Germany beyond Berlin
 

After some time in Mykonos in July, I'll be heading up to Germany for about 6 days. Flying into Cologne, and out of Munich. How I divide the 6 days is open. Options include:
(1) Cologne (3) / Munich (3)
(2) Cologne (2) / Dusseldorf (1) / Munich (3)
(3) Cologne (2) / Frankfurt (2) / Munich (2)
(4) Cologne (2) / Hamburg (2) / Munich (2)
(5) Cologne (2) / Leipzig (2) / Munich (2)

I've done Berlin before so thought this would be a good chance to see other parts of Germany.

Any thoughts on what a solo 31 yo gay traveler might enjoy?

It depends on what you like to do. The advice from a show tunes queen will be different from that of a Hipster/Barista qeeen.
I'm neither ;)

Dusseldorf and Cologne are very close to each other, so you can do a day/night trip from one to the other without changing hotels.

Frankfurt is very boring. Sure, it is interesting. Not worth the trip.

Leipzig is on the other side of the country, a long train ride, not worth the trek, IMO.

Munich and Hamburg are much more interesting, still far apart from each other.

So I'd recommend:

a) Dusseldorf/Cologne and Hamburg
b) Dusseldorf/Cologne and Munich.

Germany beyond Berlin
 

depending on the mood, I can be either of those or any other sort of queen....

Bavaria is a beautiful and interesting area.

If you're talking about this from a gay perspective, my favorite cities in that regard (after Berlin and München) would be Leipzig and Nürnberg. In fact, I probably would rank Essen as being better than Köln (which I personally find kind of "annoying gay"). However, I can make cities like Chemnitz and Erfurt work well for me in the gay regard.

Don't go to Frankfurt.

Hamburg was nice for 2 days.

My next trip outside of Berlin will probably be Stuttgart.

2 nights Cologne, 3 nights Hamburg and just one night Munich. If it happens that you are a shopping queen looking for posh entertainment stay all the time in Munich. I can guarantee that you will have a boring time.

While in Munich a year ago hubby and I ended up at the BMW Welt as he is more of a car person than I. We both thoroughly enjoyed the museums and the factory tour. It was fun watching the whole BMW experience of people getting their cars delivered to them. I truly thought we would be there maybe an hour and a half but we ended up being there 4-5 hours. We also enjoyed wandering around Schloss Nymphenburg.

Why go to Germany in the first place? How about spending more time in Greece? Or France, Spain, Austria...

Because I've been to all of those places and want to go to some places i havent been in Germany, thanks. I'm well aware there are other countries in Europe.

Then I suggest three nights in Köln and three nights in München. Do a daytrip from München to Salzburg and a daytrip to Aachen/Monchau from Köln.

What do you suggest doing three nights and days in Cologne?

Clubbing is only on the weekend and only once per month. On the day time you visit the cathedral, the art museum and then? The cathedral again or the bathhouses?

What are the attractions in Monchau (I have never heared about this place) or in Aachen?


Instead of considering Leipzig I would suggest Dresden. CGN - DRS with a cheap flight and then DRS-MUC. Dresden has much more to offer then Leipzig - if you wanna see a city in former GDR.

I would take the RE and head to Dusseldorf for a day. It is an interesting city and there are lots of things to do and take a look. To get a flavor of a different German City, why not?
The third day, personally, I would relax. Otherwise it is not a vacation.

Cologne is a good base to explore the surrounding area. Instead of packing and unpacking all the time, stay somewhere longer and take day trips by train.
Monchau is a cute mountain village near the border with Belgium:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Monschau_2.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ue_%281%29.JPG

Aachen is famous for being the former residence of Charlemagne.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen

If you're in Cologne and not looking to exclusively do the gay scene, here are a couple of recommendations:

Claudius Therme Baths
You can spend a few hours or an entire day here. I ended up treating myself to a day pass just to relax and had an enjoyable time. There are clothing optional areas and these are marked as such. The main part of the spa is clothing required since it's also used by families but there are I believe 5 different types of sauna and an upstairs area that is adults only. If you want something to truly help you relax, try the Serailbad which is like a full body mud scrub. This is limited so you'd have to sign up in the upstairs area and there is an extra fee.

Cologne Zoo- If you're interested in zoos.

Rent a bike from Colonia Aktiv near the Maritim hotel and bike along the Rhein river. There are bike paths that go quite a ways out of Cologne and if you start on the city side and head towards Rodenkirchen, I believe there is an old cable ferry that will take you across the river (if it's still there) and then you can bike back along the opposite bank. You could always check to see if there are any city festivals down that way and then stop in for a beer before heading back. I got lucky one time and happened to hit a Apple Wine festival in one of the small towns while out biking. They also offer bike tours if you're interested in that.

If you do head down to Munich, keep in mind that you could also do a day trip down to Salzburg, Austria if you were so inclined. It's about an 1.5 hour train ride from Munich to Salzburg and you could spend part of the day wandering old Salzburg or take the rail car up and tour the Fortress.