The best Cologne tips and insider information for your city trip

After our days in Düsseldorf, we set off for Cologne. Both Marco and I had been to the city before, so we both had a rough idea of what to expect. We spent two nights in Cologne and explored the city leisurely on foot. Welcome to Germany’s oldest city! There’s something going on here, and not just during carnival time. We’ll share our Cologne tips for a relaxing city trip on the Rhine.

Our hostel – the shared apartment
The famous Crane Houses at Rheinauhafen
The Chocolate Museum in Cologne
Hohenzollern Bridge and lots of love
Cologne tips – View from the KölnTriangelPanorama
Trip to the RTL Studios
Relaxation in the Rheinpark & The Cologne Cable Car
Tourist Highlight – Cologne Cathedral
Cool Restaurants and Bars on Aachener Straße
More Cologne Tips from Our Readers

Our Hostel – The Shared Apartment

In Cologne, we stayed in a shared apartment. This cool hostel is located in the heart of the popular Belgian Quarter, just a 4-minute walk from the Rudolfplatz subway station. The Belgian Quarter around Brüsseler Platz has definitely become a trendy district for the younger generation. We can certainly relate.

Die-Wohngemeinschaft-Koeln-Cafe-Bar

Young creatives have their designer shops, cafes, offices, and even currywurst stands and hip restaurants here. It’s a colorful mix of everything, yet this neighborhood exudes a cool, modern, and urban flair. You can simply let yourself go here for several hours. You can find all the information about the Belgian Quarter on the Koeln.de website.

You enter the hostel through a super cool café on the ground floor. Here you can get snacks, drinks, and coffee. In the evenings, it’s a popular meeting place for people from the area. The decor in the café and the hostel is reminiscent of the 1950s, like your great-grandmother’s house. Everything is stylish, with a unique idea, and with attention to detail.

The café even has a converted VW bus, where you can also sit comfortably. The individual rooms upstairs in the hostel have all been designed and furnished differently. For example, there’s the colorful and shimmering Cube Room or the magnificent Amber Room.

Beat Hut, Tiki Hut, Country House Room & Co.

Other rooms are called, among others, 60s Beat Hut, Exotic Tiki Hut, Romantic Country House, or Curious Circus Room. In the communal lounge, you can enjoy a truly impressive vegetarian breakfast for just €5 per person. Coffee, tea, and water are available free of charge around the clock. The showers and toilets were always clean, and the atmosphere in the hostel was consistently relaxed and chilled.

We stayed in the shimmering Cube Room. This double room features a controllable light installation. You can change the colors of this colorful cube wall using a remote control. Really cool! We were even allowed to scribble on another wall with pens – almost like we used to in our own childhood bedroom.

It’s best to call the hostel before booking and ask which of the cool rooms are still available. The shared apartment also has cheaper and really cool shared rooms. Double rooms start at €59 per night, depending on the travel period, and shared rooms start at a reasonable €23 per person. Click here to book.

The famous Crane Houses at Rheinauhafen

Now our little exploration tour could finally begin. We took the tram towards the harbor to the “Ubierring” stop. Here at Rheinauhafen are the famous Crane Houses, which are used not only for work but also for living. The three crane buildings rise a good 60 meters high and can be seen from afar.

Crane House 1 and Crane House South primarily house office space, while Crane House North houses 135 luxurious condominiums. The view from such an apartment must be pretty cool. But the location, architecture, and uniqueness also come at a price. We once read that even Lukas Podolski owns a penthouse there. Not bad, Mr. Podolski!

The Chocolate Museum in Cologne

Although we hadn’t planned a visit, we still made a quick stop as we passed by. I can’t say no to chocolate anyway. In the old customs building at the Rheinauhafen, you can get information about the history, cultivation, and harvesting of cocoa beans.

In the chocolate shop, you can be inspired by a huge selection of chocolate and pralines. There are truly curious chocolate variations here. Naturally, a few bars ended up in the shopping basket. Admission to the museum costs €11.50 for adults, €7.50 for children and students. Children under 6 can enter for free. You can find more information on the Chocolate Museum’s website.

