Many questions!

Hello! I%26#39;m planning for my first trip out of the USA this summer, so please bare with me, I have MANY questions!

I will be staying in Cologne and while I am there I was planning on renting a Motorcycle to spend a couple days in the Alps. (I%26#39;m very big into motorcycling here, and I%26#39;ve ridden in almost every mountain %26#39;range%26#39; in the USA)

My first question is the easiest. What is the cheapest way to get from Cologne to Frankfurt (where I will pick up the motorcycle). I cannot find many train prices online yet, because it%26#39;s still many months away, but what I can find is about 60 Euro each way. Is that what I should expect? That%26#39;s substantially more expensive than I was hoping! It is actually cheaper to rent a car for the 3 days! Are there cheap buses that would travel between the two cities? If so, can I buy tickets online?

Next question! I always hear how inexpensive it is to fly in Europe. I am finding very cheap flights (cheapoair.com) but they have so many taxes and fees, that it becomes ridiculous! A 30 Euro round trip flight within Europe ends up being 150 Euro after taxes and fees. We were hoping to fly from Cologne to London and back. Should I buy the tickets online and pay the tons of fees, or should we just wait and buy the tickets at the airport in Cologne? I%26#39;m a bit worried about waiting, because we will be traveling in peak season in mid-July, flights may be booked, or VERY expensive.

And my last question for now!

I plan on motorcycling in Southern Germany and in much of Austria below Germany. I have no idea what to expect, so I%26#39;m sorry if these questions sound %26#39;silly%26#39;...

Are gas stations plentiful? The motorcycle I plan on renting has about a 250 km range on a tank of gas. I want to ride through the mountains on smaller roads, but I am very worried about running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Should I be worried??? Or will there be plenty of gas stations around.

I understand I need to get a sticker for the motorcycle to travel in Austria?! Besides that, will I have any trouble riding through Germany, Austria, and possibly Italy and Switzerland? All of the boarders seem to be very close, and I don%26#39;t want to have to be very worried about where I can and cannot go.

I have a small Garmin GPS, which I will buy the European maps for, so I am not worried about getting completely lost, and I will borrow a Cell Phone from a friend, in case I have problems.

Sorry for the long post! Please help me out if you can! Thanks everyone!

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%26gt; I cannot find many train prices online yet, because it%26#39;s still many months away,

try a more recent day to see prices

%26gt; but what I can find is about 60 Euro each way.

Specials are from EUR 29,00 one way.

If you plan more trips by train you could consider a German Rail Pass. If you stay longer also a BahnCard.

%26gt; Are there cheap buses that would travel between the two cities?

No buses.

%26gt; Should I buy the tickets online and pay the tons of fees, or should we just wait and buy the tickets at the airport in Cologne?

Waiting is no good idea. Budget airlines assume that you have to buy if you buy on short notice. And will ask for a price accordingly.

Check directly with the budget airlines flying from

Cologne/Bonn Airport

www.whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php��

or D��sseldorf Airport (35 min by regional trains)

www.whichbudget.com/en/cheapflights.php��

%26gt; Are gas stations plentiful?

Yes. All are densely populated regions.

%26gt; The motorcycle I plan on renting has about a 250 km range on a tank of gas. I want to ride through the mountains on smaller roads, but I am very worried about running out of gas in the middle of nowhere. Should I be worried??? Or will there be plenty of gas stations around.

If you travel over mountain passes you won%26#39;t have a range of 250 km.

%26gt;

Austrian and Swiss autobahns require a vignette (sticker). Most Italian autostradas are toll roads.

Country roads are for free.

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%26quot;We were hoping to fly from Cologne to London and back. Should I buy the tickets online and pay the tons of fees, or should we just wait and buy the tickets at the airport in Cologne?%26quot;

Buy the tickets ahead of time, last minute tickets are very expensive. Germanwings (www.germanwings.com) flies this route inexpensively. I don%26#39;t know where you are getting those fee costs, I fly with them between Stuttgart and London frequently, and for 80 euros roundtrip with %26quot;free%26quot; tickets, so costs shouldn%26#39;t be much above this as the advertised fare is about 20 euros. However, if you wait to book the flight ticket costs can sky rocket. Now they even have actual free tickets sometimes with no extra fees imposed. If you go to their website you can sign up to be advised of their frequent specials. I never like paying more than an 8 euro flight before the add ons. If you don%26#39;t have fixed travel dates you can fly quite cheaply.

Note, Switzerland also requires a sticker to use the autobahns.

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Hi,

A really useful website for your motorcycle part of the trip is:

www.alpineroads.com

Paul

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