Edit

Cologne

Travel Guide Europe Germany Nordrhein-Westfalen Cologne

Introduction

Cologne

Cologne (Köln in German), built along the Rhine river, is Germany's 4th largest city with a population of approximately 1 million. Famous for the Cologne Cathedral and other historic monuments and sights, you might be led into believing there isn't more to the city than "old". You would be wrong. Cologne is known, yes renowned even, for it's lively nightlife. Germany's party city has plenty of pubs, cafés and restaurants to attract younger travellers every year. Especially in the midst of one of Cologne's famous carnival celebrations, the city comes alive and this is a perfect time to visit.

edit

Neighbourhoods

Cologne is split in half by the Rhein river. The left or west side is known to locals as Links-Rhein (left Rhine) and was where the city was originally founded by the Romans. It's also today's centre and densely populated. It's built up in rings surrounding the Old City (Altstadt). The right side (Rechts-Rhein) does not have a centre and Cologners often refer to it as the "wrong side" (Schäl Sick).

edit

Sights and Activities

Cologne Cathedral

The Cologne Cathedral (in German der Kölner Dom) is a gothic building of which the build was started in 1248, and finished in the 1880, when the build of the towers was completed. The two towers of the Cathedral have a height of 157 metres. (the North Tower is 7 centimetres higher than the South Tower). Until 1883, so only very briefly, it was the highest manmade building on the planet. In the second World War the cathedral was hit and damaged by bombs, but most of the church survived, mainly because the towers were an orientation point by the pilots flying over this part of Germany. The main part of the building is 144 metres, and 43.5 metres high. The plan of the cathedral is shaped like a cross, which is common in gothic churches. Inside the cathedral there many chapels, graves, relics, treasures and works of art to be found. Also pay attention to the decorated colorful windows. Entrance to the cathedral is free, but if you want to climb the 509 stairs to the top of the North Tower you have to pay a small fee. Climbing the tower takes a while, but the great view of the city is worth the effort. The cathedral can be found across the square from the trainstation, so even if you are planning just to pass Cologne it is worth to take that exit of the Autobahn and pay a visit to Cologne, see that beautiful cathedral and continue your journey.

Rhine by boat

Rhine Cruise from Koblenz to Rudesihem, Germany

Take a boat trip down the Rhine. You can go as far as Strasbourg, France, but the most scenic part of this route is between St. Goar and Rudesheim. Many companies operate on this route, most famous being the KD Rhine. Eurail pass holders, who have Germany as one of the countries covered under the pass, get free sailing on the ferry operated by KD Rhine between Cologne and Mainz.

Roman-Germanic Museum

The Roman-Germanic Museum, located in the heart of the city, displays many artifacts from the early Roman settlements disovered in the city, dating back to the 2nd century AD.

Philharmonic Concert Hall

Located next to the Cathedral, the Philharmonic Concert Hall is an important concert hall hosts festivals, jazz sessions, music performances and various other international events.

The Chocolate Museum

The Chocolate Museum is well worth a visit. You can read about the history of cocoa, how chocolate is produced, and watch it being made. You can even sample some newly made chocolate as it is still made on the premises. It's by the river; allow a couple of hours to look around.

edit

Events and Festivals

Cologne (Winter) Carnival is a huge street party each February in the inner city.
Christopher Street Day is an international festival for lesbians, gays and transvestites.
Cologne Lights is a spectacular display of fireworks all along the Rhine river usually held during the month of July each year.
Christmas Market is held for some weeks before Christmas like many other German cities.

