Germany · Renania Settentrionale-Vestfalia · Cities of art
Cologne
the city of the Cathedral of the Three Kings on the Rhine, with the Romanesque churches and the Brauhaus of the old town, the Chocolate Museum on the harbour and the cable car over the river, and in winter the Christmas markets and the carnival that begins on 11 November
Cologne stands on the Rhine, in the Rhineland, and is the fourth largest city in Germany. It was born Roman: in AD 50 the emperor Claudius made the village of the Ubii a city, named after his wife Agrippina, who was born here, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium. In the Middle Ages it was the largest city in the German-speaking lands, and from 1164, when Archbishop Rainald von Dassel brought the relics of the Three Kings from Milan, one of the great pilgrim destinations of Europe: to hold them, work began in 1248 on the Cathedral, finished only in 1880. The war destroyed almost the whole old town, and the twelve great Romanesque churches were rebuilt over the decades up to the 1980s. Today you walk from the Cathedral to the Rhine: the padlock bridge, the old town with its coloured houses and the Kölsch Brauhaus, the Chocolate Museum on the old harbour. From mid November to Christmas the city has several Christmas markets, in front of the Cathedral, in the old town with the ice rink and on the harbour, and the carnival, which opens on 11 November at 11:11, bursts out in February with the women's Thursday and the Monday parade. For those arriving by motorhome there is a large stopover on the Rhine, north of the centre, open every day of the year, about ten minutes by underground from the Cathedral.
Sleeping
Stops and overnight stays
In Cologne there is only one motorhome stopover, the Reisemobilhafen in Riehl, on the Rhine north of the centre: 60 places, open every day of the year, with electricity, water and emptying but no toilets. There are three campsites in the city: the Berger in Rodenkirchen, open in winter too but closed from 24 December to 1 January, the city campsite in Poll, which closes from November to mid March, and the Waldbad campsite in Dünnwald, in the woods to the north-east, which gives reception hours from October to April too. In December you sleep at Riehl, at the Berger until the 23rd or at Dünnwald; at carnival in the same three places, and at Riehl it is worth booking. If Cologne is full, in Bonn there is a simple stopover in front of the conference centre, twenty minutes away by train.
Reisemobilhafen Köln
An der Schanz, 50735 Köln-Riehl
a family-run stopover, on the Rhine at Riehl, next to the AXA tower, for motorhomes only: no caravans, tents or cars. It is open every day of the year. There are no toilets or showers: you may enter only with a working on-board toilet. You get to the centre by underground in about ten minutes, or on foot or by bike along the Rhine; the zoo and the Flora are within walking distance. Bookings are taken only for two nights or more, at least a week ahead, paying at once, and not for a Saturday arrival; 20 of the 60 places can be booked, 25 at New Year and carnival, and the rest are left to those who turn up: the operator advises arriving in the morning or at lunchtime, when others are leaving. The phone is answered from 10:00 to 20:00. The booking form accepts motorhomes from 4 to 12 metres. Without the green sticker you can still get there: the city lets everyone use An der Schanz and the Kuhweg, coming from the A57 motorway and the Innere Kanalstraße; the road along the Rhine that the operator gives from the A555 motorway, on the other hand, runs inside the low emission zone
60 motorhome pitches
ElectricityWaterGrey waterWaste
18 euros a night for the motorhome, whatever the number of people, until 13:00 the next day, with waste included; electricity 0.80 euros per kilowatt hour, water 1 euro per 100 litres, emptying 0.50 euros. The operator does not give the year of the price list · +49 178 467 4591 · reisemobilhafen-koeln.de
the campsite that calls itself the oldest in Germany, born as a boathouse on the Rhine, on the Weißer Rheinbogen bend, in a protected area at Rodenkirchen, south of the city. It has toilets with showers, accessible ones too, a kitchen, a washing machine and a dryer, motorhome pitches with hard standing and emptying, a restaurant and a beer garden; the shop is closed from November to March. The bus stop is 500 metres away, the tram stop 1.5 kilometres. The road from the motorway, the A555 towards Bonn taking the first exit for Rodenkirchen, stays outside the low emission zone. In December it is open until the 23rd, and at carnival it is open, always phoning first
ElectricityGrey waterToiletsShowerLaundryWi-Fi
With the 2026 price list, 11.50 euros per adult, 13 euros for the pitch for a motorhome up to 8 metres, 15.50 up to 10 metres, and 4 euros for electricity; on top of that the city tax, 5 per cent. Two adults with a motorhome up to 8 metres and electricity spend 42 euros a night. Hot showers are included · +49 221 9355240 · camping-berger.koeln
the city campsite, on the right bank of the Rhine, under the old trees of a protected area, with the Cathedral in sight. To get to the centre you walk over the motorway bridge to the Heinrich-Lübke-Ufer stop, on the other side of the river, and from there take tram 16 towards the Cathedral; by bike it is twenty minutes. The barrier is closed from 22:00 to 8:00, arrivals are from 15:00 to 20:00 and departures by noon; at weekends you can only book the two nights together. In December and at carnival it is closed: from November to February there is the winter break, in 2026 it takes no bookings after 25 October and in 2027 it reopens on 18 March. Poll is inside the low emission zone
ElectricityToiletsShowerLaundry
With the 2026 season price list, city tax included, 11.50 euros per adult, 9.50 euros for a motorhome up to 6.50 metres, 12 up to 8 metres, and 4.50 euros a day for electricity: two adults spend from 37 to 39.50 euros a night. Showers, toilets, hot water and kitchen are included · +49 221 831966 · camping-koeln.de
