Cologne is worth travelling! It´s the fourth biggest city in Germany (1 Million people) with a lot to do and see. We live in a quiet part outside the center but with good transportation possibilities by tram: Our house is situated in Köln-Sürth, a quiet part of the city of cologne situated at the rhine river (see pictures). The public transport is excellent. Just a few meters down the street is the tram station that leads directly to the city center: 15 minutes to "Chlodwigplatz", where you can find a lot of pubs, bars, restaurants; 25 minutes to the main station, where you can for example visit the famouse cathedral in the very old part of the town. Or you enjoy a boat trip on the rhine river. There is much to see and do in cologne... For more information have a look at http://www.koelntourismus.de
Cologne´s Rheinauhafen (waterfront development) is on place 30 of the NewYorkTimes "Where to go 2009".
There are also some other interesting cities nearby:
25min by tram: Bonn, the former capital of Germany, with lots of museums.
10min by car: Brühl with two wonderful palaces (UNESCO world heritage).
about 45 min: Aachen with the cathedral, also UNESCO world heritage.
about 1 hour: Essen, Duisburg and other parts of the "Ruhrgebiet" that were Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010.
3 to 5 hours f.e. by train: Paris (France), Amsterdam (NL), Berlin or Munich.
And to the Loreley and some romantic castles it's not very far away as well (about 1-2 hours). You can go by boat f.e.
And if you are looking for a quiet area to go for walking or cycling, the "Eifel" and "Siebengebirge" (seven hills) are quite close (30 minutes by car).

Our house was built in 2009. On the ground floor there is a large room with the kitchen and dining table, an oven and the livingroom.
There are the following rooms in 1st floor: two sleeping rooms for the children, our office-room and one bathroom with bathtube and shower.
2nd floor there is our doublebed and the parents' bathroom.
Also there is a guest room with a double-bed in the cellar, but you can only reach it from outside the house.

Just a few hundred meters away is the rhine river with a small "beach" and a huge playground for children.
Bikes are at your disposal, so you can do some nice excursions in the region, e.g. along the rhine river. If you take the small ferry crossing the river, you can visit the nearby open air swimmingpool at Zündorf. We also have an inflatable kayak boat to use.