edit

Weather

Similar to most of western Europe, the warmest time to visit Cologne is in it's summer, July and August usually being the warmest months at around 24 °C on average during the day and around 12-13 °C at night. Winters (December to February) are averaging around 5-6 °C during the day and around zero at night. Snow falls nearly every winter, but usually not a lot and it melts away within days in general. On average June and July have the highest rainfall with around 87 mm a month, out of a total of around 800 mm a year.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Max	5.2 °C	6.6 °C	10.5 °C	14.2 °C	19 °C	21.3 °C	23.7 °C	23.7 °C	19.6 °C	14.6 °C	9 °C	6.2 °C
Avg Min	-0.7 °C	-0.9 °C	1.7 °C	3.6 °C	7.7 °C	10.7 °C	12.8 °C	12.3 °C	9.6 °C	6.2 °C	2.5 °C	0.6 °C
Rainfall	60.4 mm	46.6 mm	62.5 mm	50.5 mm	72.4 mm	87.6 mm	86 mm	65.3 mm	69.3 mm	61.7 mm	63.2 mm	70.7 mm
Rain Days	11.9	9.3	12.5	10.2	10.4	11.6	11.2	9.4	10.7	10.5	11.9	12.9

edit

Getting There

By Plane

Cologne/Bonn Airport (CGN) is located around 15 kilometres from both Cologne and Bonn. Homebase of budget airline Germanwings, other major users of the airport are Air Berlin, Lufthansa, Condor and TUIfly. Especially Germanwings and AirBerlin have dozens of cities served throughout Europe and just beyond. It is the sixth largest airport in Germany and one of the country's few 24-hour airports.
The airport can be easily reached from the city centre by public transportation. S-Bahn trains are available from the airport station to the Cologne main train station. There is a regular bus service also from the airport to the main train station. Not that far from Cologne is the much bigger airport of Düsseldorf (DUS), with good train connections to Cologne.

By Train

Cologne is very well connected by rail. International trains to the Netherlands, Belgium and France are available at the huge station. For more information on how to get to Cologne and to calculate your initerary, check the website of Deutsche Bahn. Cologne has a railway service with Deutsche Bahn Intercity and ICE-trains stopping at Köln Hauptbahnhof (Cologne Central Station), Köln Messe/Deutz and Cologne/Bonn Airport. ICE and Thalys high-speed trains link Cologne with Amsterdam, Brussels (1h45min, 6 departures a day) and Paris (3h15min, 6 departures a day). There are frequent ICE trains to other German cities, including Frankfurt and Berlin.

By Bus

Eurolines has connections from Cologne to other cities in Germany and beyond, including London and Brussels. The stop is at the central train station in the centre of town. You can't buy tickets in Cologne itself, you will need to make your reservations on the internet.

edit

Getting Around

By Public Transport

The Cologne city railway operated is an extensive light rail system that is partially underground (referred to as U-Bahn) and serves Cologne and a number of neighbouring cities, like Bonn.

edit

Drink

With 21 breweries, Cologne officially has more of them than any other city in the world. Not only do they all brew the same style of beer, but it is one which is unique to Cologne, Kölsch. Kölsch has it's own drinking culture, being generally drunk on draught (vom fass in German) and served in tiny Stange containing only 0.2L. These are often reffered to derisively by other germans as test tubes and the beer can sometimes have a rather effete image. On the other hand Kölsch culture is one of social inclusion since the beer is drunk by both men and women and was traditionally drunk across all social classes. Karl Marx joked that his revolution would not work in Cologne, since bosses frequented the same pubs as their workers.

Almost all Cologne bars will serve a couple of Kölsch varieties on draught but you can also head to one of the restaurants operated by a specific brewery. Aproned waiters known as Köbes will serve your beer, refilling empty glasses as a matter of course until you tell them to stop, leave a glass half drunk or place a beer mat on top of an empty glass.

