RetiredATLATC

I'd recommend these two places. Both had good food, and bier. Slavia had more than just Kölsch which was nice as I was craving a few Weißbier.

Slavia is on the Rhine a block or two from the Dom and has a lot of different restaurants nearby. Früh is right across from the Dom and has about 40ish tables outside but the inside is huge, with some amazing side rooms.

https://www.frueh-am-dom.de/brauhaus.html

https://slavia.de/

offerendum

We call it Sauftour

RetiredATLATC

Haha, ja, genau.

tom tulpe

That's 41 beers on that beermat below (the waiters use it to keep track of how much you drank), but it's worth remembering that the unit size in a traditional Kölsch bar is .2 litres (i.e. 6 3/4 fl oz), which is the way it should be as Kölsch goes stale real quick.

So that's only 8.2 litres . More than TWO FRIGGIN' GALLONS?! Or for our UK reades, 14 1/2 pints? How many of you were there?!

pbiflyer

One more question. My son loves nature and we have visited several interesting parks throughout the US and Europe. We found Wildgehege Bruck. Looks perfect. Hiking through forests then wildlife and up close with animals seems to be a great day. Probably Uber there, seems faster than public transport.
But knowing my family, they will be there until they are starving. There is a nice looking restaurant right near the entrance called Rocco's Kitchen. https://www.facebook.com/Roccos-Kitchen-437795433734412
Food looks good. A bit fancy.
So, a couple questions - if we go, can he go in very casual clothes since we will be hiking through the forest? I would suspect others do that, so hoping it is okay.
Second, is there a better alternative? Don't see anything close though.
Thanks again for all the great advice. Looking forward to the visit. Less than a month away.

ETA: Just saw that one of the recommendations for schnitzel, the Rather Hof is nearby. We may plan to go there afterwards.

Askartus

What? The "Wildgehege Brück" is where we go through when we run, since it is about 1km from our flat. And I am pretty sure, that no tourist in the history of travelling mentioned the word "Wildgehege Brück" - so congratulations for that archievment!
The Wildgehege is not that large or fancy at all, think more of a small neighbourhood park with a few (< 10) enclosures. And only with some normal animals like boars and deers resting in the distance ...
If you want to watch animals from nearby, we have the "Tierpark Lindenthal" (https://www.lindenthaler-tierpark.de/, tram 7 to "Brahmsstraße") in the south-western outskirts of Cologne, which is very nice and free as well.
Or, if you want to combine it with a short hike, have a look at the "Wildpark Dellbrück" (https://wildpark-duennwald.de/, tram 4 to "Leuchterstrasse") in the north-eastern area of the city. From the latter one, a bus (154) runs directly to the "Rather Hof" - just saying ... ;-)

Another idea for a hike, since this is a forum for the av geeks: Maybe think about a tour around CGN.
The area north of the airport is quite interesting, as it is technically a moor and used to belong to the Belgian army which used it as a military training area. To help conservate the moor after the army was gone, a herd of water buffalos was established here and is roaming free during the summer months.
Please only go there if it has not been raining for a few days - the ground can get really muddy (because ... moor).
We went there last year and it was a nice, short walk with some animals, interesting nature and you actually walk along the landing lights of runway 06/24. which was once the longest runway in Germany with 2.459 meters. Here is a link to our blog: https://www.travellingdevil.de/?p=14710

There are many hikes in the adjacent "Königsforst", a 25 km² conservational forrest also on the eastern part of the city limits. It is quite good connected to public transport (and has the largest ... hill in Cologne, the "Monte Troodelöh": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Troodel%C3%B6h).

Anyway, I will be more than glad to suggest more routes there, if you need.

Oh, and Uber is not available in Cologne! This is due to more than one reason, but mainly because the cab companies are furiously fighting against any competitor here. If you want to order a cab via your mobile, you may use "Free Now" app, which works with most taxi companies here. But be prepared that in the outer areas, you may wait for some time.

Hmm, we have been there only once. And to be honest, were not that completly enthusiastic. The food was ok, but for us something was missing for a posh italian restaurant. Also we had no luck with our service, as we waited quite long for our drinks and the food.
The dress code was very casual (i.e.shorts, jeans, t-shirts).

pbiflyer

Good to know about Uber. And I have the Free Taxi app, so that may help in general.
And once again, thanks for some great information! We will check them out.
There was a YouTube video of a tour of Cologne that featured the park, that is how we found it.
I will check out your suggestions and may have more questions. I really appreciate it.

RetiredATLATC

There were three of us, but my wife drinks very slowly

goodeats21

Love the Cologne coaster tally, great souvenir of an evening out....as usually the memory is a bit foggy. Haha
IIRC, the ticks in the center were tracking schnapps ordered...?

Askartus

The ticks ins the center may be Schnapps or other beveriges. The dashes along the side of the coaster are normally Kölsch / Beer.

Fun fact: The coaster is actually a legally binding document. Changing the amount of dashes or removing / destroying it at all, can result in legal proceedings (document forgery).

And Pro-tip: If someone do not want to drink anymore, you should lay another coaster on top of your glass. This will be a sign for the waiter, that he/she will not give you an automatic next beer (which may happen, even when you are still drinking)

pbiflyer

We have finally returned from our vacation. Cologne was at the start. Unfortunately, due to air travel challenges, we only ended up with 2 days there, instead of 3. So, less to do. But we had fun.

My son had his first legal beer at one of the recommended places, Slavia. It was a nice day, so we opted to hang out in that park on the Rhine. It was lovely.
We ended up combining Schnitzel and birthday dinner at Oma Kleinmanns. They were very nice. No one warned me, though that the schnitzel would be so small - there was one speck of the plate we could still see! Granted, the schnitzel was overflowing on most of the rest of the place.
The area was definitely interesting. Wish I was 30 years younger.We did discover and quite enjoyed the biergarten Rathenauplatz Veedelstreff near by. Yeah, not a great selection of beers, but a wonderful setting!



While we did not get to the recommended nature parks, we had a lovely stroll (on the "wrong" side of the river) through Rheinpark.
We also discovered a quiet little square, quite close to the touristy part, yet, seemingly undiscovered by the masses, Ostermannplatz. Had a beer at one of the places there (can't remember which one now) while checking out the Willi Ostermann fountain. A nice respite from the crowds.
We also had a beer at Früh im Veedel. Nice place.

Thanks again for all the advice. Wish our travel wasn't disrupted, so we could have had more time and seen more.

gaobest

When I went to koeln I would also enjoy the cafe near the Dom for afternoon cake & coffee. Ages ago, and always nice.

kirkwoodj

Thanks for this useful thread, we'll be there next month and will enjoy some of these places!