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Cologne Cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge at dusk
The Köln-Düsseldorfer landing stages on the Rhine in Cologne's old town
The glass and steel Chocolate Museum on its peninsula in Cologne's Rheinauhafen
The facade of the Farina House, home of the original Eau de Cologne
Cologne Cathedral, the main station and the Hohenzollern Bridge seen from the KölnTriangle

Things to do in Cologne: 10 experiences

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Photo: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0

KD landing stage, Altstadt

See the cathedral city from the Rhine on a one-hour panorama cruise

Check dates and prices

Photo: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 3.0

Rheinauhafen

Watch chocolate being made at the Chocolate Museum on the Rhine

Photo: Dietmar Rabich, CC BY-SA 4.0

Farina House, old town

Smell the original Eau de Cologne where it was invented in 1709

Photo: Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA 4.0

Deutz, across the Rhine

Look Cologne Cathedral in the eye from the KölnTriangle

Photo: Thomas Wolf, CC BY-SA 3.0 de

Cologne is a Rhine city of Roman origin, Germany's fourth-largest, whose cathedral rises straight out of the old town by the main station. Around it lie twelve Romanesque churches, a riverside old town of brewery pubs, and museums from chocolate to modern art. The city is at its loudest in carnival, which takes over the streets every February.

The cathedral itself is on the Germany page; this page adds the rest of a stay.

10 things to do in Cologne

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The Köln-Düsseldorfer landing stages on the Rhine in Cologne's old town

See the cathedral city from the Rhine on a one-hour panorama cruise

KD landing stage, Altstadt

1 hourGo alone or with a tour

An hour on the Rhine past the cathedral, the old town and the bridges, leaving five minutes' walk from the cathedral.

Check dates and pricesOne-hour KD panorama cruise on the Rhine
Been there?
The glass and steel Chocolate Museum on its peninsula in Cologne's Rheinauhafen

Watch chocolate being made at the Chocolate Museum on the Rhine

Rheinauhafen

2 hoursBook ahead

A museum of cocoa and chocolate on the river, with a tropical greenhouse, a glass chocolate factory and a three-metre fountain.

Been there?
The facade of the Farina House, home of the original Eau de Cologne

Smell the original Eau de Cologne where it was invented in 1709

Farina House, old town

1 hourBook ahead

The world's oldest perfume house, where Johann Maria Farina created Eau de Cologne, shown on guided tours that end at a smelling station.

Been there?
The EL-DE House on Appellhofplatz, the former Gestapo headquarters in Cologne

Read prisoners' inscriptions in the EL-DE House, Cologne's Gestapo HQ

Appellhofplatz

1.5 to 2 hoursNo booking needed

Cologne's Gestapo headquarters from 1935 to 1945, with the basement cells and their prisoners' inscriptions preserved as a memorial.

Been there?
A Köbes tapping Mühlen Kölsch at the Em Kölsche Boor brewery pub

Drink Kölsch from a wooden barrel in a Cologne brewery pub

Old town and Eigelstein

An eveningNo booking needed

Small glasses of Cologne's own beer, tapped from wooden barrels and carried round on trays by waiters called Köbes.

Been there?
Great St. Martin's tower above the coloured houses of the Fischmarkt on the Rhine

Go beneath Great St. Martin to the Roman warehouses it was built on

Fischmarkt, Rhine bank

45 minutesNo booking needed

One of Cologne's twelve Romanesque churches, on the Rhine bank, with an excavation of Roman warehouses beneath it.

Been there?
The southern entrance of the Museum Ludwig beside Cologne Cathedral

See Warhol, Picasso and Richter at the Museum Ludwig

Heinrich-Böll-Platz, by the cathedral

2 to 3 hoursNo booking needed

Cologne's museum of 20th-century and contemporary art, beside the cathedral, with Pop Art, Picasso and German post-war painting.

Been there?
Cologne Cathedral, the main station and the Hohenzollern Bridge seen from the KölnTriangle

Look Cologne Cathedral in the eye from the KölnTriangle

Deutz, across the Rhine

1 hour with the walk over the bridgeNo booking needed

A viewing platform 103 metres up on the Deutz bank, facing the cathedral across the Rhine, with the Hohenzollern Bridge below.

Been there?
A carnival float of the Rote Funken in Cologne's Rose Monday parade

Join Cologne's street carnival from Weiberfastnacht to Rose Monday

Alter Markt and the whole city

A day, or the six days of street carnivalFree

Six days when the whole city dresses up, from 11:11 on the Alter Markt on Women's Carnival to the Rose Monday parade.

Been there?
The twin Gothic spires of Cologne Cathedral

Visit Cologne Cathedral and climb the south tower

Cologne

30 to 45 minutes for the tower climb aloneBook ahead

Climb 533 steps up Cologne Cathedral's south tower to a platform roughly 100 m above the square, right next to the main station.

Tours in Cologne
Been there?

Traveller picks

Hidden gems suggested by travellers. We check each one before it goes up; the words are theirs, not ours.

No traveller picks for Cologne yet. Know a place most visitors miss?

Plan your trip

  • Getting there

    Köln Hauptbahnhof sits right beside the cathedral and is one of Germany's busiest long-distance stations. Köln Messe/Deutz station on the other bank also has long-distance trains. Cologne Bonn Airport is linked to the main station by S-Bahn and regional trains.

  • Getting around

    The old town, the cathedral, the museums and the Rhine promenade are all walkable from the main station. Trams and the U-Bahn of the KVB cover the rest, and the Hohenzollern Bridge is the walk across to Deutz.

  • How many days

    In must30's view, two days: one for the cathedral, the old town, a Romanesque church and an evening of Kölsch; one for the museums, the Rhine and the view from Deutz. Add a day for Aachen or the Middle Rhine.

  • When to go

    Spring to autumn suits the Rhine and the terraces; the KD panorama boats run from late March to October. Carnival, from Weiberfastnacht to Rose Monday, is the city's biggest event, and Advent brings Christmas markets around the cathedral and the old town.

  • Where to base yourself

    Near the cathedral and the old town everything is on foot. The Belgian Quarter and Ehrenfeld are livelier for evenings, and Deutz, across the river, has the best view back at the cathedral.

Questions travellers ask

What is the best view of Cologne Cathedral?

From the KölnTriangle platform in Deutz, about 103 metres up, the cathedral is at eye level with the Hohenzollern Bridge in front. The Rhine panorama cruise is the other classic view.

When is Cologne carnival in 2027?

The street carnival runs from Weiberfastnacht, Thursday 4 February 2027, to Violet Tuesday, 9 February. The Rose Monday parade is on 8 February 2027 from 10:00.

Do I need to book the Farina fragrance museum?

Yes. It can only be seen on a guided tour, and the museum strongly recommends booking online because many slots fill up days ahead.

What is Kölsch?

Cologne's own beer, served in small cylindrical glasses called Stangen by waiters known as Köbes. Brewery pubs such as Früh am Dom tap it from wooden barrels.

Things to do in Germany

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