Taking the Fast Train from Cologne to Brussels: A First-Class Ride on the DB ICE3

[@tytn9978]

Koln to Aachen you describe as "unexctiting scenery" ... it excites me, because it is the land of my ancestors, and my grandfather was a locomotive engineer who "drove" the express train from the German -Belgian border to Berlin, and back again the following day.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Thanks for the comment. Yep, for me it's just a bit flat - bit like southern and eastern parts of the UK but I live in the west where we have hills, mountains and lakes. I guess it means different things to different people and it was just my personal take. 🙂

[@wavecreatures]

Cologne looks stunning! Nice one!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers Phil, yes my first time there. Hopefully will stay for longer next time 👍

[@gazza2933]

The Rhine too Phil. Recommend a visit. 👍

[@blinard1]

Great vlog! What is thr name of the speedo app you were using? I cant seem to find a good one

[@dazzlingdaz187]

Thanks

[@DrNagi]

I've commented on the Eurpstar video, I've of course also done the connecting part with this train each time. next time I will take the new Eurostar Ruby formerly known as Thalys tho, curious how different it will feel. The ICE 3M are only allowed 250 km/h on the Belgian HSL due to them throwing up stones from the track bed and damaging the train if they go faster, the ICE 3 Neo are supposedly not having this problem anymore and the ex-Thalys also *should* go the full 300. Altho in return only go 200 on the leg between Cologne to Aachen, due to power conversion inefficiencies... Anyway, looking forward to that trip.

[@lucassloesen3186]

I believe you're one of the most underrated youtubers here on the platform! Big thumbs up! There is currently a special offer in Germany, for €9 you can travel one whole month with every bus, train, tram, metro and regional train traffic, its really worth checking it out. Routes you could review in the future could be: Liége - Luxembourg (Very scenic route) Luxembourg - Trier Linke Rheinstrecke (Koblenz - Cologne) You should also come and check out rail transport in Czechia and the Netherlands!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hey Lucas, thanks very much for the kind words mate, really appreciate it 😊 Also, some great suggestions there. I heard about the €9 deal and, if I had the time, I would definitely be over there now doing it. Unfortunately I have to work so it’s a tricky balance tbh. Maybe if I had 10x the subs I could afford to do it full time 😂 Actually I was thinking about Luxembourg at some point as I believe public transport is free so I’ll have a look at those routes you’ve suggested and yep, you never know, hopefully I can get to them at some point. Fingers crossed. All the best, Mark 😊👍

[@seancoleman8528]

Love your videos Mark, something refreshing about ur style.loved the bit when you said u where getting hungry and just had a beer love it my style 😂😂

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers Sean, I try not to take myself too seriously. Not sure everyone gets it but that’s KZbin for you 😊👍

[@SuperDingdo]

Love your videos ,great soundtrack,exciting and good clear voice .thanks from the 440 Nat ex driver

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi! Thanks for the kind words 😊 I did enjoy this trip but especially Cologne - hope that came through on the video. I will try the 440 route at some point, just getting over my last trip on Megabus which I must say, was absolutely terrible! Look forward to that video coming out soon! Cheers mate 👍

[@wilfriedlechner6299]

Excellent train ride ! Reminded me on my journey one month ago from Brussels to Frankfurt via Cologne on the ICE as well! Very fast! I travelled first class as well - top class comfortable interior! Thanks again for the video!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

You're welcome Wilfried. I compared this to the Eurostar I've just been on which was also nice (and fast). However, the onboard food, drink, cafe bar is much superior on the ICE. That area alone was superb.

[@wilfriedlechner6299]

@@LetsMakeaTrip Thank U! Yes, I was on the Eurostar to London from Paris and to Brussels as well! I agree with your reply all the way! Thank U n bless U!!

[@NonstopEurotrip]

Let's Make A Trip new word club 'Enormousnous' 5/6/22 Anyway great video Mark, they are excellent trains. Cologne cathedral and the trainshed are both amazing structures and Liège is a modern masterpiece of design! Did you miss all the 300kmh running while you were getting drunk 😅

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

I knew someone would comment on this 👁. ‘Enormousness’ (the quality of being great in size) isn’t used as much as it should be these days (imo). It is often obscured (sometimes incorrectly) by the word ‘enormity’ which can mean something completely different depending on the context. Most recent famous usage is probably by ‘Negative One’ in the game of ‘Street Countdown’ in The IT Crowd (S4 E2) for which he scored 12 points but was beaten by Moss and his 16 letter word ‘over-numerousness’ are you allowed hyphens in countdown 🤔). Anyway, I hereby claim my prize of 1 hp (English Language). Getting drunk 🤣 yep, I must have been concentrating on posing for the video at that point! Cologne HBF is up there in my favourite stations list (with Birmingham Moor Street believe it or not).

