Cologne, Germany
Things to Do in Cologne
Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city, and most visitors give it a single day, see the cathedral, and move on. This guide is built the other way around: the landmark first, because you will go there anyway, then the parts of the city that make people book a second night.
Everything below links to a full page with hours, prices and the neighborhood it sits in. Of our 22 listed attractions, 16 cost nothing to visit.
Four things nobody tells you before you land
- The beer comes in small glasses on purpose. Kölsch is the local beer, and by tradition it is served only in Cologne, in a straight 0.2-liter glass called a Stange, about seven ounces. A waiter, called a Köbes, replaces your empty glass without being asked and marks your coaster. Put the coaster on top of the glass when you are done, or the beer keeps coming.
- Carnival is not a parade, it is a season. Karneval opens on November 11 and runs to Ash Wednesday, peaking in the week before Lent. On Rose Monday the city effectively shuts down: schools, offices and many restaurants close, hotel rates spike, and the parade takes over the center for hours.
- The Rhine splits the city, and both banks matter. The cathedral, the Old Town and the museums are on the left bank. The best view of all of it is from the right bank in Deutz. You can walk across on the Hohenzollernbrücke (Hohenzollern Bridge) in about ten minutes, or ride the Rhine cable car from the Rheinpark (Rhine Park).
- The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and walking in costs nothing. It draws around 6 million visitors a year, which makes it Germany's most-visited building. Come early or late if you want it quiet.
Start here
1. Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral)
Nothing else in the city competes. The cathedral rises 515 feet directly above the main train station, so it is the first thing you see when you step out of the platform hall, and it is far larger in person than photographs suggest. Construction began in 1248 and was not finished until 1880.
Go inside first, before the tour groups. The Shrine of the Three Kings, the Gero Crucifix and Gerhard Richter's abstract stained-glass window are all in the nave. Then decide about the tower: 533 steps up a narrow spiral staircase, no elevator, and a panorama over the whole Rhine valley at the top. Large bags stay at the bottom.
Budget an hour for the interior alone, or two if you climb. If you do only one thing in Cologne, this is it.
Landmark
Cologne Cathedral
A Gothic cathedral, UNESCO World Heritage Site and 515 feet tall. With 6 million visitors a year, it is Germany's most-visited landmark.
Hours: Mon-Sat 6am-9pm, Sun 1pm-4:30pm
Entry: free
Full cathedral guide →Around the water
2. The Altstadt (Old Town) and the Rhine
Cologne was bombed flat in World War II, so the Old Town you walk through is largely a reconstruction. That surprises people, and it should not put you off: the street plan is medieval, the squares are where they always were, and the brewhouses are the real thing. Read the full Altstadt neighborhood guide before you go.
The stretch between Alter Markt, Heumarkt and the riverbank is compact enough to cover on foot in an afternoon. Do it slowly, cross the river once, and come back for dinner.
Landmark
Hohenzollern Bridge
A railway bridge famous for its love locks. The best selfie spot, with the cathedral in the background.
Note: Cross on foot for the classic cathedral photo.
Free to visit
Landmark
Cologne City Hall
The oldest city hall in Germany, with a Renaissance loggia and a 200-foot council tower. A carillon plays Stockhausen compositions.
Free to visit
Church
Groß St. Martin
A Romanesque basilica with a clover-leaf choir. One of Cologne's twelve great Romanesque churches.
Free to visit
Market square
Heumarkt
At 176,000 square feet, Cologne's second-largest square. Equestrian statue of Friedrich Wilhelm III and the Heinzels Wintermärchen market.
Free to visit
Viewpoint
KölnTriangle Panorama
A 330-foot observation deck with the best view of the cathedral and Old Town.
Note: The one paid view worth the elevator ride.
From 5 euros
Modern landmark
Crane Houses at the Rheinauhafen
Three striking L-shaped office towers. An emblem of modern Cologne and a top photo spot from the opposite riverbank.
Free to visit
Rainy day, and most days
3. The museums
Cologne's museum quarter is unusually strong for a city this size, and three of the best are within a two-minute walk of the cathedral. If you have one museum in you, make it Museum Ludwig for modern art or the Wallraf-Richartz Museum for the old masters. Bring a museum into the plan on any day between November and March, when the weather on the Rhine is reliably gray.
Two caveats worth knowing before you book: the Roman-Germanic Museum is under renovation until 2030, with highlights shown at the Belgisches Haus on Neumarkt, and the Wallraf-Richartz Museum closes for 18 months starting in September 2026.
Museum
Museum Ludwig
One of the world's most important collections of modern art. Picasso, Pop Art and the Russian avant-garde.
Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm, closed Mon
From 11 euros
Museum
Roman-Germanic Museum
Cologne's archaeology museum, home to the famous Dionysus Mosaic from the year 220 AD.
From 6 euros
Museum
Wallraf-Richartz Museum
Cologne's oldest picture gallery, with the world's most comprehensive collection of medieval painting.