the campsite of the district association, in the Dünnwald woods, north-east of the city, next to the open-air pool, the mini golf and the wildlife park. It has barrier-free toilets, a corner for small children, a kitchen and a kiosk, and a restaurant opposite. Arrivals from 15:00 and departures by 11:00. In winter the 2026 price list gives reception hours from October to April too, but the campsite does not state plainly that it is open all year: for December and for carnival, phone. To the centre: bus 154 stops at the Waldbad, underground line 4 is at the Leuchterstraße stop, 1.5 kilometres away, and the S11 train at Köln-Dellbrück, 2.5 kilometres. The operator does not say whether there is water filling and emptying for motorhomes. Dünnwald is inside the low emission zone
ElectricityToiletsShowerWi-Fi
With the 2026 price list, city tax included, 9.50 euros per adult and 9.50 euros for a motorhome up to 7 metres, 11.50 above; electricity by consumption, 0.80 euros per kilowatt hour: two adults spend 28.50 euros a night, plus electricity. Showers are paid separately, and the price list does not say how much · +49 221 603315 · waldbad-camping.de
a simple stopover in the car park of the Bonn conference centre, on the Rhine, next to the Rheinaue park, with no height limit at the entrance. No booking. There is neither electricity nor toilets; for cassettes there are cabins with water to rinse them, free of charge. Tents, awnings and barbecues are forbidden. The tram is 900 metres away, the centre of Bonn 3 kilometres, and from Bonn to Cologne the fastest train takes twenty minutes. The operator does not publish a winter closure. It is the fallback for when Riehl is full
up to 10
Chemical toilet
16 euros every 24 hours for a motorhome up to 8 metres, 20 euros above, at the parking meter, for at most three days. This is the rate on the operator's page in 2026; the September 2024 regulation still said 12 euros · +49 228 9267 0 · worldccbonn.com
In Cologne the motorhome stays at the stopover or the campsite, and you get around the city by underground, by tram or on foot along the Rhine: the centre around the Cathedral is small, and almost the whole city lies inside a low emission zone, which you may enter only with the German green sticker.
From Italy via Switzerland: from Chiasso via the Gotthard, Basel and then Germany along the Rhine. You need the Swiss motorway vignette, 40 francs: the 2026 one is valid from 1 December 2025 to 31 January 2027, so for the February carnival you already need the 2027 one. Over 3.5 tonnes the vignette is not valid: you pay the flat-rate heavy vehicle charge with the Via app, for every day spent in Switzerland, with a minimum of 25 francs
From Italy via Austria: from the Brenner, Innsbruck and Kufstein towards Munich. The ten-day Austrian vignette costs 12.80 euros, and on top of that you pay the Brenner motorway toll, 12.50 euros, for vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes; over 3.5 tonnes in Austria you pay by the kilometre with the GO-Box
In Germany a motorhome over 3.5 tonnes does not pay the lorry toll, which applies only to vehicles carrying goods. Owners of a vehicle that the toll enforcement cameras might take for a lorry can register it as exempt with Toll Collect, online and free of charge, for two years; registration is not compulsory
The low emission zone (Umweltzone) covers 137 square kilometres: on the left bank the whole city out to the Militärring ring road and a few districts beyond, on the right bank Deutz, Mülheim, Kalk, Poll, Dünnwald and many other districts. You may enter only with the green sticker, which applies to all vehicles, foreign ones and motorhomes too, of any weight; without it the fine is 100 euros. The sticker is bought online before leaving from the German testing organisations, such as TÜV or DEKRA, by sending the vehicle registration document, and arrives by post. The motorways stay outside the zone, and the city lets everyone use a few through roads, including the one that leads to the Riehl stopover
Sleeping in a motorhome outside the stopovers: in Germany one night's stop to rest, at most ten hours, is allowed where parking is not forbidden; putting out chairs, table and awning or lighting the barbecue is not. In Cologne there is a stopover and three campsites, and that is where you go
Public transport: since 1 June 2026 the new Rhineland fare applies. In the city a single ticket costs 4 euros, the 24-hour ticket for one person 9.60 euros and the 24-hour ticket for five people 19.20 euros: it is valid for 24 hours from validation, not until the end of the day. Children under six travel free
From the stopover to the centre: from Riehl the underground in about ten minutes, or on foot along the Rhine; from Poll tram 16 from the Heinrich-Lübke-Ufer stop, across the bridge; from Rodenkirchen the tram 1.5 kilometres away; from Dünnwald bus 154 to line 4 or to the S11 train
On the carnival days the centre is closed off: in 2026 the old town and the centre were barricaded on Fat Thursday from the early hours of the morning until 18:00, on Sunday from 6:00 and on the Monday of the parade from 5:30; the Deutz bridge was closed and the multi-storey car parks around the Cathedral and the Neumarkt could not be reached. The motorhome stays put, and you go into the centre by public transport. In 2027 Fat Thursday falls on 4 February and the Monday of the parade on the 8th
Seeing
Sights
The walk starts from the Cathedral square, in front of the station: the Cathedral and the Museum Ludwig, then the Hohenzollern Bridge to the KölnTriangle, on the other bank, to look at the city from above. You come back over the same bridge and go down along the river to Groß St. Martin and the old town: the Alter Markt and the Heumarkt, the Rathaus, St. Maria im Kapitol, and further along the Rhine the Chocolate Museum, the sport museum and the Kranhäuser of the Rheinauhafen. It is about four and a half kilometres. A second walk, of about three kilometres, sets off again from the Cathedral heading west: St. Gereon, the Gestapo house, the 4711 House and the Roman museum in its temporary home, returning to the Cathedral along the Hohe Straße, the shopping street. The zoo, the Flora and the cable car are to the north, with tram line 18. Tap a marker on the map to open its entry below.
