Cologne is situated on the river Rhein in North Rhine-Westphalia and is the fourth largest city in Germany with around 1,000,000 inhabitants. It is one of the nation's media, tourism and business hotspots and is also known as the country's "gay capital".
The distinctive flavour to the city of Cologne is often put down to the inhabitants, or Kölsche, who take an enormous amount of pride in their city. Cologne, like most areas of Germany, has its very own local dialect of German, though this is unlikely to hinder the average sight-seeing tourist, as many of the landmarks of the city have English-speaking guides and information. For those tourists who speak German, and wish to practice it, the citizens have a lot of patience with those getting to grips with the grammatically difficult language. Colognians are very friendly people; welcoming tourists of all types and with all interests.
Away from the landmarks, many workers of the German rail system (Deutsche Bahn) speak English, as well as ticket/timetable machines available in English modes. Local transport systems, however, rarely cater for the English speaker, with only the bare essentials of information available but this should only concern those wishing to explore the city away from the more centralised sights. Those wishing to explore away from the central city should plan their journey before leaving, to prevent minor complications as there is a lack of English away from the centre of Cologne.
Older people in Cologne tend to have little or no knowledge of English, whilst businessmen and women, as well as the German youth, all tend to have a good knowledge of the language. Language is rarely a strong barrier, so this shouldn't be too much of a worry for the average tourist, just approach a friendly native and use a smile on your face, your arms and legs.
PLACE TO VISIT
Kölner Dom, Cologne's Dom is the first sight you will notice when taking the main exit from the central station. (If you don't see it, you've taken the back exit.) If you are in good shape, take the 509 stairs to the top of the south tower. It takes about an hour, so wear comfortable shoes, but it's worth the hike. Touring the Cathedral is forbidden during Mass. Entry into the cathedral is free but you will be asked for a donation. Admission to the tower costs (regular/reduced): €2/€1. Admission to the treasury costs (regular/reduced): €4/€2, however, a combined ticket granting you admission to the treasury and tower can be purchased for (regular/reduced): €5/€2.50.
Die Kölner Synagoge, The synagogue is notable for its architecture that looks, well, right out of Gotham City. In August of 2005 Pope Benedict XVI visited the synagogue, becoming the second pope to ever visit a synagogue.
Veedel - City Quarters. Cologne is well known for its "Veedel" or traditional neighborhoods. Here, most notably in the bohemian Agnesviertel, you can find independent designers, bookshops, bars, and art galleries. There are also historical monuments, such as the North City Gate or Eigelsteintorburg in the Agnesviertel, very near to Fort X, built to protect the city from French attacks, and Agneskirche, a late neo-gothic church on the boulevardesque Neusserstrasse. Neusserstrasse also has a yoga school, an Aikido school, a great japanese restaurant, a well-stocked bookshop, and a range of pubs. Nearby you will find the Alte Feuerwache, where there are regular exhibitions on political topics and a surreal flea market every four weeks in summer. Opposite Alte Feuerwache is the Artclub, with regular exhibitions of contemporary art, and on Ebertplatz there is a cinema (Metropolis) which shows English language films in the original. On nearby Lübeckerstrasse, you will find the uncompromisingly Arty Filmpalette cinema. To round off a trip to the Agnesviertel, you might like a kölsch in the Lapidarium (right beside the North City Gate) or a coffee in Cafe Schmitz, Cologne's grooviest poser hangout (they also do a great breakfast.) All of these great places are within a short walk of Ebertplatz U-Bahn. Other "Veedel" include Ehrenfeld, Nippes, and the historical Südstadt.
12 Romanesque Churches: St. Kunibert (with wonderful stained glass windows), St. Severin, St. Maria Lyskirchen, St. Andreas, St. Aposteln, St. Gereon, St. Ursula, St. Pantaleon, St. Maria im Capitol, Groß-St. Martin, St. Georg and St. Cäcilien
Parks: Cologne has 2 park areas (Grüngürtel) encircling the city (immediately outside the medieval city limits) and nearly the entire town, respectively, which were set aside as public recreation areas after World War I. The inner Grüngürtel is probably more easy to reach for tourists who only stay a few days. Most notably are Volksgarten, Hiroshima-Nagasaki- (colloquially known as Aachener-Weiher-) and Stadtgarten parks where thousands of people come together to enjoy the sun, play and barbecue when the weather is fine. All these parks have an associated beer garden. Be aware to dispose any packaging, charcoal etc into the wastebins (which are unfortunately few and far between), as the city has begun to employ anti-littering patrols that will levy a stiff fine on anyone seen littering. Metro: Eifelplatz for Volksgarten, Universitätsstraße for Hiroshima-Nagasaki-Park, Hans-Böckler-Platz/Bahnhof West for Stadtgarten.
Museum Ludwig, A museum of modern art, near central station and the Dom hosts a worthy regular exhibition, as well as temporary exhibitions.
Museum für Angewandte Kunst,Tuesday - Sunday: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.. Museum für Angewandte Kunst has a collection of popular design items, as well as temporary exhibitions. Admission: Regular: € 4.20, Reduced: € 2.60.
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Thu 10 a.m. - 8 p.m., Wed-Fri 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., Sat-Sun 11 a.m. - 6 p.pm.. The Wallraf-Richartz Museum is an art gallery with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century. Admission: (permanent collection and special exhibition) € 9,-/reduced € 6,-.
Römisch-Germanisches Museum, Tuesday - Sunday 10 AM - 5 PM. Römisch-Germanisches Museum explores the history of Roman history in Cologne and the surrounding area. The museum's tour guides are exceptionally dull and can make any visit seem like it lasted just as long as the Roman empire. If you can, wander around the museum by yourself. Admission: €6.45 or €7.45 including admission to the praetorium (an excavation of various buildings).
