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Koln – Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium

In Koln I stayed that the Hyatt Regency which is just across the river from the Dom (Cathedral) and the main train station. I booked my stay using Hyatt stay certificates. Thanks to reading Lucky’s blog back at the beginning of the year I knew about these certificates. The Hyatt Cologne was a “choice” category hotel so the certificates cost about $150 per night. That was a decent saving over regular rates. As a Hyatt platinum I got complimentary internet and that was about it. I may have been upgraded as my room did sort of have a river view. They wanted an insane 25 euros for breakfast so I did not eat at the hotel. There are plenty of bakerei nearby. I had a very hard time figuring out how to get onto the walkway that runs on the Hohenzollern bridge to get across the river to the hotel. Basically you have to go up the stairs towards the Dom and then go left and keep going left. I was pretty soaked by the time I got to the hotel. There is also a big set of stairs on the other end that you have to go down. If you have a lot of luggage you might be better off taking a taxi. It is definitely an easier walk from the Koeln Messe-Deutz station.
The room was nothing special. You are paying for the view and the location here. The design seemed a bit dated, not the décor so much as the overall design. The TV remote also barely worked. May have needed new batteries. I noticed that the little battery door was missing off the back. Little details seem to not be this hotel’s strong suit. The internet worked well though which was definitely a good thing.
Unfortunately I just read the other day that most Hyatt properties have raised their minimum certificate level which makes this trick a lot less usable now. It’s shame but I’m glad I got in on the deal on this trip.

After freshening up I went back across the bridge to see the Dom. I had been here once before over a decade ago in the pre-digital days. The church has beautiful stained glass windows. It was dark and cool inside. Entry was free but they had priests stationed near the entrance asking for donations.



















The bishops of Cologne go back a long way!





Sunset is late this time of year, about 21:45 when I was there and so it is twilight, “blue hour” for a good hour after that. At about 23:00 they turned on the exterior lights that shine on the Dom which makes for some good photo opportunities. I noticed several other photographers with their tripods.












The next morning I went first to the train station to get my ticket to Xanten for the next day. The connection takes about 2 hours going through Duisburg. There are a couple of different options. I chose the less expensive ticket which is essentially a day pass for the region which cost about 30 euros. If I had wanted a slightly quicker trip using ICE trains it would have been about 50-60 euros. There is only 1 train per hour from Duisburg to Xanten so if you miss it, you wait a while. I found that out the hard way. But more on that later…