edit

Sleep

Budget

Property	Address	Type	Popularity
404 Hostel	Neusser Strasse 404 Nippes	HOSTEL	82
A&O Köln Neumarkt	Mauritiuswall 64-66	HOSTEL	79
Black Sheep Hostel	Barbarossaplatz 1	Hostel	81
City Hotel Storch	Gladbacher Strasse 32	HOTEL	77
City Pension Storch Im Stavenhof	Im Stavenhof 22	Guesthouse	77
City Pension Storch Steinfelder	Steinfelder Gasse 26	Hotel	71
Cologne City Hotel	Frankfurterstrasse 61 51065	Hotel	78
Cologne-Deutz Youth Hostel	Siegesstrasse 5	Hostel	84
Dream House	Daimlerstraße 19 Pulheim Rhein-Erft-Kreis	guesthouse	-
Hostel Am Rheinauhafen	Rheingasse 34-36	Hostel	73
HOSTEL Kölner Pension	Weidengasse 54	Hostel	77
Hotel Domblick	Dom Str. 28-Hauptbahnof	hotel	85
Hotel Einig	Johannisstr. 71 50668 Köln	Hotel	79
Hotel Engelbertz	Obenmarspforten 1-3	Hotel	87
Hotel Hayk/ Altstadthaus	Frankenwerft 9 50667	Hotel	75
Hotel Merian	Allerheiligenstr. 17	Hotel	81
Warsteiner Hof	Schleswigstrasse 18 Köln	Hotel	81
Hotel-Elite	Meister-Gerhard-Str 26	Hotel	66
MEININGER Cologne City Center	Engelbertstrasse 33-35	Hostel	81
Motel One Köln / West	Max Planck Strasse 46	Hotel	83
Station Hostel for Backpackers	Marzellenstr 44-56	Hostel	82
Stay In Cologne	Olpener Str 876	Guesthouse	76
Weltempfänger Backpacker Hostel	Venloer Str. 196 50823 Koln	HOSTEL	84
Youth-Hostel Cologne-Riehl - City Hostel	An der Schanz 14	Hostel	83
Bermuda Triangle B	Marsilstein 2	Guesthouse	89
Cerano City Hotel Köln am Dom	Elisenstr. 16 Köln	Hotel	-
Pathpoint Cologne	Allerheiligenstrasse 15	Hostel	86
King Georg	Sudermanstr. 2	Apartment	81
Hostel Köln	Marsilstein 29	Hostel	85
House Spalek	Rotkehlchenweg 16 Kerpen-Sindorf	Apartment	66
Die Wohngemeinschaft	Richard-Wagner-Str. 39	Hostel	91
Hotel N8	Widdersdorferstr 325	Hotel	83
A&O Koeln Dom (Hbf)	Komoedienstrasse 19-21	HOSTEL	85
Ayun Hotel Koln	Deutz-Mülheimer-Str. 184	GUESTHOUSE	82
KÖLNOTEL	Venloer str. 350 Ehrenfeld Gürtel	Guesthouse	74
Accent Severin Hotel	Severinstrasse 61	Hotel	-
Shiva´s CitySleep	Geldernstrasse 22	Hostel	84
Go-In for backpackers	Ritterstrasse	APARTMENT	-
Parkhotel St.Georg	Rather Mauspfad 11	Hotel	-
Apartment (Hohe Strasse/Old Town)	Hohe Strasse 10 50676 Köln	APARTMENT	-
Cologne Center Apartment Deutz	Tempelstrasse 5 Floor 4	APARTMENT	-
Bermuda Triangle Apartments	Im Laach 3-5	APARTMENT	-

edit

Learn

edit

Keep Connected

Phone

Post

Germany's postal system is very efficient, their logistics branch DHL is one of the best companies in this field world-wide, with domestic post or within a radius of 400 kilometres, send within a day. The website of Deutsche Post has an online calculator for postage fees as well as a post office finder. Within Germany, sending postcards costs €0.45 and standard letters €0.55, within Europe it is €0.65 for a postcard, standard letters to places in Europe cost €0.70. Outside Europe, the prices for sending a postcard or standard letter are €1 and €1.70 respectively. Although you will find the old post offices (mainly in the city centre), most of the smaller neighbourhood post offices are part of a small tobacco shop or grocery store.

edit