To be honest with you, I'm not sure what classifies a train station as a 5 star vs 3 star. The…read moreSolingen train station is at the heart of Solingen. I believe parts of it have been renovated recently and upgraded. There's a lovely larger bakery, a book shop, an ATM and a small Turkish fast food joint where you can grab a bite to eat. There's also an information desk out front. There's two entrances to the train station. One entrance takes you directly to the shopping area of Solingen. So you have a pharmacy, flower shop, supermarket and small clothing stores nearby. A train leaves for cologne about every 25-30 minutes so that's perfect for me.

I took the Schwebebhan (suspension railway) several times during my intracity excursions while…read morevisiting Wuppertal, the city in which this railway is located. Wuppertal is a semi quaint (in some sections) though fully modern European town/city. This quirky infrastructure definitely adds to the interesting, dare I say cool, feel to this location. The Schwebebhan began operation in 1901 and is comprised of 20 stations, according to my research it has a daily ridership of 82,000 in average (as of 2014). To the best of my knowledge it is the only railway of its type in the world and is defiantly a source of pride for the locals. It is also a terrific space saver because in many places it straddles the river that traverses the city it serves. Be sure to ask about the young Elephant who had an unfortunate incident while attempting to ride the Schwebebhan during a publicity stunt. This happened when the circus was in town in 1950. The elephant who became known as "Tuffi" fell through the bottom a car and landed in the river (Tuffi is Italian for "waterdive). The floors are certainly built stronger now (probably even surpassing baby elephant standards) especially since there was a "complete modernization"in 1997. If you find yourself in Wuppertal, Germany be sure to take a ride on this very interesting conveyance,especially if you want to get some place quickly and for only a couple of euros. If you ask any of the locals, they seem to become instant historians as this source of local pride seems to have that effect on people as it did with me. -KS.

Have to confess I envy the good people of Wuppertal... This is by far the best method of normal…read morepublic transportation I've experienced anywhere. It's been on my to do list for quite some time and now I finally to got to see it and ride it. Just completely unique! Certainly worth the effort to make a little sidetrack on my way from Düsseldorf to Koln to have this experience.