I might be not very objective to this subject, because I lived for most of my life near cologne and worked in this city, but I still like to tell you about it.
If you plan a trip to Cologne, go for it! It's perfect for a short trip over the weekend because you can cheap flights with Easyjet or Hapagh Lloyd from East Midlands, Manchester, Coventry (from £30) and I'm sure there are good connections from London as well.
The best place to stay is in a hotel near the main train station. It might be a bit loud at night, but if you want to go out in the evening you want to be in the centre and not 15 km outside. There are great subway connections throughout Cologne, but they stop around 12pm /1 am but the bars and clubs are open for much longer. 3am is normal for a bar, but if many people stay in a club you can dance even at 6am and enjoy yourself. If you want to go out in Cologne, the best places to eat and relax are in the old town, not far from the main train station. You'll find a lot of restaurants and you have a great view on the river Rhein. To have a drink you can go to one of the many cocktailbars on Heumarkt or Zuelpicher Platz. This is a very trendy and young region with some Studentbars, so the drinks and entries are quite cheap here. If you want to go to a club which is very "in" you could go on the "Ringe". But make sure you don't wear trainers! What you have to drink here is Koelsch!
Of course there are other things to see and do other then drinking and partying at night. I mentioned the river Rhine before and you can make boattrips to places like Bonn (which was the capital of Germany before Berlin). Cologne is famous for it Cathedral, which is just next to the main train station. It is beautiful and if you make the effort to go upstairs (there must be millions of stairs!), you'll have a stunning view over Cologne. It is great for shopping as well. You have all shops on one long street (Schildergasse/ Hohe Strasse) and compared to england prices you can make some good deals.
For people, who just want to have fun, I would recommend to visit Cologne when it's Karneval. It's usually in February/ march and starts on a Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) and finishes on the following Wednesday (Aschermittwoch). In this 6 days people wear costumes and sing strange songs, but it's great fun and I bet everyone will have met at least 20 new, nice people during this few days. What you do it wander from one bar the the next or just stay outside on the street and party. On Monday, there is a parade which is definitely worth watching. If you're lucky you even get some candies, but I usually give them to kids and only keep the little bottles (they taste better ;-) )
So my verdict is definitely go and see this great, amazing city for yourself!
Kölsch, good old Kölsch. It's such a good beer. Love it. But Bonn as previous capital of Germany - please... that's been years ago now, move on! :-)
jesi 25.07.2005 18:49
Are you so close to the city you miss the wonder of it? It reminds me of living in Willow Grove (PA) (once, at least) home of a world-famous roller-coaster and funpark - and NEVER visiting the funpark all the while we kids were living just up the road from it - it is very difficult to accurately assess the familiar in the way required for a prospective buyer... What is there for the religious or cathedral-seeker to see? And are there any Gardens of note or famous buildings?... - ♥♥ - jes ≈≈≈≈{; -)-{{::::: |||||< ♥♥
MALU 21.07.2005 21:40
Ja, die Geschmäcker sind verschieden, ich würde *nie* nach Köln zur Karnevalszeit fahren! Ich fahre nach Köln und gucke mir die Museen an.
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![Man - Live In Cologne, Germany 17th April 1975 [2007] [DVD]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/77976249.jpg "Man - Live In Cologne, Germany 17th April 1975 [2007] [DVD]")
Jul 3rd, 2005
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