Don’t drink the Eau. 
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Or too much of the Kölsch. 
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Thats something I would havd put an another tread
Johnny Cash didn’t think much of it either…
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Thanks - ordered.
And have registered for the Brussels ULEZ as we’ll be going that way on the return leg
Hotel booked - the conference had a “reduced rate” at the H4 Hotel which might explain why the place was booked up but, as far as I can see, it was no cheaper than we could have booked online, had rooms been available. Wound up in the Novotel, as predicted.
Just need to book the tunnel and overnight stops for the aller & retour legs.
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Unless you are really keen to stay in Köln you could consider staying somewhere Ahrweiler, a beautiful walled medieval town nearby.
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Will look, that’s the one hotel we haven’t decided on so “somewhere close” will do just as well - it was simply that it was as far as we thought we could drive having set off mid-day Saturday from the conference centre - we wanted to be as far north as possible to keep the journey as short as possible Sunday otherwise we’ll be back home really late and will both have work the following day.
Altenahr and Ahrweiler are just south of Köln in the Ahrtal which is well known for red wine. They are on the road to the Nürburgring. They might not be that convenient for you as they are off the A61 and you will probably be coming up the A3. Limburg is also lovely but that will probably be a bit too far south. The Altstadt in Köln is lovely with plenty of places to eat.
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Stupid question as the road trip is next week and I haven’t driven in Germany in 35 years (I actually don’t remember what I did for petrol on that trip).
How does petrol work in Germany - main supermarkets? UK CC’s work? If not is the CA card likely to work?
Haven’t been for a while now but never had problems finding petrol diesel if your CC has visa or master card shouldn’t be a problem, on any French carte bleu without one the two above you could have problems
The combustion cycle is no different to any other country.
Sorry, a UK credit card should be fine. I was there last week and I used both my French and Swiss cards. Many of the payment machines allow you to select language, Englisch is always one of the options.
Well at least the position on the windscreen otherwise it could get very crowded 
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I can’t see out of mine.
If the Swiss Polizei are being rsoles they will fine you if you have out of date carnets on your screen.
Credit and debit cards are fine. Most petrol stations are roadside stations run by the big companies but there are independent stations as well and their prices might be a few cents lower. Supermarket petrol stations do exist but they are few and far between. If you’re travelling a lot on the autobahn it’s worth looking for apps that show petrol stations close to ausfahrts as that can save a fair bit. I presume you’re taking your newer car so you might find the 101 or 102 octane petrol on sale tempting. The bigger fuel stations on the autobahns often have good shops and eating places.
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TBH I’ll probably just pick a likely looking station as the next destination for the satnav. Saving the last cent on petrol isn’t going to be a priority.
Very funny. Surely it should be more efficient given that “Ze Germans” are most efficient at everything?
I’m hoping to keep out of Switzerland - the planned route is south through France and turn left just after Metz.
I guess I should have said “How does buying petrol work in Germany” - and, as well as credit/debit card acceptability I was interested in the mechanics. E.g fill up and pay later, pay at pump, self serve vs served etc.
Though I think serve self, pay in shop à la the UK seems to be roughly the expected form from what I can see.
The reason for the probably odd sounding question is that we definitely got ripped off in Italy when we could not figure out how to pay for petrol and I’d like to avoid a repeat of the experience.
I’ve never thought about paying for petrol or diesel in any European country I just stick the card in the machine fill up and off I go.
After all we’re not in deepest darkness of Africa.
Germany was indeed quite deep dark for this till mot so long ago. You could find yourself told you had to pay cash for your tank of fuel as no cards accepted. Though petrol stations were amongst the first when credit card payment got going in Germany. Depending where you’re going some petrol stations may still close on Sundays too I suspect.
There are still places in France that do not work with UK cards because of the pre-charge the card thng.
That happened to me once when I absent mindedly inserted my Nationwide card rather than my French one. It was rejected, but I tried it again and second time around it worked.
I was intrigued by this so have tested the process at two other filing stations with the same results. Might be worth a try if it happens to you…