June 20-21, 2015 ---- The last stop of our "Around Germany" trip was in Cologne. I picked this city because it has the most stunning cathedral in Germany, and I wanted to see at least one city that is located on the Rhine River. Cologne is famous for a few things. Most people go there for the carnival in February. Some people take the Rhine River Cruise and stop in Cologne for a day-tour.
Accommodation: We stayed at "Hotel Alt-Rodenkirchen" located far out of town. However, it's very close to U-Bahn# 16 stop "Rodenkirchen Bf" and takes about 25 minutes to the Central Train Station. I liked the guest room in this hotel because it had a home-liked character, and everything was fine except the shower that tended to make the floor all wet. That's a common problem in many hotels in Germany though...
Transportation: There are buses, S-Bahn and U-Bahn. The U-Bahn runs like a metro around the Old Town but then turns into an overground Tram outside of the city center. To buy a ticket, there are ticket machines located in most stops. If you travel with other people, you might consider buying a Day Group Ticket. Check the website for more information: http://www.kvb-koeln.de/german/tarif/eng.html
Food and Restaurants: There are a lot of restaurants in the Old Town area. On the first day, we dined at a famous pub called Lommerzheim located across the river from the Cathedral. The beer was good, and the food was plentiful, but we had to wait over an hour to get our food! On the second day we ate at Cölner Hofbrau Früh located just a 2 minute walk from the Cathedral. The service was fast here, but I ordered some kind of fish and thought it would be cooked, but it was pickled fish and I couldn't eat it. Anyway, Cologne beer is pretty good and the way they serve it here is different from other cities in Germany. Go and try it out!
Attractions: There is more to see than the Cathedral. If you like historical museums, I recommend the Roman-Germanic Museum and the City Museum. If the weather is nice and sunny, I recommend you to take the Rhine River Cruise and then go up to Cologne Triangle for the 360 degree view of the city. Cologne is not very big, so you probably need only a day or two to see everything.
Our Trip Itinerary:
Day 1
Morning: Cologne Cathedral and Treasury, St. Andrew's Church
Afternoon: Cologne City Museum, EL-DE Haus, NS Documentation Center, Köln Triangle
Dinner: at Lommerzheim
Day 2
Morning: Roman-Germanic Museum, Köln Old Town, Köln City Hall
Afternoon: Rhine River Cruise, Hohenzollern Bridge
Dinner: at Cölner Hofbrau Früh
Overall, our trip to Cologne was nice. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't as good as we hoped for and we didn't get a clear sky until we were about to leave the city. However, we managed to see/do everything according to the plan, and we had a good time.
Cologne Hauptbahnhof
Cologne Cathedral
St. Andrew's Church
Cologne City Museum
EL-DE Haus and NS Documentation Center
The view from Köln Triangle
Dinner at Lommerzheim
Roman-Germanic Museum
Köln Old Town
Köln City Hall
Rhine River Cruise
Hohenzollern Bridge
Dinner at Cölner Hofbrau Früh
