Nestled on the banks of Rhine river, Cologne (Köln) is a modern city with great history, amazing architecture, delicious food and its very own beer called the Kölsch. We don’t know about you, but these were good enough reasons for us to spend a full 24 hours in this beautiful city before we ventured out from Germany to the Netherlands on our second European vacation.
We took the ICE train from Frankfurt to Cologne and arrived around 10 AM and as we exited from the train station towards the tourism office to get our Köln Cards we were amazed by the sheer enormity of the Cathedral that stands just outside the main train station.
Once we got our Köln cards we immediately wanted to explore the city, but since we had two huge suitcases with us we decided to check in to our hotel first. We stayed at 25hours The Circle and you can read about our stay by clicking on the below link.
By the time we stepped out from the hotel we were really hungry and were craving for some delicious food and good German Beer, so we went straight to this place we had seen on trip advisor called Hafenterrase. It has a beer garden with a beautiful view and some kiosks which serve traditional German sausages. We wanted to re-live our wonderful English Garden experience from Munich, but sadly the beer garden was shut, which was a bummer… but what really ticked us off was the attitude of the staff there. So we saw that there was no one inside the beer garden and the chairs were kept upside down on the tables and while we were still figuring out if it hadn’t opened yet for the day or if it was shut, a bunch of people entered through the gate and we thought maybe only the outside area is shut (as in many beer gardens in winter) and we also tried to enter and one of the girls slammed the door on us and told us that they were the staff and the place is shut till February in a rather rude tone which was absolutely uncalled for. Anyway, the sausages kiosk outside was open and we got ourselves a currywurst which turned out to be just so-so. Anyways…long story short, we decided that we will not let this experience ruin our mood and we went straight ahead to the chocolate museum which surely helped us to cheer up again 🙂
If you love chocolates, especially Lindt chocolates, then this is one activity that is not to be missed! It is startling to see the entire craft of chocolate making, not to mention the free samples right from the production line 🙂 You can check out the prices and timings HERE. The Köln Card will get you a 25% discount on the entry fee.
Well the chocolate indulgence did pep up our mood but we were still hungry, so we went to a nearby restaurant called Brauhaus Reissdorf im Roten Ochsen and had lunch and also got ourselves our very first Kolsch.
From there we made a quick stop at the 4711 shop and got ourselves a bottle of Eau de Cologne (10% off with the Köln Card) and then strolled towards the Rhine Garden to check out these lovely colourful buildings.
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Before we move further let us talk a little more about the Köln Cards – it comes in two denominations, 24 hours and 48 hours – if you are more than 2 people it would make sense to buy group cards instead of individual card. It gives free access on all public transport and great discounts on lot of museums, restaurants, shopping and a lot of other attractions. You can check the latest prices and offers HERE.
Moving on, our next stop was the Cathedral, which as described earlier is just massive, one of the best Gothic style architectures we have ever seen. You can even climb the tower get some great views of the city for a small fee, but we personally feel that to get a post card pretty view of Cologne you must have the Cologne Cathedral itself in your frame …and that’s the reason we skipped climbing the tower and instead crossed over the bridge on the other side of Rhine to catch an amazing view of the sun set.
Crossing the Hohenzollen Bridge in itself is quite an attraction. Busy rail tracks on one side, pedestrian lane adorned with love locks on the other and a magnificent view of the Cathedral in the backdrop, it doesn’t get any better than this.
As we crossed the bridge and reached the other side of the river we were rewarded with some mind-blowing views of the city skyline. But the best was yet to come! Just a minute’s walk away from the promenade there is a huge building called Köln Triangle and it has a remarkable observation deck which without a doubt offers the best views of the city. It can be accessed by paying a small fee of €3 per person (plus you don’t have to climb the stairs!!! )
After spending a good 3 hours or so at the observation deck, we walked back to the city centre and strolled around the old town and ended the day by having some delicious sausages and bread at this place called Miester Bock – it was cheap, tasty and piping hot, just what we needed on a cold windy night.
The next morning, before we said good bye to Köln we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast spread and some gorgeous views of Cologne at NENI (the restaurant at 25hours The Circle).
So that’s how we spent 24 hours in Köln, Germany… hope you enjoyed reading it. Given a chance we would love to come back here and experience a lot more which this amazing city has to offer.
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