Lady Vacay's Travel Blog: Cologne Germany: Day Seven

Located directly along the Rhine, the Old Town, together with Cologne Cathedral, the Romanesque church Great St. Martin and the tower of the historic City Hall, makes up the world-famous Rhine panorama. As you stroll through the narrow alleys, you will come across many museums, such as the Romano-Germanic Museum, the Wallraf Richartz Museum, the Museum Ludwig and the Farina Fragrance Museum. You can also discover many monuments and fountains in Cologne’s Old Town, including the figures of Tünnes and Schäl and the Heinzelmännchen (Cologne elves) fountain. Historical remains, such as the Archeological Zone, the Old St. Alban Memorial, and the Stapelhaus offer an an exciting journey of discovery into the city’s past.

Cologne’s Old Town has rustic narrow alleyways lined with traditional old houses, a multitude of breweries, pubs and restaurants where you can enjoy a draft Kölsch beer or try Cologne’s typical Halver Hahn sandwich.

The Belgian Quarter "Belgisches Viertel", is just a bit from the main shopping boulevards of Hohe Straße and Schildergasse. Shops found here offer high-quality off-mainstream fashion and designer labels but be prepared to pay high end prices. Many young fashion designers bring innovative fashion to Cologne. The quarter not only offers a luxurious array of attractive shopping facilities, but also a great many trendy pubs, cafés and restaurants that radiate the charm of “old” Brussels, Liège & co. in the very heart of Cologne.

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, and Agneskirche, a late neo-gothic church on the boulevardesque Neusserstrasse. 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 films in the original language. On nearby Lübeckerstrasse, you will find the uncompromisingly Arty Filmpalette cinema.

At the centre of Cologne’s old neighbourhood of handicrafts and trade, Alter Markt and Heumarkt are major attractions surrounded by many small restaurants and cafés.

Renting a Rickshaw is an exciting way to discover Cologne’s points of interest in a comfortable way when you've had enough walking.

Cologne = Cultural life

The biggest winter festival is the Kölner Karneval (Cologne Carnival). Cologne has a large gay and lesbian culture so it would only be right that a large gay pride festival is held in Cologne annually on the Heumarkt square. Kölner Lichter (Cologne Lights) – light up the sky in flames between the Hohenzollern and Zoo bridges. Kölner Seilbahn, the Aerial tramway across Rhine river, is Germany's only cablecar crossing a river. Phantasialand is a fun place for children and has some fun rides for adults too. Just below the Kölner Seilbahn is the Claudius Therme, one of the many nude saunas. 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). In December, there are many Christmas markets around Cologne, the most famous being the one close to the cathedral and the one at Neumarkt (Markt der Engel - Market of Angels).

Cologne's Dom, with 509 stairs to the top of the south tower, can test your physical condition. Or just tour the Cathedral, which is by donation to enter, except during Mass when entry is not allowed.

There are 12 Romanesque Churches: St. Kunibert, St. Severin, St. Maria Lyskirchen, St. Andreas, St. Aposteln, St. Gereon, St. Ursula, St. Pantaleon, St. Maria im Kapitol, Groß-St. Martin, St. Georg and St. Cäcilien. The Die Kölner Synagoge is notable for its architecture that looks like it came right out of a Batman episode.

The Hohenzollern Bridge, also called the Locking Bridge, is on the Rhine by the Kölner Dom. The love padlocks are placed there by couples to show their loyalty to each other and often have their names and a significant date inscribed on the locks.

Beauty and spa treatments are popular in Cologne but you should know that bathing suits are banned for hygienic reasons. You can choose between the Claudius Therme, Mauritius Therme, Mediterana, Monte Mare, Neptunbad or you may find a sauna at the nearby public swimming pools.

Koelsch tours (for testing the breweries) or language lessons in the local dialect (again in a brewery) are all available in Cologne.

Typical Cologne beer is called "Kölsch" and served in bars around town in small glasses, called "Stangen", to ensure the beer is always fresh and cold. The waiter will ensure that your glass is never empty and he will put a pencil line on your coaster for each beer that you drink. When you are ready to depart you simply put your coaster on top of your glass and the waiter will collect your coaster and prepare your bill.

"Reissdorf", "Früh", "Gaffel" or "Mühlen" are the most sot after bottled Kölsch. If you like a more bitter beer, you might want to try Küppers.

Like in other cities in Germany you can pedal around the city while you drink a beer with BeerBike and have fun.

For traditional breweries, head to the Altstadt around the Dom, where the "Früh Kölsch" brewery is the most famous. There are a lot of modern bars and lounges all around town, more mainstream ones are on Zülpicher Straße. More than 70 clubs and party venues cater to late-night revellers' every taste – from jazz to reggae, from R&B to techno. Any number of bars, restaurants and brewpubs also offer a great night out.

Out and about discovering everything Cologne can make you hungry. Here are a just a couple of Rheinland dishes you might want to try in the local restaurant or pub:

Halver Hahn : nice big slab of dutch gouda with a rye roll (Röggelchen)
Himmel und Äd mit Flönz : fried blood sausage with mashed potatoes, apple sauce and fried onions.
Dicke Bunne mit Speck : boiled white beans with hefty boiled bacon slices on top.

Cologne has one of the world's best collections of museums and galleries for a city of its size. As well as world class museums of art and archaeology, Cologne offers two museums of ecclesiastical art, both housed in architecturally stunning buildings. There is also an ethnographic museum, a chocolate museum, the German Sport Museum and an abundance of Roman remains.

To name just a few:
Museum Ludwig - A museum of modern art, near central station and the Dom
Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Art), popular design items, near the Dom
Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud - art gallery with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century
Römisch-Germanisches Museum - explores the history of Roman history in Cologne and the surrounding area. Adjacent to the Cathedral.
Rautenstrauch-Joest-Museum – World Cultures - North Rhine-Westphalia's only ethnological museum, it has a fine collection of Amerindian and Australian-Polynesian artifacts.

European Astronaut Centre - The stars are within your reach. The EAC is onsite the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne-Wahnheide. The European Astronaut Corps will be trained at EAC for space missions, especially on the International Space Station (ISS). A lecture at the cinema hall and an excursion of the training area – the centerpiece of EAC – are part of the program.

Cologne has 2 park areas (Grüngürtel) encircling the city where you can relax and enjoy a cold beer as all of the parks have associated beer gardens.

Note:

Tourists should be particularly careful around the train station, the nearby square, and the Cologne Dom which is a notorious pickpocketing and drug abuse hotspot with young male street gangs. Also, be careful on the Ring, which is full of clubs and night-time crowds in the streets. During both day and night, it is advisable to be careful in outlying neighbourhoods like Chorweiler, Porz, Seeberg, Ostheim, Bocklemünd, Ossendorf, and Vingst. Women should not be unaccompanied during nighttime around the central station.