Trip Planning: Thanksgiving, Year 3
For Thanksgiving 2019, year 3 of our secondment & now transfer to the UK, we wanted to go somewhere different and special as we went to Austria the past two years. What is different than Austria? Germany!!
Planning
As everyone knows, I love planning our trips and have enjoyed when we get a long extended weekend! It usually means a late Wednesday or Thursday flight, but the long weekend helps slow things down! In our year planning, we made a list of the remaining Christmas markets we wanted to see in addition to fun new places we had yet been to as a couple. First on the list - Cologne, Germany!
In Cologne, there is an amazing Christmas market! With over 7 individual yet massive markets, Cologne can definitely keep someone busy! Following Cologne, we researched other Christmas markets that would be open. In nearby Belgium, we found two cute towns with large Christmas markets - Liege and Bruges. One you’ve probably never heard of and the other is world famous for canals and silks!
From Cologne, we could easily take a train to Liege and then onto Brugges. On our last day, we opted to fly out of Brussels as it is an easy flight directly into Heathrow.
Lodging
Because we were going to rather small cities, I used various sources to find our hotels. In Cologne, because the Christmas markets are suppose to be epic, I went with the Marriott Courtyard, which is less than a 5 minute walk from the main cathedral. We did pay slightly more, but it was worth it!
In Liege, because it is incredibly tiny and not an avid tourist destination, the hotel and even AirBnB situation was limiting. Thus, I searched TripAdvisor for a true B&B and found a gem - the No. 5 Bed and Breakfast. While located slightly out of town, the B&B was well worth the money!
Whilst in Bruges, the hotels were extremely overpriced so I had to use AirBnB. Thankfully, I found a great little flat just above a craft beer bar that closed early so the noise wasn’t too loud. It was a great option!
Transportation
As I mentioned above, our first destination was Cologne. While it is serviced by all London airports, we chose the last flight out on Wednesday night from Stansted.. Great…
Once in Cologne, we then took trains to get to our final destination in Brussels Airport. I used the very useful German train site to book the Cologne-Liege tickets and then the Belgian rail site for the intra-belgian routes. I obviously checked the best train site in the world before booking the train.
From Belgium, we would take an Air Brussels flight from Brussels Airport to London Heathrow. Thereby, concluding our journey with a quick and cheap Heathrow express!
Pro Tip: Buy your Heathrow Express tickets well in advance and they could be only $9! A steal!
Fixed Costs:
- STN-CGN: £60
- Trains: £100
- BRS-LHR: £108
- Lodging: £356
Onto Cologne
On Wednesday, we battled rush hour on our way to Stansted Airport to get to Cologne.
Stansted Airport
Similar to most travel days, someone was running a little behind schedule. The only good thing about Stansted flights and MF’s current work location is its easier for her to miss my plan A trains as she is closer to London Liverpool Street station. As I waited patiently, she arrived just in time for Plan C!
Our train was rather boring and uneventful - even late! Most importantly, we were one of the very few people in Stansted!!! WOW! This is truly a first as usually it is insanely busy! Security line was only 5 minutes long and we were one of the few in the airport.
Empty STN
After our quick stop through security, the rest of the airport was a joy! This experience was definitely our best time ever in Stansted.
Ry-an-air
On our fancy flight to Cologne, not only did we depart early, it was a very quick flight! From London to Cologne, our flight lasted less than 45-50 minutes. Once we arrived in Germany, customs was very quick and efficient and we were out of there in less than 20 minutes!
Usually, I would have taken the very efficient German metro system, but the next train was 30 minutes after we got through customs so I just called an uber instead to our hotel! Whilst a travel day, we certainly did not think it was one!
Living the Dream
Compared to our other trips where I force us to stay in cheap AirBnBs or hostels, I gifted MF with the luxury of staying in a real hotel! Our room was very nice, very warm, and very comfortable! With that, we quickly got into bed and drifted off to sleep!