[@NonstopEurotrip]

@@LetsMakeaTrip Nope, you just made it up 😜

[@daveheys2699]

Anything goes in Street Countdown! Hyphens, the lot!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

🤣

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

I guess it’s the same as normal countdown (only outside) 🤣

[@garethdavies1000]

As always! cheers for now! 😊

[@richardturnbull6333]

Cracking report m8.... catching up on your jollies.

[@stevenriley6597]

I always park me self up in the bar when I'm on an Ice train.. Try going to Cologne in February when the karneval is on... Party time..

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Yeh, lovely part of the train. Hardly anyone there either when I was on it 👍

[@stevenriley6597]

I got a my arse slapped once flying to Cologne via Bonn.. One stop.. I jumped on the nearest door to me... Put my bag down an sat in the nearest seat for approximately 30 seconds.. The ticket guy billed me €35 for a 5 minute journey.. So my own tip is don't sit down in 1st class..

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

@@stevenriley6597 noted 👍

[@simonwhitlock9189]

Another enjoyable review thanks and stay safe,cheers.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi Simon, thanks as always for the kind words mate. Always appreciate you taking the time to comment 😊👍

[@trottiscliffe]

The unexpected delay. 'A wheel fell off, and someone had to run around and find the right size spanner'. haha

[@pakrailofficial1062]

So beautiful place Too much beautiful vlog Great to see ur video 1st time 🌹

[@pakrailofficial1062]

Love from pakistan

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi PRO! Many thanks for the kind words and I agree, Cologne was beautiful. Not so sure about Brussels tbh but that’s another story! Maybe I’ll end up in Pakistan one day - would love to visit. I’ll check out some of your vids 😊👍

[@dazzlingdaz187]

Great trip and seemed like really good value. Definitely want to spend some times in Germany on the trains

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers Daz. If you can get there, the next three months are the best time to go to Germany with the 9€ bargain tickets!

[@Timstravels01]

Another engaging and thorough review.. As always, very enjoyable to watch. Loved the spatial awareness comment. 🤣

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers mate, haha, I thought I’d turned the audio track down far enough to prevent anyone overhearing me moaning about my fellow passengers. Obviously not 🤣

[@harriscouwenberg139]

....finally.... we heard that as well ;-)@@LetsMakeaTrip

[@theglobalpeasant]

Great video. This is quite a nice train. I agree with your assessment. I'd be inclined to purchase a regular fare and then spend my time in the cafe car. Cheers!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers tgp! Yep, tbh I think next time I travel on one of these I’ll try out some proper food as well. It did look rather nice in there 👍

[@pedrorubiotejero_aka_prt]

Hey, Mark, How did you live the Queen Platinum Jubilee? Cheers for Now!

[@yusufraza7529]

His name is Mark

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Not fussed either way tbh. Was their much interest where you are?

[@daveheys2699]

I recently caught the TGV from Strasbourg to Paris. Can highly recommend it! Got the Speedo up on my phone and clocked in at 197mph. I want to get an Inter-rail ticket and do some European journeys like this!

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi Dave, yes I’d love to do more trains like this. I’ve never been inter-railing, just never found the time but it’s definitely under consideration for the future, Paris - Strasbourg would be a nice route I think. 👍

[@alexmcwhirter6611]

Thanks for the video. One issue with the ICEs on this route is that, now and again, they suffer from technical problems when operating between Germany and Belgium. It's all to do with the different power supply in either country. Thalys appears to be more reliable on this route.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

That Thalys train looked really nice too. I enjoyed the ICE but I’m not sure there’s that much benefit to travelling first class tbh.

[@alexmcwhirter6611]

@@LetsMakeaTrip Maybe on the longer sectors either domestic or international.

