Cologne

What to see

Cologne Cathedral

The cathedral is the Gothic church that fills the square by the station, started in the Middle Ages and finished in the nineteenth century, with the Shrine of the Three Kings inside. Climb the tower if your knees agree. Even a circuit of the outside, with the bridge behind you, is the city’s essential half-hour.

Domkloster 4, Köln

Photo: Anonymous photographer · Public domain

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Hohenzollern Bridge

The Hohenzollern Bridge carries trains and a footpath across the Rhine, padlocks on the railings and the cathedral suddenly in front of you on the way back. Walk it. The east bank is the photograph. The bridge itself is free, windy, and the right end to a first hour.

Hohenzollernbrücke, Köln

Photo: Jiuguang Wang · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Museum Ludwig

Museum Ludwig, between the cathedral and the river, holds a serious collection of modern art, including a famous group of Pop works. It is the indoor hour that belongs next to the Dom rather than instead of it. The building’s terrace looks back at the spires. One visit does not require the whole permanent display.

Heinrich-Böll-Platz, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Old town

The old town between the cathedral and Heumarkt is a rebuilt quarter of narrow houses, church spires, and beer halls opening onto the river. It is pretty and it is aimed at visitors. Walk it in the late afternoon, then step one street inland when the riverside tables all start to look the same.

Alter Markt, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Chocolate Museum

The Chocolate Museum sits on a peninsula in the Rheinauhafen, south of the old town, a concrete building with a working fountain of chocolate and a history of the trade. It is a family visit more than a cathedral one. The walk down the rebuilt harbour is half the outing. Go if the weather wants an interior.

Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a, Köln

Photo: CEphoto, Uwe Aranas · CC BY-SA 3.0

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Food and restaurants

Restaurants and hotels change hands. These listings were last checked on 26 October 2026.

Früh am Dom

Früh am Dom is the big beer hall of the cathedral quarter, pouring Früh Kölsch, the local top-fermented beer served in small glasses that keep being replaced until you say stop. The room is a hall, not a secret. Go for the beer and a simple plate. It is the Cologne meal people mean, and it is crowded for that reason.

Am Hof 12–18, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Peters Brauhaus

Peters Brauhaus, in a florid house on Mühlengasse, is another long-running Kölsch hall, a step into the old town from Früh and often the easier table. The ritual is the same: small glasses, a server with a tray, and food that is hearty. Pick it when the cathedral hall is a queue.

Mühlengasse 1, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Brauhaus Sion

Brauhaus Sion pours its own Kölsch in the old-town lanes, a smaller hall than Früh and a useful third if the first two are full. The beer is the difference between these houses, more than the menu. Stay for two glasses before you decide you have understood it.

Unter Taschenmacher 5, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Gaffel am Dom

Gaffel am Dom faces the station square, the Kölsch house for the hour you step off a train and do not yet want a museum. It is convenient, which is both the praise and the limit. The beer is Gaffel. If the terrace is a tour-group photograph, the room inside is the real table.

Bahnhofsvorplatz 1, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Café Reichard

Café Reichard looks at the west front of the cathedral from across the street, a cake-and-coffee room that has held this view for a long time. It is the pause after the tower, not a beer hall. Take a window if one is free. You are paying for the Dom in the glass as well as for the pastry.

Unter Fettenhennen 11, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Where to stay

Restaurants and hotels change hands. These listings were last checked on 26 October 2026.

Excelsior Hotel Ernst

Excelsior Hotel Ernst stands across from the cathedral’s north side, the grand hotel of the station square and a very old Cologne name. You look at the Dom. You also look at trains and a busy forecourt. It is the stay for a short visit that refuses to waste the first hour on a tram.

Trankgasse 1–5, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Dom Hotel

The Dom Hotel sits at the cathedral’s skirt, a historic house with the west front as a neighbour. Rooms toward the church are the ones to ask for, and they are not quiet in the way a courtyard is quiet. It is the stay you choose because of the building outside, not despite it.

Domkloster 2a, Köln

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Hotel im Wasserturm

Hotel im Wasserturm is a water tower converted into a hotel in the south of the centre, a round brick building and a different night from the station square. It is a walk or a short taxi from the Dom. Choose it when you want the city without sleeping under the spires. The tower is the reason; the location is the trade.

Kaygasse 2, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Shopping

Schildergasse

Schildergasse is one of the busiest shopping streets in Germany, a pedestrian run of department stores west of the cathedral. It is where the city buys clothes and ordinary goods. It is not charming, and it does not need to be. Use it, then return to the river, which is the shop that matters.

Schildergasse, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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Hohe Straße

Hohe Straße is the older shopping lane running south from the cathedral, narrower than Schildergasse and just as commercial. It is the direct way from the Dom into the shops. Walk it as a route. The interesting retail, such as the eau-de-Cologne house, sits on the side streets.

Hohe Straße, Köln

Photo: Michael Musto · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Farina House

The Farina house on Obenmarspforten is the historic address of eau de Cologne, the scent the city gave its name to, with a small museum of the fragrance house. It is a specific shop, not a mall. Go if you want the one product that is actually from here. The big streets will still be there afterward.

Obenmarspforten 21, Köln

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How to get there

Cologne Bonn Airport

Cologne Bonn Airport is south-east of the city, and the S-Bahn from the terminal to the Hauptbahnhof is the transfer to use, a little under twenty minutes when the trains are kind. It also serves Bonn. Read the platform; the airport station is simple and still easy to leave in the wrong direction if you are talking.

Flughafen Köln/Bonn, Köln

Photo: Raimond Spekking · CC BY-SA 4.0

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Cologne Hauptbahnhof

The Hauptbahnhof is under the cathedral’s shoulder, so you step out and the Dom is the first thing that makes sense. Long-distance trains and the S-Bahn share a busy, well-used station. It is the right arrival. Follow the Dom exit, not a shopping exit, if the church is why you came.

Trankgasse 11, Köln

Photo: Neuwieser · CC BY-SA 2.0

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Cologne bus station

The coach station is at Breslauer Platz, on the far side of the Hauptbahnhof from the cathedral front, close enough to walk and easy to miss if you only follow the Dom signs. Long-distance buses use it. Allow a few minutes to come around the station. You are still at the foot of the church.

Breslauer Platz, Köln

Illustration: Pasaulis · CC0 1.0

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