Originally Posted by
tom tulpe
The Seilbahn is separate from normal public transport operations, so you have to buy a ticket. But you get a discount for day passes. It's quite far from Hauptbahnhof. Best is to take a tramway to Zoo/Flora stop, which is near the Seilbahn. On the other side of the river, there is only a bus. Better take the Seilbahn back (there's a discount for return tickets) and get another tram back to town.
Lines on the weekend can be bad (the Zoo and the Seilbahn are perennial favourites for single parents' "right of contact" days out with their kids). The better the weather, the worse the lines. Not much of a line on weekdays.
When I was on Köln last June, I recall the Seilbahn being a reasonable walk from Kölner Dom -- the giant Gothic cathedral. I remember we parked somewhere near the cathedral, had a brief walk over to there, and then walked over to Seilbahn and hung out in the little park across the Rhine. You can walk through the park to the bank of the Rhine and skim pebbles into it, kinda cool.