1
Cathedral
Church · paid entry · 50.94139, 6.95833
Domplatte, 50667 Köln
the Gothic cathedral that is the symbol of the city, begun on 15 August 1248 to hold the relics of the Three Kings. Building stopped around 1520 and stood still for more than three hundred years, with the old wooden crane on the tower; it resumed in 1842, and the Cathedral was celebrated as finished in 1880, with its two 157 metre towers. Behind the high altar is the Shrine of the Three Kings, from about 1190-1225, partly by Nicholas of Verdun, the largest surviving reliquary of the Middle Ages; then the Gero Cross, from around 970, Stefan Lochner's altarpiece of the city's patron saints and, in the south transept, Gerhard Richter's great window of coloured squares, from 2007. In the war it was hit by 14 large bombs and more than 70 incendiaries, but it remained standing. The climb up the south tower is 533 steps, with no lift, to the platform at about 100 metres, passing next to the bells; children go up with their parents if they can manage on their own, and there is nowhere below to leave a pushchair. The treasury is in the medieval cellars under the sacristy. Only small backpacks are allowed inside, up to 40 by 35 centimetres. In December the Cathedral Christmas market is on the Roncalliplatz, on the south side.
Opening hours you go in to pray through the north portal, on the station side, generally from 6:00 to 20:00. The visit, through the main portal, Monday to Saturday from 10:00 to 17:45, with last entry at 17:30, on Sundays and religious holidays from 13:30 to 16:30; there are no visits during mass. The south tower from November to February 9:00-16:00, from March to October 9:00-18:00, with last entry half an hour earlier. The treasury all year 10:00-18:00. Tower and treasury are closed on 1 January, 11 November, 24, 25 and 31 December, and at carnival on Fat Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday · since 1 July 2026 the Cathedral visit costs 12 euros, reduced 6 for students; under 14 free. The tower 8 euros, reduced 4; the treasury 8 euros, reduced 4; tower and treasury together 12 euros, reduced 6; under 14 free. There is no family ticket. Tickets are sold online up to three months ahead or at the ticket office on the Roncalliplatz, every day 9:00-17:30. Praying, going to mass and lighting a candle remain free, through the north portal · +49 221 17940-100 · koelner-dom.de · tickets@koelner-dom.de
the museum of twentieth-century and contemporary art, between the Cathedral and the Rhine, in the building opened in 1986 with the wave-shaped roofs, under which there is also the Philharmonie concert hall. It grew out of the donation of the collectors Peter and Irene Ludwig, mostly Pop Art, to which were added the Russian avant-garde and hundreds of works by Picasso. It has one of the largest Pop Art collections in Europe, one of the largest Picasso collections in the world, German Expressionism and photography. For young people it is the easiest museum in the city: Warhol and Lichtenstein make sense at any age, under 18 entry is free, and there is an audio guide designed for children.
Opening hours Tuesday to Sunday 10:00-18:00, holidays included; on the first Thursday of the month until 22:00. Closed on Mondays, except when it is a holiday. The museum does not publish its hours for Christmas, New Year and carnival · 15.40 euros, reduced 10.40 for students; up to 18 free. On the first Thursday of the month from 17:00, 7 euros. Another page of the website still says 13.50 euros, reduced 9.50. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 221-26165 · museum-ludwig.de · info@museum-ludwig.de
the iron arched bridge that carries the trains from the main station to the other bank, opened in 1911, in line with the Cathedral. It was blown up in 1945 and rebuilt for trains only; pedestrians cross on the two walkways at the sides, next to the tracks, and with about 1,500 trains a day it is the busiest railway bridge in Germany. Since 2008 lovers' padlocks have been fixed to the mesh of the walkway, and today there are hundreds of thousands of them. At both ends of the bridge stand the equestrian statues of the Hohenzollern kings and emperors. From the other bank, in Deutz, you get the most famous view of the Cathedral above the river.
the glass tower on the Deutz bank, 103 metres high, finished in 2006, with a viewing terrace on the twenty-ninth floor, at more than 100 metres. From up there the Cathedral stands opposite you, whole, with the Hohenzollern Bridge and the old town below. While it was being built, in 2004, UNESCO put the Cathedral on the list of World Heritage in Danger because of the towers planned on this bank, and took it off in 2006, when the plan was revised. In winter, at sunset, with the Cathedral lit up, is the best moment. It is about ten minutes on foot from the bridge.
Opening hours from October to April every day 11:00-20:00; from May to September 11:00-20:00, on Friday and Saturday until 22:00. Closed in storms and thunderstorms, and to the public on Fat Thursday, on the Monday of the carnival parade, and on 24 and 31 December · 5 euros, students and groups of 5 people 4 euros; up to 12 free. The operator does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 355004-100 · koelntrianglepanorama.de · empfang@koelntriangle.de
the Romanesque church with the great square tower and the four turrets, the one that stands next to the Cathedral in the view of the city from the river. It was built from around 1150 on the foundations of a Roman warehouse, on what was then an island in the Rhine, and was a Benedictine abbey until 1802. The bombs of 1942 and 1943 gutted it; the tower was rebuilt by 1965 and the church reconsecrated only in 1985. The choir is trefoil-shaped, as in St. Maria im Kapitol, and underneath you can visit the Roman excavations; the website does not say whether the excavations are paid. It is one of the city's twelve great Romanesque churches.
