I'm going to Aachen, Köln, and maybe Brussels before we spend time with my wifes family in Germany for Christmas. Besides the usual Doms and churches out there in Köln and the Christmas market, is there anything thats a must see/do there? Thanks!

Chocolate museum in Köln is good! Dom will take you at least a half day, if you also climb the tower (no elevator!) and visit the treasury. Maybe a boat trip on the Rhine, there are some trips that include a good meal as well. My girlfriend and I also visited the Perfume museum - not my first pick but she liked it.

There are several good restaurants, and Germany has great food, IMHO. Good sausages, delicious sauerkraut and mashed potatoes, and, my favorite, Schweinshaxen.

You're from Florida? Dress warm! Germany is cold that time of the year.

drink some kolsch - the local beer style. :P

mmmmm, schweinshaxen.

And if you love music, just go to the MusicStore in Koln! The biggest instrument shop in Europe!

You'll be not far from here Lucky, Aachen is about 20 minutes from my home.

I've only been to Cologne a couple of times during business trips, can't help much with tourist attractions. But if you're in the Aachen region I'd think about doing a trip to the Ardennes. You could probably visit quite a few battlefield locations (and see the odd tank or two ;)) on a day's trip from Aachen. Accompanied by a good book on the battle of the bulge it should be a very interesting experience, especially considering the time of the year.

I would love to visit Aachen some day. There is just so much history there to see. All the way from the Romans through Charlemagne to WWII.

Thanks for the tips everyone. I'm not from Florida, I'm military and I'm just stationed here. I'm originally from Chicago, and my wife is from Thüringen, Germany so we can handle the cold. Those boat trips look interesting. Last year for new years we were in Frankfurt and saw many party boats going by and launching fireworks, it looked awesome. Might give that a try.

I have good friends in Thüringen. Best man at my wedding is from Lobenstein. He is living in Leipzig now.

You might be interested in this thread over at Matrix:

Matrix games - Cologne