North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)
Cologne is the Rhine city that greets you before you have even left the station: step out of the Hauptbahnhof and the twin black spires of the cathedral fill the sky, a Gothic masterpiece that took more than six centuries to finish and now asks visitors for a ticket for the first time in its history.
Around it lies a city of two thousand years, founded by the Romans, rebuilt after the war and proud of its own dialect, its own beer and its own carnival. Within a short walk you can taste your way through the Chocolate Museum on the old harbour, smell the original Eau de Cologne in the house where it was first made in 1709, stand in front of Picasso and Warhol at Museum Ludwig and ride a Rhine panorama cruise under the Hohenzollern Bridge, then cross the river to see the whole skyline from the KölnTriangle. In late November the city turns into one of Europe’s great Christmas market destinations, with markets in front of the cathedral, in the old town squares and on the harbour, and Phantasialand, one of Germany’s best theme parks, runs its winter season a short train ride away. This guide books the tickets worth booking, explains the new cathedral admission and the Romano-Germanic Museum’s temporary home, and matches you to the right hotel, from a grand hotel facing the cathedral to a former water tower and a smart budget base on Neumarkt.
Chocolate Museum Cologne
The ship-shaped museum on the Rheinau harbour that tells the story of cocoa from rainforest to bar, with a working chocolate production line, a tropical cocoa greenhouse, a towering chocolate fountain and a café with views over the Rhine.
Farina Fragrance Museum
The house where Johann Maria Farina created the original Eau de Cologne in 1709, now a museum visited on costumed guided tours through the historic rooms and cellar of the world’s oldest fragrance factory still in business.
TimeRide Cologne
A virtual reality time trip on the Alter Markt that takes you back to Cologne in 1926, through a silent-film cinema and a hat-maker’s workshop to a VR ride in a historic tram across the city of the Golden Twenties.
Cologne Zoo and Aquarium
One of Germany’s oldest zoos, founded in 1860 in the leafy Riehl district north of the centre, with an elephant park, the Hippodom river landscape, a rainforest house and an aquarium with a terrarium and insect house.
Germany’s most visited landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the twin-spired Gothic cathedral beside the main station, now with timed visitor tickets, a 533-step climb up the south tower and a treasury of gold and relics beneath the square.
The ship-shaped museum on the Rheinau harbour that tells the story of cocoa from rainforest to bar, with a working chocolate production line, a tropical cocoa greenhouse, a towering chocolate fountain and a café with views over the Rhine.
A one-hour KD sightseeing cruise from the old town pier under the Hohenzollern Bridge, with English and German commentary, the cathedral skyline, the Rheinauhafen Crane Houses and the bridges of Cologne seen from the water.
The house where Johann Maria Farina created the original Eau de Cologne in 1709, now a museum visited on costumed guided tours through the historic rooms and cellar of the world’s oldest fragrance factory still in business.
From mid November Cologne fills with some of Germany’s most famous Christmas markets, below the cathedral, in the old town squares, on Neumarkt and on the harbour, and KD adds a festive two-hour Advent cruise on the Rhine.
A virtual reality time trip on the Alter Markt that takes you back to Cologne in 1926, through a silent-film cinema and a hat-maker’s workshop to a VR ride in a historic tram across the city of the Golden Twenties.
One of Germany’s oldest zoos, founded in 1860 in the leafy Riehl district north of the centre, with an elephant park, the Hippodom river landscape, a rainforest house and an aquarium with a terrarium and insect house.
Cologne’s official city card for 24 or 48 hours, combining unlimited public transport in the city area with discounts of up to 50 percent at museums, tours and attractions, including the Chocolate Museum and the cathedral treasury.
Cologne’s great museum of modern and contemporary art, right beside the cathedral, with one of Europe’s largest Picasso collections, landmark Pop Art, the Russian avant-garde, German Expressionism and a strong photography collection.
The museum of Roman Cologne, temporarily shown in the Belgian House near Neumarkt while its home on Roncalliplatz is renovated, with three floors of Roman glass, everyday objects, coins, toys and finds from the Rhineland.
The open-air viewing platform on the 29th floor of the KölnTriangle tower in Deutz, more than 100 metres above the Rhine, with the best full-frontal view of the cathedral, the Hohenzollern Bridge and the old town skyline.
One of Europe’s most acclaimed theme parks, in Brühl a short train ride south of Cologne, with richly themed worlds like Klugheim and Rookburgh, record-breaking coasters and a winter season, Wintertraum, from mid November into January.
Hotels we would book ourselves, from splurges to good-value bases.
$$$$Domplatz (Altstadt-Nord)
Cologne’s classic grand hotel, family-run since 1863 and facing the cathedral across the Domplatz, with 133 rooms and suites, the Michelin-starred taku, the Hanse Stube and Cologne’s only Leading Hotels of the World membership.
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$$$Deutz (Rhine right bank)
A large upscale hotel on the Deutz riverbank with rooms and suites looking across the Rhine to the cathedral, a few minutes from the Koelnmesse trade fair grounds and a short walk over the Hohenzollern Bridge to the old town.
Check rates →Altstadt-Süd (near Neumarkt)
A boutique luxury hotel inside a brick water tower that was once the tallest in Europe, with 88 rooms and suites, a rooftop bar on the 11th floor, a winter garden and a spa, in a quiet corner of Altstadt-Süd.
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$$Friesenviertel (Gerling Quartier)
A retro-futuristic design hotel in the listed 1960s rotunda of the former Gerling insurance headquarters, with 207 rooms, the NENI restaurant and Monkey Bar on the 8th floor and cathedral views over the rooftops of the Friesenviertel.
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$Neumarkt (city centre)
A stylish budget hotel right on Neumarkt, with compact, well-designed rooms, a lounge inspired by the cathedral’s stained glass and Gothic arches, a tram stop at the door and the Schildergasse shopping street leading into the old town.
Check rates →The practical primer for a first visit to Cologne: the new cathedral tickets, what to book ahead, getting around on foot and by tram, how many days you need and where the headline sights fit.
How to choose your base in Cologne, from a grand hotel facing the cathedral to a riverside hotel with skyline views in Deutz, a converted water tower, a retro-futurist design hotel and a smart budget pick on Neumarkt.