Opening hours Tuesday to Thursday 13:00-17:25; Friday and Saturday 10:00-12:30 and 13:00-17:25; Sunday 13:00-18:00. There are no visits during mass. On Mondays the church gives no hours, and it publishes no special hours for Christmas and carnival · +49 221 28361-65 · romanische-kirchen-koeln.de · sekretariat@romanische-kirchen-koeln.de
the two market squares of the old town, on the arm of the Rhine that the Romans had filled in, where their harbour was. The Alter Markt is long and narrow, with narrow, coloured houses; the Heumarkt, just to the south, is wider, with the equestrian statue of King Frederick William III. It is the heart of the carnival: on 11 November at 11:11 the season opens here and the Prince, the Peasant and the Maiden of the new year are presented, and on Fat Thursday at 11:11 the street carnival begins on the Alter Markt. From late November the two squares are the market of the Heinzelmännchen, the elves of the Cologne legend, with the Ferris wheel and, on the Heumarkt, the ice rink open until January. All around are the Brauhaus, the Kölsch beer halls.
the city's town hall, already mentioned in the twelfth century, in the middle of what was the Jewish quarter. The Gothic wing with the Hansa hall dates from around 1330: here in 1367 the towns of the Hanseatic League allied against the king of Denmark. The Gothic tower, 61 metres high, was built from 1407 to 1414 by the guilds that had just come to power, and the Renaissance loggia in front dates from 1569-1573. Under the tower clock, facing the Alter Markt, is the Platzjabbek, a head in a hat that sticks out its tongue every time the hour strikes: children love waiting for it. The tower carillon plays at 9, 12, 15 and 18. In front, under the square, they are building the museum of the medieval Jewish quarter and of the Roman governor's palace, which is not yet open.
Opening hours the building is open on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday 8:00-16:00, Tuesday 8:00-18:00, Friday 8:00-12:00; because of the museum works under the square the entrance is temporarily on the Alter Markt. The halls can be seen only on the guided tours of the city museums, whose calendar is on their website · stadt-koeln.de
the largest of the twelve Romanesque churches, on the site of the Roman temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, the city's Capitol, which gives it its name. Today's church is from the eleventh century, consecrated in 1065, and is the oldest of the churches with a trefoil choir between the Rhine and the Meuse. In the south aisle is the carved wooden door from around 1060, with scenes from the life of Christ, one of the most important wooden doors in the history of art. It was the city's second church after the Cathedral: the archbishop said the first Christmas mass here. Destroyed in the war, its choir returned to use for mass only at Christmas 1984.
Opening hours every day 9:00-18:00; there are no visits during mass · +49 221 28361-65 · maria-im-kapitol.de · sekretariat@romanische-kirchen-koeln.de
the chocolate museum, shaped like a glass ship, on the tip of the old harbour peninsula, opened in 1993 by Hans Imhoff, the owner of the Stollwerck factory. It tells the story of cocoa from the Maya and the Aztecs to the present day, has a tropical greenhouse with cocoa trees and a small glass-walled factory where you can watch the bars being made. The chocolate fountain is three metres high, and the staff dip wafers in it for the visitors. It is the children's museum, and the most crowded: it is worth buying online and going early in the morning or late in the afternoon. From mid November to early January the harbour Christmas market is in front of the museum.
Opening hours every day 10:00-18:00, last entry an hour earlier. On Mondays it is closed from January to the end of March and in the first half of November, before the Christmas market: in 2026 on 2, 9 and 16 November. Closed on 24 and 25 December; 31 December 10:00-16:00, 1 January 10:00-18:00. At carnival the hours change, and the museum publishes them later · Monday to Friday 17.50 euros, up to 18 years 10 euros, family, two adults and their children up to 18, 35 euros; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 19 euros, 11.50 and 38 euros. Under 6 free. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 931888-0 · schokoladenmuseum.de · service@schokoladenmuseum.de
Germany's national sport museum, next to the Chocolate Museum, in an 1898 customs warehouse, opened in 1999. It tells the story of sport from the ancient Olympics to the present day on two floors, but above all you play: the goal wall with the holes for shots from German television's sports programme, a bicycle in the wind tunnel, a boxing ring, and on the roof two play areas, included in the ticket, with the Rhine in front. It is closed at carnival, and on Mondays outside the school holidays.
Opening hours Tuesday to Sunday and on holidays 10:00-18:00; on Mondays open only during the regional school holidays. Closed on 24, 25 and 31 December, on 1 January and at carnival · 10.50 euros, students 7.50, seniors 9.50; under 6 free. With the family ticket, at least one adult and one child, 9.50 euros per adult and 6.50 per child. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 33609-0 · sportmuseum.de · besucher@sportmuseum.de
the city's old goods harbour, on the peninsula along the Rhine south of the old town, transformed: the nineteenth-century warehouses are offices, homes and museums, and the road along the water is a pedestrian promenade. The three Kranhäuser, the "crane houses", are three 61 metre towers shaped like an upside-down L, built from 2006 to 2010 in memory of the harbour cranes, with their arm reaching out over the river. At the start of the peninsula are the swing bridge and the Malakoff tower of the old harbour, next to the Chocolate Museum. It is the afternoon walk after the two museums.
the strangest church in Cologne, outside the Roman walls, on the city's oldest cemetery. Its heart is an oval building from the fourth century, one of the oldest religious buildings in Germany; around 1220 it was raised into a decagon with a dome, the largest dome of the Middle Ages north of the Alps. Legend links it to St. Gereon and the martyrs of the Theban Legion, and has it founded by Helena, the mother of Constantine. In the crypt is the eleventh-century mosaic floor, and in the baptistery the paintings of 1242-1245. It was rebuilt after the war up to 1985, with modern stained glass.
