Cologne (Germany)

We went to Cologne this December so I could practice my German, we could go to the Christmas markets and we could take some much needed time off work. Actually, scrap that. Those were the reasons we went to Germany. The single reason we went to Cologne in particular was the flight schedules - Tui now fly there from Manchester, and our flights cost less than £70 return including taxes and the credit card fee (alarmingly charged per passenger, not per transaction). I had been to Cologne before, but not since 1991, which is a decent chunk of my life ago. My companion had never been there, nor ... more

HEINZELMÄNNCHEN’S HOME The other day I was in Köln am Rhein, the fourth largest German city with nearly one million inhabitants, Cologne on the Rhine for you, Colonia Agrippina for the Old Romans; the wife of Emperor Claudius was born on the banks of the Rhine and elevated her ’colonia’ to the status of a city in the year 50 A.D. I don’t know if you associate anything with Köln (the ‘ö‘ is pronounced like the ‘u‘ in burn), Germans think of Carnival, the Cathedral and Eau de Cologne. I don’t know any other city where the main attraction is right beside the train station (or rather vice versa) ... more

I studied Modern Languages at University, and was lucky enough to live and study in Cologne for one year as part of my course. I came to know the city extremely well and go back once a year to visit friends and the Christmas Markets. I want to give you some insider-knowledge on my favourite haunts and tourist attractions, and hopefully convince you that a trip to my old stomping-ground would be well worth the trip! …. When to visit…. - February – April Cologne Carnival (www.koelnerkarneval.de/fastelovend-op-e​nglisch.html) takes place on the Monday before Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of ... more

When I told Mel (cheekychicken) what I was writing about, her words were, 'Oh right! ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!But trust me, I promise, well I hope, it's not boring, well my opinion might be lol, but the place isn't.This is not about Cologne in general, but about the christmas markets there. Two years ago I was fortunate to spend a long weekend in Cologne, germany. It was a few weeks before christmas and the famous christmas markets were in full swing. I'll never forget it, it was wonderful and magical. If you love Christmas, and all the old traditions, then this is the place for you. As I write this ... more

The obvious thing to 'do' when you are in Cologne is to go and see the cathedral - and this is indeed probably where your visit to the city should start, as it's right in the centre and fairly close to the tourist office. The building itself is enormous and easily findable, as the spires rise above the city well! Climbing the tower is cheap and, if you can manage the 500-odd steps, affords great views of the city. Cologne has some good shopping too - make sure you go on a weekday though as shops shut at lunchtime on Saturdays - and whatever you do, try to get to the Imhoff-Stollwerck museum on ... more