[@conormcshane1656]

I was in Cologne in December 2019 and visited the cathedral and went up to the top. The Christmas markets were also there where I might have consumed more calories than were good for me! 😂 There was also the rather 'delightful' spectacle of a group of students parading some sort of protest banner along the main shopping street while wearing - absolutely NOTHING! 😬😂

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi Conor, didn’t know you could go to the top of the cathedral! That must have been pretty special. Don’t know about you but whenever I visit these sorts of places, I always want to go to the most interesting areas like the towers or the crypt etc! Those students must’ve been brave though doing that in winter as well! Fair do’s 😂

[@travelbuzz1]

These units are supposed to handle four different power systems - 15kV AC/16.7Hz (DE, AT, CH), 25kV AC/50Hz (high-speed lines outside DE, AT, CH), 3kV DC (BE non-high speed) and 1.5kV DC (NL non-high speed). But, as some have already mentioned, they're not that reliable. Unfortunately, when a lot of railways began to be electrified, it wasn't with cross-border operability in mind.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Thanks for the info mate. I never realised it was so complicated until I started reading some of the comments on here!

[@EpicThe112]

If you actually have a laptop that has train simulator world 2 you can try synchronizing Schnellfahrstrecke Köln-Aachen with the real life version towards Brussels Midi via Aachen.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

That sounds pretty cool. I haven’t got the game (yet) but now you’ve said this I might have a look. Cheers 👍

[@gazza2933]

A German train late!? 😱 Great Channel! Just Subscribed. 👍

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Cheers Gazza and thanks for the sub! Hope you enjoy your time over here 😊👍

[@gazza2933]

@@LetsMakeaTrip Thanks Mark 👍

[@tytn9978]

The Bridgein Koln is named in honour of the Royal Family of Germany in days gone by: "HoehenZollern"! Your pronunciation is somewhat off, though you get full marks for attempting it.

[@treinenliefde]

Aah the ICE 3. They sound nice but theyre actually really unreliable. Right now every day at least one arrival and departure here in Amsterdam is cancelled due to problems with the trains. Sadly they have a lot of issues due to the energy systems not being able to handle the power fluctuations in the Netherlands that are a direct result of our very low 1500v direct current system instead of using alternating current in the 10kv or 25kv range. Breakdowns during travel are also quite common and right now part of the fleet isnt allowed to get here anymore, so some cross-border journeys cant even be made using those trains. And during hot weather the trains also prefer to sunbath instead of working haha. Only redeeming factor is that the trains are true public transport, unlike Thalys or Eurostar, so you can just hop on another train if yours is cancelled or use other trains to travel to your destination. The trains themselves quite nice though (if theyre running), and its always a joy hearing them accelerate out of a station.

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi Molentje, cheers for the reply. I thought these trains were designed to handle this current fluctuation? I’m not an expert by any means so I read up a bit on them but they’re obviously not as good from reading your comments. I mean, it was nice inside which I guess is another redeeming factor though like I said, my favourite ploy next time would be to just buy standard ticket and stay in the dining car - that was lovely. I would like to try Thalys out at some point - that looked a fantastic train. All the best 😊👍

[@anianoenrique2115]

I remember going from my home town of Bruges to Cologne with a mate somewhere in the late 1980's. As soon as we got out at Köln Hauptbahnhof we were asked for money by a bunch of punks with multicoloured mohawks ! Were they still there (lol) ?

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Haha, great story. The station concourse was a real melting pot when I was there. I reckon there was a match on as there were loads of football fans hanging around at the time. I think it’s FC Koln(?) - red and white mainly. Great place - didn’t see many Mohawks unfortunately. 😂

[@derisleybrittain]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🍾🥂💖💖💖Good

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi Derisley, cheers pal. Great emoji’s as per 👍🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄🚄 🇩🇪 🇧🇪

[@Zuuu40]

can you add subtitles to your videos please

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Hi zuuu1 thanks for raising this, I hope you can help by letting me know whether you want subtitles added in English or another language and which videos specifically you are referring to. Reason I ask is because i have added subtitles to some videos but it takes a lot of time getting them all correct. When I analysed who reads them and where they’re from, very few people from outside the UK where English is not the indigenous language are watching the videos. So they seemed to be getting so little use, it hardly seemed worth the effort. I would be interested in any feedback/suggestions on this so please do reply. Cheers 👍

[@Zuuu40]

@@LetsMakeaTrip english please

[@Zuuu40]

@@LetsMakeaTrip can you add subtitles to all your videos thank u

[@LetsMakeaTrip]

Will do my best mate. Cheers.

[@Zuuu40]

@@LetsMakeaTrip thank u