Opening hours as a rule every day 10:00-18:00, thanks to the volunteers who keep it open; there are no visits during mass · +49 221 28361-65 · romanische-kirchen-koeln.de · sekretariat@romanische-kirchen-koeln.de
the house that from December 1935 to 1945 was the headquarters of the Cologne Gestapo and its prison: the name comes from the initials of the man who had it built, the jeweller Leopold Dahmen. In the cellar the ten cells remain, and on the walls hundreds of inscriptions left by the prisoners, who were held there for weeks and months. Since 1988 it has been the city's documentation centre on National Socialism, with the exhibition on life in Cologne under the regime. It is a hard visit: it suits children of secondary school age and older, less so young children.
Opening hours Tuesday to Friday 10:00-18:00; Saturday, Sunday and holidays 11:00-18:00; on the first Thursday of the month 10:00-22:00. Closed on Mondays, on 24, 25 and 31 December and 1 January, and at carnival on Fat Thursday, Sunday and Monday · 4.50 euros, reduced 2 for students; school pupils go in free. The audio guide 2 euros. The museum does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 221-26332 · nsdok.de · nsdok@stadt-koeln.de
the home of the most famous eau de Cologne in the world, with its green and gold neo-Gothic façade. The name is a house number: Wilhelm Mülhens opened the factory in 1792, and when the French, who had taken the city, numbered all the houses, his got the number 4711. The French numbers disappeared, the name stayed. Today's building is from 1964, rebuilt to resemble the one destroyed in 1943. Inside is the fountain from which the eau de Cologne flows, where you wet your hands; outside, every hour, the carillon plays and the figures parade. Ten minutes, between the Cathedral and the Roman museum.
Opening hours Monday to Friday 9:30-18:30, Saturday 9:30-18:00; closed on Sunday. The Christmas and carnival hours are not published. The public guided tour on Saturday at 13:00 · the shop, the fountain and the carillon are free; the historical guided tour, of about 50 minutes, costs 8.50 euros. The house does not give the year of the price list · +49 221 27099911 · 4711.com · Dufthaus4711@m-w.de
Römisch-Germanisches Museum in the Belgisches Haus
Museum · paid entry · 50.93570, 6.95034
Cäcilienstraße 46, 50667 Köln
the city's Roman museum. Its home next to the Cathedral, built in 1974 over the Dionysus mosaic, is closed for works and will not reopen before 2030; also closed are the mosaic and the tomb of Poblicius, which could be seen from the square. Since 2019 part of the collection has been here, in the former Belgian consulate near the Neumarkt: life in the Roman city, from prehistory to the early Middle Ages, and the largest collection of Roman glass in the world. For a family it is the rainy day visit, two tram stops from the Cathedral.
Opening hours Wednesday to Monday 10:00-18:00; closed on Tuesday. On the first Thursday of the month 10:00-22:00. The museum does not publish its hours for Christmas, New Year and carnival · 6 euros, reduced 3.50; school classes go in free. The price list says nothing about children, and does not give the year · +49 221 221-28094 · roemisch-germanisches-museum.de · rgm@stadt-koeln.de
the zoo opened in 1860, the third oldest in Germany among those still in existence, in the Riehl district, north of the centre. At the end of the war it was almost destroyed, with 133 bomb craters and 23 animals alive. Today it has the elephant park, the aquarium with the insectarium, the Madagascar house, and since 2026 the new giraffe area and the dragon house, with the Komodo dragons. Children up to 12 enter only with an adult. In winter it is open every day, and the heated animal houses make it a half-day outing even in the cold. Next door is the Flora, and in front the cable car over the Rhine.
Opening hours in winter, from November to February, 9:00-17:00, last entry 16:30; from March to October 9:00-18:00. On Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve 9:00-14:00. The zoo says nothing about closures at Christmas or carnival · the price changes with the day, and online it costs less: bought early online, from 22.50 euros for adults, from 10.50 for children from 4 to 12, from 16.10 for students and seniors; at the ticket office 29.50, 15 and 23 euros. Up to 3 free. The ticket is valid for the zoo and the aquarium, and one bought online includes buses and trams in the Cologne and Bonn network. There is no family ticket · +49 221 7785-114 · koelnerzoo.de · besucherservice@koelnerzoo.de
the city's botanical garden, next to the zoo, opened in 1864, with at its centre the festival hall that is also called Flora. More than ten thousand plant species on more than eleven hectares, the themed gardens and the exotic trees planted in the year it was founded. In winter the tropical glasshouses and the desert house are worth it, warm and free. It goes well with the zoo on the same morning.
Opening hours the garden opens every day at 8:00; from October to March it closes at 17:00, in April and May at 20:00, in June and July at 21:00, in August and September at 20:00. The glasshouses every day 10:00-18:00, in winter 10:00-16:00 · +49 221 56089-0 · stadt-koeln.de
Point of interest · paid entry · 50.95714, 6.97350
Riehler Straße 180, 50735 Köln
the cable car that crosses the Rhine next to the Zoo Bridge, from the station in front of the zoo to the Rheinpark in Deutz: 935 metres in about six minutes, in small coloured cabins, with the Cathedral and the city in the background. It dates from 1957, built for the national garden show; it was dismantled in 1963 to build the bridge and came back in 1966, longer. It is run by the city's transport company. For a family arriving in December the calendar is what matters: it runs only on Advent weekends.
Opening hours in 2026 from 12 March to early November every day 10:00-18:00, last ride at 17:45. In winter it does not run, except on the four Advent weekends, Saturday and Sunday 10:00-18:00: in 2026 on 28 and 29 November, 5 and 6, 12 and 13, 19 and 20 December · with the 2026 price list adults 5.50 euros one way and 9.50 return; children from 4 to 12 3.30 and 4.80. From 4 people up the group price: adults 5 and 8.50 euros, children 2.70 and 4.30. Payment only at the ticket office, no booking · +49 221 5474183 · koelner-seilbahn.de · info@koelner-seilbahn.de
Cologne has two festival seasons that touch. On 11 November at 11:11 the carnival season opens, in the same weeks in which the children of each district walk in the St. Martin lantern processions; a few days later the Christmas markets open, the one in front of the Cathedral and half a dozen others in the centre, with the ice rink on the Heumarkt until January. In February the carnival takes to the streets for six days, from Fat Thursday to the Monday parade. In summer the festivals are on the Rhine and in the halls of the trade fair: Pride in July, the Kölner Lichter fireworks at the end of July, gamescom in August.
