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If you asked Cologne residents a few years ago what was the city´s best attraction, they would have named the Cathedral, the Rhine, the museums and the Romanesque churches.
Today there´s an obvious new addition to the count, the Rheinauhafen former river harbour, which has been remodelled by the Häfen und Güterverkehr Köln (HGK) and the city council in a joint project that started 1998, about 100 years after the port first opened.
The question above was asked in an old German folk song and you can be sure that Cologne or Bonn natives can answer it at length.
Between Cologne Cathedral and Bonn Minster there are many things that make living by "Father Rhine" attractive. However, the real answer to what´s so special about the region lies in the local people themselves. They are said to be ready to celebrate, outward looking and tolerant and it really is not just a cliché.
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There are many and varied reasons to visit the Rhine city of Cologne – a sightseeing tour, the Carnival, a musical or a trade fair business appointment.
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Cologne or Bonn residents would not say rents in their cities are particularly cheap, but compared with nearby Düsseldorf, the state capital, rents are moderate and have hardly risen compared with last year.
In Düsseldorf people have to pay on average € 13 per square meter on moving into a newly built property in a good area.
In Cologne the amount is € 10.50/sq m and in Bonn € 10.00/sq m.
Cologne, Bonn and the surrounding area have a well developed public transportation network with regional and commuter trains, light rail, trams and buses.
No matter where you travel, you can use one ticket because the 30 or so public operators in the region are all part of the Verkehrsverbundes Rhein-Sieg (VRS) fare network. The VRS tariff network covers 5,000 sq km and includes Cologne, Bonn, Leverkusen and Monheim as well as the counties of Rhein-Erft-Kreis, Rhein-Sieg-Kreis, Rheinisch-Bergischer-Kreis, Oberbergischer Kreis und Kreis Euskirchen.
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A new Internet site (www.mobil-im-rheinland.de – German only) launched at the end of 2008.
The portal offers, for the first time, all the relevant information about traffic and transportation in the Cologne-Bonn region and is free of charge and without the need for cumbersome registration.
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Put your name here, your address there, then sign on the dotted line... If you want to be able to watch TV in your new home, make a phone call, turn on the heating or the lights, you have to fill in lots of forms.
The trip to the Einwohnermeldeamt – Residents Registration Office – should be one of the first things you do.
