The shuttle bus stops at Düsseldorf Hbf (= Hauptbahnhof = main railway station)

street map with public transport for Düsseldorf

vrr.de/imperia/…duesseldorf.pdf

for trips:

Cologne

http://www.koeln.de/en/tourism/tourism.html

www.koeln.nicecity.de/english/index.htm

Mini group local public transport day ticket to Cologne is EUR 26,00 (single ticket is EUR 9,30). Valid for up to 5 persons traveling together. This ticket is valid

Mo-Fr from 9am till 3am next day

Sa,Su from midnight till 3am next day

It covers the regional trains and S-Bahn trains between Düsseldorf and Cologne. And the trams and buses in both cities.

You could visit some industrial heritage in the Ruhr area, e.g. the Zeche Zollverein (UNESCO world heritage).

www.zollverein.de/english/index.php…

Or if this is all too modern for you could visit the Neanderthal Museum in Mettmann.

http://www.neanderthal.de/

Also to these places you can get mini group day tickets for public transport (same restrictions like explained above). Prices depend on the number of public transport zones crossed.

>I want to cut down on travel expenses by getting a hotel within walking distance of the bus stop...

That´s a very strange way to save money as, unless this hotel is also the cheapest in the whole city, the price difference to the cheapest one will hardly be more than a tram/bus ticket price, don´t you think???

Thanks for the feedback, very helpful!

Yes, it's not so much how much money we save, it's the principle of spending money we don't have to. But thanks anyhow!

>it's the principle of spending money we don't have to.

I understand the principle very well, but if you spend 30 € more to save 2 € it runs quite aginst this principle, right?

Two points here:

1. Areas around major train stations are notoriously dubious and uninspiring - Dusseldorf is no exception. If you're not old enough to rent a car then you're not old enough to hang around these parts IMHO - it's not necessarily dangerous, just not a very nice part of town.

2. The central area of Dusseldorf is compact - from the central station you can walk through the Japanese quarter, through the shopping promenade (the Koenigsallee / Schadowstrasse) and through the old town to the Rhine without breaking a sweat. Equally you can walk to the south side of central Dusseldorf and to the north. This will not cost you a eurocent, so not sure what cash you save (or do not spend) by staying next to the station.

The hotel we are staying in gives us a pass which covers rail,bus and trams for the duration of our stay.Would this cover a trip to Cologne?How far from Dusseldorf is Cologne?

Do you know if the shuttle buses to Weeze are timed to coincide with the flights?Our return flight is at 10.15am and I'm worried we won't get back to the airport in time.I have looked at the on-line timetable and it appears that there should be a bus at 7.30am which arrives in Weeze at 9am,but this timetable is only until 30th September and we travel in October.

Thanks

> The hotel we are staying in gives us a pass which covers rail,bus and trams for the duration of our stay.

Guess this will be a VRR pass for zone A. I.e. the city of Düsseldorf.

> Would this cover a trip to Cologne?

No. Even if you cat a VRR pass for the whole (quite large) VRR area. As Cologne is inside the VRS (another local public transport network).

http://www.vrr.de/en/index.html

http://www.vrs-info.de/eng/index.php

Düsseldorf to Cologne needs 30 minutes by RE trains.

Due a special ruling (albeit Düsseldorf is in the VRR) the VRS tariff price level 5 applies for this trip. Single ticket is EUR 9,30. A mini group day ticket for up to 5 persons is EUR 26,00.

The mini group day ticket is valid

Mo-Fr from 9am till 3am next day

Sa,Su from midnight till 3am next day

Covered are the regional trains and S-Bahn trains between both cities. And the trams and buses in either city. Far distance trains like IC/EC or ICE are not covered.