Hohenzollern Railway Bridge, Cologne
Cologne (Köln) is Germany’s fourth largest city, located in the West, a short drive north of West Germany’s former capital, Bonn.
I flew out from London Gatwick to Cologne, on a one hour flight to meet up with 4 friends for a fun weekend. This was my third trip to Germany, and second to this city.
Upon arrival, there is a train station situated beneath Cologne Airport (Köln/Bonn Flughafen) and a €2.60 ticket took me from there to where our hostel was located at Köln-Mülheim via the Central station (Köln Hauptbahnhof/ Köln Hbf).
We kipped in a cheap hostel, a 60-second walk from the train station and next door to a couple of pubs, opposite a casino and with several shops down the main street that we stayed on, including a Woolworths.
Doing the tourist thing
Our Saturday was spent touring the city, as tourists do. We paid €11.10 combined for a 5-person group ticket – significantly cheaper than what I’ve paid for back home in London. That came after breakfast, which for me was a Mohnbrötchen (blue seeds on a bun) and Käsebrötchen (cheese on a bun – although it tasted too salty for my liking). You’ll need to do a Google image search for the former because I did not take a photo.
To have the honour of walking up their famous landmark, the Dom (cathedral) is a €3 expense. There are 533 steps up a narrow, winding staircase and no lifts for the way down. I paid for the honour but being afraid of heights I headed back down after a mere 80 or so steps and waited for my friends at the bottom, outside in the sun.
German Currywurst and Padlocks
Around town, we tasted the delicious German Currywurst – one delicacy I recommend you must try at some point in your lifetime.
Whilst London was experiencing rain back home, the sun was out in Cologne as we explored the city, by the river Rhine (Rhein). Walking over the bridge to cross the Rhine there are literally hundreds upon thousands of padlocks secured to the fence between the bridge and the railway line. Each with couples’ names on, which I found to be a romantic gesture myself.
After walking round the city for several hours, we took the €4 cable car ride back over the Rhine and back towards the industrial part in search of a train station back home. Yes, I once again was scared of the height the car went up too, screaming “are we there yet? Are we there yet?” continuously throughout the short journey.
No. 4711 shop and drinking beer from a barrel
On the other side, we visited the No. 4711 shop, home of the city’s famous Eau de Cologne. I had purchased the perfume on a previous visit to the city for a girlfriend, and was reminded of the strong scent in the shop with a continuous flow of the perfume running from a tap by the entrance. A free sample of the perfume allowed me to smother a male friend’s face with the scent.
That evening we spent drinking in some bars around the city centre. Beer prices seemed more expensive out there compared to back home. We were paying €1 a time for 0.2L – what felt like a shot glass for the first drink or two. For which our German buddy’s insisted kept the beer “fresh” compared to drinking the same pint for 20 minutes as we do back home.
Kölsch is the locally brewed beer. There are several different variations of it – we tried Gaffel, Dom, and Früh to name a few, and I certainly tasted many more on my previous visit.
In one bar, we sat around a table and drank from a €34 barrel. That was enjoyable even if the glasses were small.
Photo of Barrie Smith pouring Gaffel Kölsch from his barrel
Once we got back to the hostel at a decent time, we saw a few games on what was a great Saturday night TV game show called Schlag den Raab. It’s a head-to-head game show where a candidate competes with the host Stefan Raab in up to 15 games to win €500,000 (and a pair of cars on this episode).
Aired live, we were in bed before the show finished, in what I learned when I got back home, went on for 6 hours and ended with the contestant missing a ‘Torwand’ penalty and missing out on the jackpot.
Sunny Morning goodbyes
Sunday morning we said our goodbyes, with me being the last to leave by some hours. I spent my time wandering around nearby to where we had slept, passing closed shop after closed shop. The German’s don’t do business on Sunday’s it seems.
I managed to find a pub that was open showing the Bundesliga action where I stayed put for a couple of hours before heading back to the Airport and eventually getting my flight home.
Is Cologne recommended?
Cologne – would I recommend it? With a cheap flight from Gatwick and a cheap hostel, it is worth a weekend visit. Although the tourist attractions were limited, the food (and beer) is very nice, the locals are friendly, the city is clean and everything just seemed a little bit happier than London. The train station is well-connected to other cities in Germany also.
Have you been to Cologne? How did you enjoy your visit?
Let us know in the comments.