Hours: Tue-Sun 10am-6pm
From 8 euros
Museum
Chocolate Museum
Germany's sweetest museum at the Rheinauhafen. A chocolate fountain, a live production line and tastings.
Hours: Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun 11am-7pm
From 13.5 euros
Museum
NS Documentation Center
In the historic EL-DE House, Cologne's former Gestapo headquarters. A cellar prison with inscriptions left by the prisoners.
Hours: Tue-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat-Sun 11am-6pm
From 4.5 euros
Older than the cathedral
4. The Romanesque churches and the medieval gates
This is the part of Cologne that rewards a second day. Twelve great Romanesque churches stand inside the ring of the medieval city, most of them centuries older than the Gothic cathedral, all of them free to enter, and almost none of them crowded. Three are listed below along with two of the four surviving city gates.
Church
St. Maria im Kapitol
One of the twelve great Romanesque churches. A trefoil design with famous wooden doors from 1065.
Church
St. Gereon
A Romanesque basilica with the largest self-supporting dome of the Middle Ages north of the Alps.
Church
St. Aposteln
A Romanesque basilica on Neumarkt with a distinctive trefoil design and twin towers.
Landmark
Hahnentor
A medieval city gate on Rudolfplatz. The coronation gate through which kings passed on their way from Aachen to the cathedral.
Landmark
Severinstorburg
A medieval city gate with an asymmetric hexagonal tower. The starting point of the Carnival parade.
The full set is on the churches page, and the landmarks in stone are collected under Cologne's landmarks.
When the sun is out
5. Parks, riverbanks and open-air venues
Cologne between May and September is a beer-garden city. Locals do not sit indoors when they do not have to, and the parks fill up on the first warm evening of the year. All of these are free to enter.
Park
Rhine Park
100 acres of parkland by the Rhine with the Tanzbrunnen, a miniature railway and water terraces. A former garden-show site.
Park
Stadtgarten
Cologne's first modern park, from 1828, with a jazz club and a beer garden. A meeting point in the Belgian Quarter.
Park
Volksgarten
A popular city park with a pond, the Volksgarten restaurant and a beer garden right by the water.
Event venue
Tanzbrunnen
An open-air stage in the Rhine Park right by the river. A venue for concerts, summer nights and Carnival sessions.
Modern landmark
Lanxess Arena
Germany's largest indoor arena, with its striking 250-foot arch. Home of the Kölner Haie hockey team.
Off the tourist route
6. The neighborhoods locals actually spend time in
Cologne calls its neighborhoods Veedel, and people identify with theirs the way New Yorkers identify with a borough. The Old Town is where the tour buses stop. The Veedel are where the city lives, and every one of them is 10 to 20 minutes away by tram.
If you only have one evening to spend outside the center, spend it in the Belgisches Viertel (Belgian Quarter) or in Ehrenfeld.
Belgian Quarter
A creative quarter around Brüsseler Platz. Concept stores, indie cafés and young galleries.
Ehrenfeld
A diverse, multicultural quarter with street art, cafés, Turkish markets and underground clubs.
Südstadt
A laid-back, student-friendly quarter with Chlodwigplatz, Severinstraße and countless small eateries.
Nippes
An up-and-coming family quarter with a market hall, Sunday flea markets and a weekly market.
Kalk
Industrial heritage meets art. The KölnArcaden mall, the Odonien sculpture park and a young alternative scene.
Deutz
On the right bank across from the cathedral. The fairgrounds, the Lanxess Arena and the KölnTriangle with its panorama deck.
Rheinauhafen
An architecture hotspot on the Rhine. The Crane Houses, the Chocolate Museum and a modern promenade.
Lindenthal
A leafy residential district with the city forest, the Decksteiner Weiher lake and the university hospital.
All 9 neighborhood guides are on the neighborhoods page.
Timing
7. When to come, and what is on
Christmas markets, late November into December
Cologne runs several Christmas markets at once, and they are within walking distance of each other. The largest sits directly under the cathedral. A second, Heinzels Wintermärchen, takes over the Heumarkt, and the Stadtgarten hosts a smaller rotating one. Expect crowds on weekends and book hotels early.
Carnival, November 11 to Ash Wednesday
The Rose Monday parade traditionally sets off through the Severinstorburg gate into the Old Town. Carnival sessions also run at the Tanzbrunnen. If you want to see it, plan for it. If you want a quiet city, avoid that week entirely. Everything is on the Carnival page.
May through October
The easiest time to visit. Mild enough for the brewhouse terraces and the Rhine Park, long evenings, and no seasonal closures. This is also the window our three-day plan is built around.
Browse by theme
Everything, sorted by what you are in the mood for
Landmarks
The city's iconic buildings
Museums
Art, history and culture
Parks & Green
Recreation in the middle of the city
Churches
The twelve Romanesque churches and the cathedral
Nightlife
Bars, clubs and brewhouses
Family
Out and about in Cologne with kids
Carnival
From the season's opening to Ash Wednesday
Tours & Tickets
Book the highlights
Guided tours, skip-the-line tickets and day trips from Cologne, bookable online with free cancellation.
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