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum für Völkerkunde, Tuesday to Friday: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.. North Rhine-Westphalia's only ethnological museum, it has a fine collection of Amerindian and Australian-Polynesian artifacts. Admission (including temporary exhibits): Regular: €4, Reduced: €3.
Kolumba. An architectural wonder and a feast for the senses; this museum, built in concordance with the ancient foundations of the shrine of mary in the rubble contains a selection of historical and contemporary religious art. Worth visiting just to explore the spiritually inspiring spaces and the beautiful walkway through the ruins of the past.
Schokoladenmuseum Köln GmbH, Opening hours: Tues. to Fri. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sat., Sun., holidays* 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. closed on Mondays (* see visitors' information) Last admittance one hour before closing. Chocolate Museum in Cologne. It's a short visit but very interesting exhibits
WHAT TO DO
Cologne's strong side is its cultural life. For latest information on what is happening around in town, get the "StadtRevue" (2 Euro), "Kölner" (1 Euro) or "Live" (Free).
Karneval The biggest festivity in Cologne is the Winter carnival (or Fastelovend) in February. According to the official Cologne tourism website (see Futher Information section): "Its highlight is the street carnival taking place from Weiberfastnacht (the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, traditionally the day on which women take control of the city) to Karnevalsdienstag (Shrove Tuesday). On Rosenmontag (Shrove Monday) more than one and a half million people line Cologne's streets to watch the parade with the mad triad – the prince, farmer, and virgin – every year." Dates for Carneval: 2008 Jan 31st to Feb 05th, 2009 Feb 19th to Feb 24th, 2010 Feb 11th to Feb 16th
Christopher Street Day CSD is a large gay pride festival held in Cologne annually on the Heumarkt square. The event showcases music, a candle light vigil remembering those with HIV/AIDS, and on the final day of the festival a large parade is held. Recently, upto a million people have attended the events.
Kölner Seilbahn; Hours: April - October 10 AM - 6 PM; Take a ride with the Aerial traway across Rhine river, Germany's only chairlift crossing a river! Price: Adults: One way - €3.80, Return trip - €5.50, Children (Aged 4 - 12): One way - €2.20, Return trip - €3.00
The Zoo; Hours: Summer: 9 AM - 6 PM, Winter: 9 AM - 5 PM, Aquarium: 9 AM - 6 PM; Admission: Adults: €13, Teenagers (Aged 14 - 17): €8.50 Children (Aged upto 14): €6
Phantasialand -Berggeiststr. Hours: 9 Am - 8 PM, Rides open at 10 AM, Ticket office closes at 4 PM; - Phantasialand is a fun place for children and has some fun rides for adults too. Even the Colorado Adventure roller coaster is sponsored by Michael Jackson. Admission: Children: (Up to one meter in height) - Free, Children: (Between one meter and 1.45 meters) € 27.50, Adults: €31.00, Senior citizens: € 21, Two day passes available.
Unsichtbar, "Unsichtbar" is a play of words. Leterally it means "invisible", but the suffix "bar" also refers to being a bar. You will get your private butler, who is a blind person, and you eat in total darkness. Im Stavenhof 5-7, near Hansaring and Ebertplatz, open 1800-0000. You can choose your meal in a showroom and then your personal blind butler will lead you to the dark room where you have to smell, feel, maybe touch and of course eat your meal, but you won't see it. You'll have to refer to your butler about everything, whether going to the bathroom or refilling your glass. You are not allowed to smoke, use a cellphone or do anything else that could lighten up the room. The food on your plate is explained to you by using a clock-like system (e.g. "beans are on three o'clock"). It's an excursion into the world of blind people, who are supported this way, and a really good restaurant, too. For weekends you have to book around 13 weeks in advance, but during the week you'll get a free table (with a little luck).
Claudius Therme, Just below the Kölner Seilbahn is the Claudius Therme. Spend a very relaxing few hours unwinding in both indoor and outdoor pools, saunas, cold plunge pools, etc. Several areas are naturist (not clothing optional). Towels are available to rent and food and drink is served on-site. One nice option is to take the Kölner Seilbahn to the Therme and return by bus (directly in front of entrance) to Köln Deutz Station where you can catch U-Bahn back to the City Centre.
HOW TO REACH
By bus - Cologne has an (inter)national bus station (ZOB) it is located at Breslauer Platz on the north side of the Hauptbahnhof . Direct daily buses to Serbia.
By plane - Cologne Bonn Airport (IATA: CGN),, handles international and domestic flights and is a hub for the low cost airlines Germanwings and TUIfly . It also has a daily flight to New York/Newark with Continental Airlines . The airport is approximately 15 minutes by S-Bahn (local train) to the center of Cologne. S-Bahn fare (ticket zone 1b) is currently €2.30 one-way.
By train - Cologne is served by two major train stations - Köln Hauptbahnhof [10] and Köln-Deutz. Cologne is linked with Amsterdam, Brussels, and Paris by Thalys and ICE High Speed trains. Additionally, the Frankfurt airport (IATA:FRA) has direct service to Cologne and is within one hour by ICE trains.
By car - As of January 1, 2008, Cologne requires all cars to have a "Low Emissions" sticker in order to enter the city center (Low Emission Zone, "Umweltzone"). Plenty of motorways (Autobahns A1, A4, A3, A57, A555) lead to Cologne. During rush hour the streets are heavily congested, also due to massive construction of a new subway tunnel Nord-Süd Stadtbahn, crossing half the city centre.
For cheap parking, with quick connections to central cologne, use park and ride ("park und ride"). At some stations, parking is free when you present a validated transit ticket on exit. More info can be found here