Next: Deutzer Kirmes · 24 Oct - 1 Nov
24 Oct › 1Nov
Deutzer Kirmes
in spring and at the end of October
Cologne's funfair, on the meadow on the right bank of the Rhine between the Deutz bridge and the Severin bridge, with the Cathedral opposite. It is held twice a year, in spring and in autumn. Entry is free and you pay ride by ride. The operator has not yet published the hours of the autumn edition; the city gives 11:00 to 22:00. The road along the river is closed to cars while the fair is open: you get there by public transport or on foot from the bridge
5-8Nov
ART COLOGNE
in November
the oldest modern and contemporary art fair in the world, in the halls of the trade fair in Deutz, with the south entrance in front of Köln Messe/Deutz station. Since 2026 it has been held in November rather than April. It is open to visitors on Friday and Saturday from 11:00 to 19:00 and on Sunday from 11:00 to 18:00, and on Thursday evening there is the preview, from 16:00 to 20:00. In 2026 a day ticket costs 34 euros online, 29 reduced for students, young people from 13 and those over 65; the preview 60. There are guided tours for children too, paid separately. Bags are checked at the entrance, and you may not bring in food or dogs
7Nov
Kölner Museumsnacht
in November
the museum night: for one evening the city's museums, and a few unusual places set up for the occasion, stay open until one in the morning, with guided tours, music and workshops. In 2026 the ticket costs 20 euros
11Nov
Elfter im Elften
on 11 November
the opening of the carnival season, on the Heumarkt and the Alter Markt, in the old town. Entry is from 9:00, at 11:11 there is the countdown with the shower of confetti, then the carnival bands play on the stage and the Prince, the Peasant and the Maiden of the season are presented, until 20:00. The two squares hold about thirty thousand people and entry is by ticket only: in 2026 from 11.11 euros for the area at the back to 39 euros in front of the stage, plus 5 euros booking fee per order, from the website of the organising association. Glass is forbidden, and on the Heumarkt you may not bring food or drink. That day the whole city goes out in costume, beyond the squares too
13 Nov › 10Jan
The other Christmas markets
from mid November to early January
the other markets in the centre, all within walking distance of one another and all free to enter. Heinzels Wintermärchen, the largest according to its organisers, on the Alter Markt and the Heumarkt, with more than a hundred chalets devoted to the Heinzelmännchen, the elves of the Cologne legend: every day from 11:00 to 22:00. On the Alter Markt it ends on 23 December, on the Heumarkt it stays until the second weekend of January, closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On the Heumarkt there is the open-air ice rink, from 11:00 to 21:45, with lanes for Bavarian curling and a skating school for children; in 2026 it costs 9.50 euros on weekdays and 11.50 at weekends, 6 euros for children from 5 to 12, under 5 free, and skate hire costs 6.50 euros, 5.50 for children. There are also the Ferris wheel, an old carousel and the Christmas post office for children's letters. The Markt der Engel, the angels' market, on the Neumarkt, under a sky of light stars, with angels on stilts and the giant puppets of the city's puppet theatre: Sunday to Thursday from 11:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday until 22:00. The Nikolausdorf, St. Nicholas's village, on the Rudolfplatz, with half-timbered chalets in front of the medieval gate: St. Nicholas walks among the chalets every day from 16:30 to 17:30, and in the heated chalet children do crafts for free. The harbour market, on the bank of the Rhine in front of the Chocolate Museum, the first to open and the last of the small ones to close, after New Year: from 11:00 to 21:00, Friday and Saturday until 22:00. And the Stadtgarten market, under the trees of the park, with more than sixty craft stalls that change every week. On Totensonntag the Neumarkt and the Rudolfplatz stay closed and the harbour opens at 18:00
16-21Nov
Weihnachtsmarkt am Kölner Dom
from mid November to 23 December
the Christmas market in front of the Cathedral, on the Roncalliplatz, with more than a hundred and forty chalets. In the middle is the stage under the canopy of lights, with more than a hundred free shows and a programme for children. It is open Sunday to Wednesday from 11:00 to 21:00, Thursday and Friday until 22:00, Saturday from 10:00 to 22:00. It closes on Totensonntag, the Sunday of the dead, the last before Advent, and after 23 December it does not reopen
16-21 Nov · 23 Nov - 23 Dec
4-9Feb
Kölner Karneval
in February
the street carnival, from Fat Thursday to Tuesday, with the cry "Kölle Alaaf". On Thursday, Weiberfastnacht, the women's day, it opens at 11:11 on the Alter Markt, and the women cut off the ties of the men wearing them; in 2026 the square opened at 8:30, with a 30 euro ticket. On Saturday evening there is the ghost parade, which anyone in costume can join, with no floats and no amplified music. On Sunday from 11:11 the school and district parades, more than eight thousand people in handmade costumes, almost on the same route as Monday's. On Monday, Rosenmontag, there is the great parade: it sets off at 10:00 from the Severinstraße, passes through the Hohe Straße, the Schildergasse, the Neumarkt, the Ring boulevards, the Heumarkt and the Alter Markt, turns in front of the Cathedral and ends behind the station, seven and a half kilometres that the parade, more than eight kilometres long itself, covers in about three and a half hours. In 2026 there were about eleven and a half thousand people, ninety-five floats and sixty bands, and three hundred tonnes of sweets, seven hundred thousand bars of chocolate and three hundred thousand small bunches of flowers were thrown from the floats. Along the street you watch for free; on the stands you pay, and tickets for children up to 12 are available only on the Heumarkt and on the family stand on the Hohenzollernring. On the night between Tuesday and Wednesday the Nubbel is burnt, the straw figure that takes the blame for the carnival
