Cathedral, Kölsch and Carnival. That pretty much sums up what Cologne is all about.
Add culture and commerce, and you have a full day, or days, of sightseeing, shopping and fun in this city on the Rhine River.
Köln, as it is called in German, is the country’s fourth largest city. It is probably best known for its towering Gothic cathedral, which took more than 600 years to complete. It has 11,960 square yards of window area, and its greatest treasure is the Shrine of the Three Magi, which supposedly holds the relics of the three wise men who brought gifts to the infant Jesus. A 509-stair climb up its south tower gives a view of the city and the Rhine below.
Kölsch is the dialect the locals speak, and it is also the beer they drink. The light golden brew is always served in 0.2 liter cylindrical glasses. If it is not your taste, there are plenty of other things to drink in the pubs that surround the Alter Markt and in the bar- and restaurant-lined lanes of the Altstadt, or old town. One thing you don’t drink in the city is Alt, the beer brewed and drunk in Düsseldorf, Cologne’s great rival farther downstream.
The other area for nightlife is on the western end of the city center, on and around Hohenstaufenring, Hohenzollernring and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring.
The pre-Lent festivities, known in Cologne as Karneval, pretty much take up the first two months of the year, and the locals take the costumed madness (and the partying), seriously. Up to 1 million people line the streets for the city’s Rose Monday parade.
If museums are more to your liking, Cologne won’t disappoint.
Just steps from the cathedral are two good ones, the Museum Ludwig and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum. The former features modern art, while the latter, as the name suggests, is dedicated to the Roman history along the Rhine.
Other museums worth checking out are the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum with its collections of religious art and portraiture, the Chocolate Museum and the Museum of Applied Art.
Cologne is also a great place to shop. Hohe Strasse and Schildergasse are store-lined pedestrian areas. West of Hohenzollernring is the so-called Belgian District full of boutiques.
Although much of Cologne’s architecture is quickly built, post-World War II, some of its latest buildings are quite fascinating. On Schildergasse, check out the futuristic glass Weltstadthaus by noted architect Renzo Piano. Across the Rhine in Deutz is the Lanxess Arena, a sports and concert hall that features a 250-foot-tall support arch.
Back on the other bank of the river, Cologne has, like London and Hamburg, turned much of its former city docks into office and living space. The three most interesting structures here are the three “Kran” buildings that resemble the cranes once used to load and unload the boats plying the Rhine.
