skeoch1

Hi

Sorry not used forums before, all new to me. I added onto another thread about train and think i should have just posted here.
I arrive in Dusseldorf thurs 25th Nov at 20:30 and need to get to marriott hotel in Cologne - grateful for any info on this.

Would love to know of things to do in Cologne I have three full days here, i have never been to Germany before and am really looking forward to it. Any info on things to do, must see's and places to visit day and evenings, and places to eat would be really helpful

Lastly i travel back from Cologne on 28th Nov on 9:00 flight any info for travel would be good

thanks in advance
K

Flying Lawyer

For your trains, visit www.bahn.de and you will get all information you can dream about. And what to do in Cologne? Well, without any hint about what you want to do, nobody can give you any meaningful answer. What about visiting the Cologne website first? http://www.koeln.de/cologne_tourist_information

stablemate77

when you are in this city a most see is the dome.....its largest attraction in all germany......you can walk 500 plus steps to the top and take nice pics of river.....around the big church is a plaza with shops and nice walking to river the dome is right next to main station and you walk off train to this vary pretty church.....enjoy your stay

bruce80

However, when you want to eat or buy something, I wouldn't recommend the shops around the cathedral nor the restaurants at the Rhine promenade, as they are usually expensive and of a typical tourism kind. While I don't really know where to eat in Cologne, I would recommend visiting a typical "Brauhaus" (brewhouse), the most widely known is "Früh" which is located only about 400m from the central station.

You'll find a wide variety of small bars and restaurants (the quality varies very much as the university is nearby and many students prefer those establishments) in the southern part of the city ("Altstadt Süd") which you can reach by subway/tram (Rudolfplatz/Barbarossaplatz) or train (local trains to Koblenz, stop Köln Süd).

An attraction I can definitely NOT recommend is the chocolate museum which is more of an antrophologic musem for Middle- and Southern American ancient culture than something actually about chocolate.

skeoch1

thanks for your advice will definately look at the dome and the fruh.
thanks again
K

pbiflyer

From the Dome, there is a pedestrian shopping street. Check it out, peopel watch, etc. Can't remember exact name of the street. Easy to find though.
Get some fresh bread or pretzels, drink a beer. Drink a gluhwein while strolling.
The trains are easy to use. There is an english button on the bahn.de website.
Have fun, it is a great country. If you get bored in Cologne or run out of things to do, Bonn is just a quick train ride away.

Oh yeah, aren't the Christmas markets open now?

STBCypriot

Christmas markets should be open this weekend or next. Cologne has at least 7. Something a lot of toursits do not know is that when you buy gluwein or beer at the Christmas markets, you are paying for the commemorative glass/mug. If you return the empty glass/mug, you'll get some money back and you don't have to haul a bunch of glasses/mugs home (unless you really want to collect them).

The cathedral is fantastic. There is a very good museum nearby - lots of ancient Roman stuff (I've seen tons of Roman ruins in Germany). You can even walk the ancient Roman sewers in Cologne - pretty cool if you are interested in that kind of thing.

There is a Chocolate Museum in Cologne - along the river - you can walk there from the Dom. It's a very good museum and of course there is a great chocolate shop at the end. Best to go first thing in the morning when it opens to avoid the arrival of bus tours.

ptr120

I'd suggest taking a taxi from Cologne to DUS airport tomorrow morning. It'll be an early start if you plan on taking public transport!

mosburger

There is a lot of previous information on Cologne here on FT. Please make use of the search function.

Christmas markets do open this weekend.

flyingfkb

If you want to eat large and good Schnitzel in Cologne try Oma Kleinmanns Zülpicher Straße 9 (Subwaystop Zülpicher Platz). About having a Kölsch forget the Früh Kölsch at across the Dom. Try Malzmühle behind Heumarkt. Much better and more traditional. A great just recently rewopened museum is the Rautenstrauch-Joest Museum of ethonolgy.

Alumino

+1. Malzmuehle (home of Muehlen Koelsch) is great and has much better atmosphere and fewer tourists. I'd actually recommend Paeffgen on Friesenstrasse a bit more. Great food at these places, and the Koelsch is fresh! Best Koelsch is Paeffgen, Reissdorf, Muehlen.

Shopping on Breite Strasse and Hoehe Strasse is a must, if just for the stroll... these streets have been around since Roman days. In the McDonalds on one of those streets, in the basement eating area they even have a Roman mosaic and column they found.

Speaking of Roman days, visit the wonderful museums such as the Roman-German museum and the Luwig Art Museum. They're right by the Dom, which is a must, of course.

Too bad you weren't there for 11 Nov at 11:11 am when Carnival planning kicks off (Altmarkt?) Craziest time I ever had in Germany.

Do eat some Cologne specialties -- Himmel un Aeaed, Rievekoche, Halve Hahn (joke: not half a chicken, just a roll with cheese), Gulaschsuppe, Rote Gruetze and of course drink Koelsche.

I'd recommend making the subway your friend -- you can get everywhere with the subway. Some of my best days in "Koelle" were spent taking the subway to random places and wandering around. Rudolfplatz, Friesenplatz, anywhere on the Ring. Get into the Veedeln (neighborhoods).

Plus you can easily take a S-Bahn or local train to Bonn. Hope you had a great trip and hope this helps somebody down the line!