between my stay, I would like to make a day trip, maybe even beyond Germany. Don't mind a train trip. In 2007, I when I went to Frankfurt, I took an ICE train to Berlin for the day. 4 hours each way but in Berlin, I was able to do a tour, lunch.

Any suggestions?

Some suggestions:
- day trip to Maastricht (Netherlands) http://www.vvv-maastricht.eu/home.html
- day trip along the Rhine towards Koblenz with several stops (could also be done by car or by boat)

Amsterdam is also easily reached by train.

Bruxelles, Belgium
Bonn, former capital of Germany (very close to Cologne, can be done within half day)
Hamburg, Germany (three to four hours by train/car - very worth seeing)

Also out of Cologne, check out the following low cost carriers:

TuiFly and Germanwings are the mayor players but others operate there as well
DUS is the HUB of Air Berlin that has plenty of cheap flights as well, just see what there is

1. Castle 'Burg Eltz' along the Mosel river, can be reached by train connecting in Koblenz.

2. Luxembourg, if for no other reason than to say you've been there.

3. A drive along the Rhein or Mosel river at a leisurely pace, enjoying the small wine towns is an idea.

4. There is an airplane museum in Sinsheim, which has I believe both a Concorde and a Tupolev Tu-144 on display.

5. You could rent a fast car and test drive it on N�rburgring, but be careful.

All of these are close to where you are going to be.

You could make the short trip to Gelsenkirchen and visit Europe's greatest football venue.

Thank you all. Quite a few choices. I will avoid driving but consider the train trips out of DUS.

And you might wish to check on www.bahn.de. There are quite a few choices that can be done within three to four hours of travelling. However, if you want to see something and do not want to spend half a day on the train, I would concentrate on 120 minutes of travel time at the utmost (this would bring you as far as Frankfurt or Amsterdam). Other destinations within reach are certainly Cologne and Bonn (20 or 40 minutes, Aachen (another 20 or so minutes from Cologne). You could eg do one full day to Cologne, Bonn and Aachen (I would chose two of the three) and a further day in Amsterdam.

Travelling to Sinsheim or to Luxembourg (close to four hours by train) from D�sseldorf sounds very American but more than exotic for a local. The city and its surroundings (cities like Duisburg, Oberhausen, Essen, Gelsenkirchen, Dortmund, M�lheim) are all quite big cities for German standards, are in reach withing 10 to 30 minutes by train and have plenty to offer; I would not waste my time by doing all that travel.

Amsterdam would be my top choice as the connection from Dusseldorf is relatively fast with the very comfortable ICE3 and there a several trains a day to choose from. A perfect day trip or weekend destination.

If you are going to be in D�sseldorf on October 20th you could join a group of 15 or so (mostly) American beer fans at zum Uerige for for the twice a year tapping of their special beer ("Sticke")

Even Heidelberg is around 3 hrs by ICE train ...

It still seems that it would take about 4 hours to get to Amsterdam, or am I misreading it?

The fastest connection is 2h10min oneway. Check for connections on www.bahn.de between D�sseldorf main station and Amsterdam Centraal.

I love dusseldorf. My dad grew up there and I have a lot of family there. Love the Alt Bier and the Altstadt.