26 Feb › 14Mar
lit.Cologne
between late February and mid March
Cologne's literature festival, two weeks of readings and meetings with authors in theatres and halls all over the city, almost all in German, with a section for children. You pay evening by evening
2-4Jul
ColognePride
in July
Cologne's LGBT pride week, one of the largest in Europe. For three days there is the street festival on the Heumarkt and the Alter Markt, with three stages, and on Sunday the Christopher Street Day parade, which in 2026 set off around 11:30 from the Deutz bridge, crossed the centre and ended near the Cathedral, with more than fifty thousand people. It is free
31Jul
Kölner Lichter
at the end of July
the fireworks on the Rhine. From the afternoon people gather on both banks, with music from the loudspeakers; around 22:00 the convoy of some twenty-five illuminated boats passes, and those on the bank switch on their phone lights; at 23:00 the great show begins, set to music, from two ships anchored in the river. Almost all the banks are free to enter, including the Rheinpark in Deutz, where however numbers are limited and it is worth arriving by 19:00; you pay for the stands, the boats and the places in the bars and restaurants. No glass, no tents or barbecues
26-29Aug
gamescom
in August
the largest video game fair in the world, in the halls of the trade fair in Deutz. The first days are for the trade; the last four, from Thursday to Sunday, are open to everyone, with tickets to be bought in advance
This year's dates are not out yet
Sankt Martin
in November
the St. Martin lantern processions, which in Cologne are organised by the nursery schools, schools and parishes of every district, almost all between the beginning and the middle of November. They set off in the late afternoon, usually between 17:00 and 17:30. They are not a show: it is a festival for the children of the district, and passers-by come across them in the street
Remember
Useful tips
In December at the Riehl Reisemobilhafen you cannot book a single night: bookings are for two nights or more, at least a week ahead, and not for a Saturday arrival. Those without a booking arrive in the morning, when others are leaving. There are no toilets: you need your on-board one
Without the green sticker you reach Riehl from the A57 motorway and the Innere Kanalstraße, which the city lets everyone use, and not along the Rhine; in any case the sticker is ordered before leaving, and it is the same one as for Frankfurt and the whole of Germany
In winter Camping Berger wants a phone call first, and from 24 December to 1 January it is closed: those spending Christmas in Cologne sleep at Riehl or Dünnwald
For a family of up to five, a single 24-hour ticket for five people, 19.20 euros, costs the same as two one-person 24-hour tickets, and from three people on it is cheaper; it is valid for 24 hours from validation, so if validated at noon it also covers the next morning
Since 1 July 2026 the Cathedral is paid, but under 14 entry is free, and those going in to pray or light a candle enter free through the north portal, towards the station. Tickets can be bought online up to three months ahead
On Sunday 22 November 2026, Totensonntag, the Cathedral market, the Neumarkt and the Rudolfplatz are closed, the harbour opens only at 18:00 and the Alter Markt market has not yet opened: it is the wrong day to arrive
Tickets for 11 November are sold only online, and the 5 euro fee is per order, not per ticket: one order for the whole family is better. At carnival, 11 November included, glass is forbidden: bring drinks in plastic bottles
On the Monday of the parade the streets on the route close at dawn, and pushchairs are not allowed on the stands. Those coming through Switzerland for the carnival need the 2027 vignette, because the 2026 one expires on 31 January
At carnival and over Christmas many places close: the Cathedral tower and treasury on Fat Thursday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday of carnival, on 11 November, on 24, 25 and 31 December and on 1 January; the sport museum for the whole carnival; the Gestapo house on Thursday, Sunday and Monday; the KölnTriangle on Fat Thursday, on the Monday of the parade, on Christmas Eve and on New Year's Eve
On the first Thursday of the month the city museums stay open until 22:00, and at the Museum Ludwig from 17:00 you pay 7 euros. The city's MuseumsCard is valid for two consecutive days in all the municipal museums: 18 euros on your own, 30 for a family
The zoo changes its price with the day: bought early online it costs up to 7 euros less per person, and the online ticket includes the tram to get there. In winter the cable car runs only on Advent weekends, and you pay only at the ticket office
In the Brauhaus you do not order the beer: the Köbes brings a new Kölsch as soon as your glass is empty and makes a mark on the beer mat for each one. When you have had enough you lay the beer mat on top of the glass, and you pay at the end. Food, on the other hand, is ordered from the menu, and many have dishes for children. A Kölsch costs around 2.40 euros. In a Cologne Brauhaus you do not ask for Alt, the dark beer of Düsseldorf
The historic Brauhaus of the centre are within walking distance between the Cathedral and the Rhine: Früh am Dom, in Am Hof, since 1904, with 1,500 seats, Sion, in Unter Taschenmacher, the Malzmühle, on the Heumarkt, since 1858, closed only on 24 and 25 December, and Peters Brauhaus, in the Mühlengasse. Off the walk is Päffgen, in the Friesenstraße, since 1883, where the beer is still brewed on the premises
Sion makes Rievkooche on Thursdays, but its menu says that in winter they stop until January: in December, ask
At New Year the city bans bangers in the centre between the Rhine and the Ring boulevards, and around the Cathedral it bans carrying fireworks of any kind from 18:00 on the 31st to 5:00 on 1 January: these are the 2025-2026 rules, and they are set again every year. Private fireworks are best watched from the Deutz banks
Cologne · part two
and then?
