Local Information

Most European visitors will either take the train to Cologne main station ("Köln Hauptbahnhof") or arrive by air at Cologne/Bonn Airport (Code: CGN) using a no-frills-airline. Visitors from overseas will usually land in Frankfurt/Main Airport (Code: FRA). Form Frankfurt, there is a very efficient and ultra-fast train connection to Cologne: do not try to change flights in Frankfurt and fly into Cologne. If you arrive with Lufthansa or StarAlliance, note that the train connection Frankfurt Airport <-> Cologne has a Lufthansa flight number. You can very conveniently check in and out at Cologne Main Station (Airport code: QKL), and you will often get the train ride for free as a "connecting flight". Düsseldorf airport (code: DUS) is also close to Cologne.

Summer school participants will stay in the Hotel Elite (the street address is Meister-Gerhardt-Straße 26). To get to the hotel from either the airport or the main train station, the easiest (and cheapest) way is to take a train or tram (you can take a taxi as well, but the taxis in Cologne are fairly expensive). You can find precise times at the KVB website (the search box is on the right hand side, where you will also find buttons to switch to your favorite language).

How to get to the hotel from the train station (Köln Hauptbahnhof).

Take any train to Bahnhof Süd (unfortunately, the platform you need at the main train station will vary depending on what train you take). Tickets can be bought from the vending machines for 2.60 Euro; look for Preisstufe 1b [CityTicket (Köln oder Bonn)]. Of coure, if you come by train to the Hauptbahnhof, you do not need another ticket to take a train to Bahnhof Süd. (You do need to buy a ticket for 2.60 Euro if you switch to the trams or urban trains (S-Bahn), although a one-way tram ride is sometimes included with a Deutsche Bahn train ticket under the name Köln+City.)

Once you arrive at Bahnhof Süd, go to the end of Platform 4 and take the stairs down to the street. Turn right, and look for the Café-Restaurant MAGNUS. The Hotel Elite is just left of MAGNUS.

How to get to the hotel from the airport.

You have two choices: 1. Take the urban train (S-Bahn) S13 (direction: Hansaring) to Köln Messe / Deutz and transfer to Tram 9 (direction: Sulz), which you then take to Desselerstrasse / Bahnhof Süd, or 2. Take the urban train (S-Bahn) S13 (direction: Hansaring) to Köln Hauptbahnhof, and then take any train to Bahnhof Süd. In either case you will need to buy a ticket at the vending machine at the airport for 2.60 Euro; look for Preisstufe 1b [CityTicket (Köln oder Bonn)].

In any case, once you arrive at Bahnhof Süd, go to the end of Platform 4 and take the stairs down to the street. Turn right, and look for the Café-Restaurant MAGNUS. The Hotel Elite is just left of MAGNUS.

Lectures and working group sessions will be held in Hörsaal C in the Hörsaalgebäude at the University of Cologne. (For those non-German speakers, "Hörsaal" means "lecture hall".) It is just a short walk from the hotel. Here is a map from the university (the building is marked with a red X). And here is a googlemap with the hotel and the lecture hall marked: