May 2007 WGM

The May 2007 WGM will take place in the city center of Cologne, Germany.

See Wikitravel for extensive bachground information on Cologne.

Getting there

By plane

• Düsseldorf International Airport (AirportCode: DUS), [1] The Düsseldorf airport also many offers intercontinental connections. Train ride from the airport train station to Cologne central station takes approximately 30 minutes.

• Frankfurt International Airport (AirportCode: FRA) [2] is among the busiest in Europe -second in passenger traffic after London Heathrow (LHR) and just ahead of Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)- and one of the busiest airports in the world, according to 2005 traffic numbers. Frankfurt is the banking center of Germany and host of a number a international trade fairs. Therefore all major airlines and all airline alliances fly frequently to Frankfurt and connects it to every continent and major city in the world. The German flagcarrier Lufthansa is the main airline in Frankfurt and offer the best connections. The Frankfurt airport has connections for inter-city trains. The Frankfurt airport has direct service to Cologne and is within one hour by ICE trains.

• Cologne Bonn Airport (AirportCode: CGN), [3], handles international and domestic flights and is a hub for the lowcost airlines GermanWings and hlx. It also has a daily flight to New York/Newark with Continental Airlines. The airport is approximately 15 minutes by KVB S-Bahn (local train) to the center of Cologne.

By Train

Cologne is served by two major train stations - Köln Hauptbahnhof [4] and Köln-Deutz.

Cologne is linked with Amsterdam (3 hours by high speed train), Brussels (2.5 hours), London and Paris by Thalys, ICE and Eurostar High Speed trains. Additionally, the Frankfurt airport has direct service to Cologne and is within one hour by ICE trains.

Costs

• Hotel: any three star (out of 5 max) hotel in the downtown Cologne area should be just fine and within walking distance of the meeting venue (the Maritim hotel, a very nice four star hotel). Hotels in the three star category typically cost between 80 and 120 Euro (USD 105 - USD 160, no additional taxes). Popular hotel booking sites in Germany: Hotels.de and HRS.
• Flights (NonRef APEX tickets - non refundable, fixed dates, to be booked at least 21 days before traveling)
  • USA to Frankfurt (San Francisco, New York, Phoenix and Seattle were checked using flyaow.com): around USD 600 return, inclusive of all taxes.
  • USA to Düsseldorf (San Francisco, New York, Phoenix and Seattle were checked using flyaow.com): between USD 600 and USD 800 return, inclusive of all taxes.
• Trainticket (return) between airport and Cologne central station:
  • Frankfurt Airport: about EUR 100 (USD 130)
  • Düsseldorf Airport: EUR 22 (USD 30)