What to taste, and where to go tomorrow.
Taste
In Cologne you drink Kölsch, the pale top-fermented beer, around 4.8 per cent, that bears the city's name. Since 1986 the brewers have kept it under a rule of their own, which underlies its European protection: it is brewed only in Cologne, and outside the city only in Brühl and Wiehl, where they were already brewing it before. It is served in the Stange, the straight 0.2 litre glass, and in the Brauhaus you do not order it: the Köbes, the waiter in the blue apron, goes round with the Kranz, the round glass carrier, and puts a full beer in place of the empty one until you lay the beer mat on top of the glass. Each beer is a mark on the beer mat, and you pay at the end. To eat there is Halve Hahn, which means half a chicken but is a rye roll with aged Dutch cheese, butter, onion and mustard; Kölscher Kaviar, which is black pudding with onion; and Himmel un Ääd, heaven and earth, mashed potato with apples, with fried black pudding. Rhenish Sauerbraten is marinated for three days and thickened with Printen, the spiced biscuits of Aachen; it used to be horse meat, today in the Brauhaus it is almost always beef. Rievkooche, potato fritters, are eaten with apple sauce or on black bread, and every Brauhaus makes them on its own day of the week. At carnival and New Year the bakeries have Muuzemändelcher, little almond-shaped pieces of fried dough.
the Christmas market on the Roncalliplatz at the blue hour, with the big tree and the canopy of fairy lights in front of the CathedralPhoto: Eremeev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the illuminated tree and the red roofs of the chalets on the Roncalliplatz, with the Cathedral behind in the nightPhoto: -wuppertaler, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the stage of the market in front of the Cathedral under the canopy of fairy lights, with the tree and the evening crowdPhoto: Eremeev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the red-roofed chalets of the market on the Roncalliplatz seen from above at sunset, with the illuminated treePhoto: Superbass, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the ice rink on the Heumarkt seen from above at night, with the Cathedral and Groß St. Martin in the backgroundPhoto: Superbass, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the illuminated gate of the elves' market on the Alter Markt, in the evening, when it was called Heimat der HeinzelPhoto: Eremeev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the Ferris wheel of the Christmas market on the Alter Markt, lit up on a December evening in 2013Photo: Superbass, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the white tents of the harbour Christmas market, near the Chocolate Museum, seen from abovePhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0a float in the 2015 Rosenmontag parade with the billy goat Hennes, the mascot of 1. FC Köln, and the crowd with their hands raisedPhoto: dronepicr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0the crowd in costume along the route of the Rosenmontag parade, on a sunny dayPhoto: Dronepicr, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the crowd in costume in the old town on 11 November 2019, at the opening of the carnival seasonPhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the masked revellers gathered in front of the Brauhaus Sion for the burning of the Nubbel, on the evening of Shrove Tuesday 2025Photo: Superbass, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the two spires and the long roof of the Cathedral in the warm light of sunsetPhoto: Eric Kilby, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0the nave of the Cathedral with its pews, towards the choir lit by the stained glass windowsPhoto: Johan Bakker, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the golden Shrine of the Three Kings in its glass case, inside the choir of the CathedralPhoto: Yair-haklai, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the coloured light of Gerhard Richter's window falling on the pillars of the CathedralPhoto: Geolina163, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the wave-shaped roofs of the Museum Ludwig and the illuminated Cathedral, at nightPhoto: José A. Sánchez Penzo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the illuminated Hohenzollern Bridge and the Cathedral reflected in the Rhine at the blue hourPhoto: Sandeepdattaraju, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0lovers' padlocks on the railing of the Hohenzollern Bridge, with the Cathedral in the distancePhoto: Alexey Komarov, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the Cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge seen from high up on the Deutz bank, on a January dayPhoto: Nikolai Karaneschev, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0the church of Groß St. Martin and the houses of the old town from above, with the Cathedral behind and the RhinePhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Alter Markt in spring, with the coloured houses and the Jan von Werth fountainPhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0the Renaissance loggia of Cologne's Rathaus, under a blue skyPhoto: Dietmar Rabich, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Romanesque interior of St. Maria im Kapitol, with the arches and the marble floors around the choirPhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Chocolate Museum on the tip of the harbour, looking out over the Rhine, in the eveningPhoto: Jorge Franganillo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0the German Sport and Olympic Museum with the pitch on the roof, and the Cathedral behindPhoto: Franz Gerd Frank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Kranhäuser of the Rheinauhafen and the Cathedral at sunset, seen from the opposite bank of the RhinePhoto: Superbass, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the basilica of St. Gereon with the dome of the decagon and the two bell towers, seen from abovePhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the corridor of the Gestapo cells in the cellar of the EL-DE-Haus, today part of the visitor routePhoto: NS-Dokumentationszentrum der Stadt Köln, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the 4711 eau de Cologne house in the Glockengasse, with its turrets on the street cornerPhoto: Gunnar Klack, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the Roman glass on display in the Römisch-Germanisches Museum's home in the Belgisches HausPhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a family of baboons with their baby at Cologne ZooPhoto: Till Niermann, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0the flowerbeds and the Festhaus of the Flora, the botanical garden next to the zooPhoto: Nicola, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0a cabin of the Rhine cable car above the Zoobrücke, on a summer dayPhoto: Raimond Spekking, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0the counter of the Brauhaus Früh em Veedel with glasses of Kölsch just pouredPhoto: Gordito1869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0a Kölsch drawn from the wooden barrel at the Traditionsgaststätte Lommerzheim in DeutzPhoto: Gordito1869, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