Hohenzollern Bridge and lots of love

Our tour continued along the harbor to the Hohenzollern Bridge. There’s probably hardly a photo of Cologne that doesn’t include this bridge, right? From here, you have a beautiful view of the cathedral, the Rhine, and the riverbank. And what immediately catches your eye are the thousands of love locks. It’s actually something of a tradition, almost a custom, for a couple in love to immortalize themselves with a lock. They then throw the key into the Rhine together.

Cologne Tips – View from the KölnTriangelPanorama

On the other side of the bridge is the next highlight – The KölnTriangelPanorama Tower. The elevator takes you to a height of 100 meters at 4 meters per second. From here, you have a wonderful view of the city, the Rhine, the cathedral, and the surrounding area. This is probably where the famous, typical Cologne photos, featuring Cologne Cathedral and the Hohenzollern Bridge as the main motif, are taken. Admission is only €3 per person and is absolutely worth it!

Trip to the RTL Studios

With our friend in tow, we headed to the RTL Studios because his girlfriend works there. He just wanted to pick something up, and whoosh… we were right in the middle of it instead of just watching. His girlfriend led us through several studios, showing us the various locations with huge cameras, green rooms, and colorful props.

A variety of programs played on what felt like thousands of screens. “Guten Morgen Deutschland” is filmed and broadcast live here, as well as news from the n-TV channel. So one moment you’re sitting there sipping coffee, and the next moment you’re behind the scenes at RTL – a crazy trip to Germany!

Relaxation in the Rheinpark & the Cologne Cable Car

Our friend told us that there are a lot of green parrots in Cologne. While strolling through the Rheinpark, we even saw a few fluttering around. We also really liked this park because there were so many beautiful, colorful flowers in bloom. And you know me, I’m always having to photograph flowers – I don’t really know why. We would have loved to see the Botanical Garden, the University Meadows, the Rose Garden, the Volksgarten, and the Melaten Cemetery, but we’ll do that next time.

The cable car station is located at the edge of the Rheinpark. We then took the cable car from one side to the other side of Cologne. The ride only takes a few minutes, but the view directly over the Rhine and the city is truly fantastic. You pay €4.80 each way, or just €7 if you buy a round-trip ticket.

Tourist Highlight – Cologne Cathedral

The most typical tourist attraction is definitely a visit to Cologne Cathedral. Since neither of us has ever been to the cathedral, we finally decided to do so. The building itself is quite spectacular and impressive. This Gothic church stands like a mighty colossus in the middle of the old town and is therefore a good landmark. The cathedral itself is a masterpiece of High Gothic architecture, with a five-aisled transept and a mighty choir with a crown of chapels. It’s no wonder, then, that Cologne Cathedral has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Admission to the cathedral is free. Various tours are available. The roof tour is sure to be of interest to many. These tours are marked with an “Ö” and cost €15 per person (duration 1.5 hours). Public tours take place every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 5:15 p.m., and on Saturdays at 11:15 a.m. and 4:15 p.m.

Not far from the cathedral, you’ll find many other highlights, such as the old town with its narrow alleys, renowned museums, medieval buildings, and other relics from bygone times. We didn’t spend much time in the touristy old town, as we weren’t in the mood for expensive boutiques and the usual shopping malls. Therefore, we don’t have any further recommendations at this point. Just stroll through and move on.

Cool restaurants and bars on Aachener Straße

Aachener Straße not only leads “directly” to Aachen, it also takes you past countless cool restaurants, pubs, and bars. As always, we spontaneously ended up at “Herr Pimock” and ordered burgers, fries, and currywurst. The area is very lively, with a predominantly young clientele (20-35 years old). Aachener Straße is definitely one of the best Cologne tips.

Everyone will find something here, whether hearty, light, fatty, healthy, or special. The weather was fantastic that day, so it wasn’t surprising that life took place outside on the streets. With a beer in hand from the nearest “Späti,” we sat outside and relaxed to end this truly cool day.

Our Cologne tips for a relaxing city trip on the Rhine