Köln
Köln also known as Cologne, is Germany's fourth-largest city (after Berlin, Hamburg, and Munich), and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia. It is located on both sides of the Rhine River.You can buy our complete Köln City Guide on Google Play Store.
Most popular places to visit in Köln are:
Botanical Gardens Flora
The Botanical Gardens Flora also known as Flora und Botanischer Garten, is a municipal formal park and botanical garden with an area of 11.5 hectares, is located adjacent to Cologne Zoological Garden.
Flora park today contains an Italian Renaissance garden with hornbeam pergolas, cascade, and the (yet to be restored) Flora Temple, surrounded by gardens in the English landscape style, as well as a heather garden, fern garden, fragrance garden, Mediterranean garden, and pond.
The botanical garden cultivates nearly 10,000 types of plants, including approximately 2000 species in its alpine garden. About 5,000 species are presented in four exhibition greenhouses.
Address: Am Botanischer Garten 1a, 50735 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 16 (Köln, Riehl Kinderkrankenhaus)
Bus: 140 (Köln, Riehl Bodinusstr.)
Opening Hours:
Botanical Garden: 8:00 - Dusk
Winter: Green Houses: 10:00 - 16:00
Summer: Green Houses: 10:00 - 18:00
Entrance Fee: Free
Cologne Cathedral
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Cologne Cathedral also known as Kölner Dom, is a Roman Catholic church in Köln. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site.
It is 144.5 metres (474 ft) long, 86.5 m (284 ft) wide and its towers are approximately 157 m (515 ft) tall. The cathedral is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and has the second-tallest spires. Its two huge spires give it the largest façade of any church in the world. The choir has the largest height to width ratio, 3.6:1, of any medieval church.
Address: Domkloster 4, 50667 Köln
Reach: Tram: 5, 16, 18 (Köln, Dom / Hbf)
Opening Hours:
Nov - Apr: 6:00 - 19:30
May - Oct: 6:00 - 21:00
The Tower climb:
Jan - Feb: 9:00 - 16:00
Mar - Apr: 9:00 - 17:00
May - Sep: 9:00 - 18:00
Oct - 9:00 - 17:00
Nov - Dec: 9:00 - 16:00
Entrance Fee: Church Tower: 4 €
Website: www.koelner-dom.de
Cologne Zoological Garden
The Aktiengesellschaft Cologne Zoological Garden is the zoo of Köln. It features over 7,000 animals of more than 700 species on more than 20 hectares.
The internationally renowned zoo with an attached aquarium and invertebrate exhibit has an emphasis on primates such as bonobos and lemurs, and is active in preservational breeding of animals that are in danger of becoming extinct.
The zoo was founded in 1860. The world wars led to a phase of stagnation, and the zoo had to close for two years entirely, after virtually being destroyed in World War II. It reopened in 1947; the aquarium was added in 1971. In 1985, the large primate house, one of the main attractions, was opened.
Today, the zoo also features a free-flight rainforest hall with free-ranging birds and reptiles opened in 2000, and as the latest addition a large elephant park.
Address: Riehler Straße 173, 50735 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 16, 18 (Köln, Riehl Zoo/Flora)
Bus: 140 (Köln, Riehl Zoo/Flora)
Opening Hours:
1st Mar - 30th Oct:
Mon - Sun: 9:00 - 18:00
31st Oct - 28th Feb:
Mon - Sun: 9:00 - 17:00
Entrance Fee:
Adults: 19.50 €
Children (4-12 years): 9 €
Website: www.koelnerzoo.de
Great St Martin Church
The Great Saint Martin Church also known as Groß Sankt Martin or Groß St. Martin, is a Romanesque Catholic church in Köln. Its foundations (circa 960 AD) rest on remnants of a Roman chapel, built on what was then an island in the Rhine.
The church was later transformed into a Benedictine monastery. The current buildings, including a soaring crossing tower that is a landmark of Cologne's Old Town, were erected between 1150-1250.
The architecture of its eastern end forms a triconch or trefoil plan, consisting of three apses around the crossing, similar to that at St. Maria im Kapitol. The church was badly damaged in World War II, with restoration work completed in 1985.
Address: Martinstraße 9, 50667 Köln
Reach: Tram: 5 (Köln, Rathaus)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Sat: 9:30 - 19:30
Sun: 12:00 - 19:15
Mon: Closed
Hohenzollern Bridge
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The Hohenzollern Bridge also known as Hohenzollernbrücke, is a bridge crossing the river Rhine in the German city of Köln. It crosses the Rhine at kilometre 688.5.
The total length of the Hohenzollern Bridge is 409.19 meters (1,342.5 ft). Since 2008 people have placed love padlocks on the fence between the footpath and the railway lines. Dutch band Nits dedicated a song to this in the song Love Locks from their 2012 album Malpensa.
Address: Hohenzollernbrücke, 50679 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 5, 16, 18 (Köln, Dom / Hbf)
Imhoff Chocolate Museum
The Imhoff Chocolate Museum also known as Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum was opened by Hans Imhoff on 31 October 1993. It is situated in the Cologne quarter of Altstadt-Süd on the Rheinauhafen peninsula.
The exhibits show the entire history of chocolate, from its beginnings with the Olmecs, Maya and Aztecs to contemporary products and production methods.
Address: Am Schokoladenmuseum 1A, 50678 Köln
Reach: Bus: 133 (Köln, Schokoladenmuseum)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Fri: 10:00 - 18:00
Sat - Sun: 11:00 - 19:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee: 11.50 €
Website: www.schokoladenmuseum.de
Kolumba
The Kolumba previously known as Diözesanmuseum or Diocesan Museum, is an art museum in Köln. It is located on the site of the former St. Columba church, and run by the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is one of the oldest museums in the city, alongside the Wallraf-Richartz Museum.
The collection includes paintings, drawings, prints, sculptures, decorative art and religious icons from Late Antiquity to the present.
Address: Kolumbastraße 4, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 3, 4, 5, 16, 18, E (Köln, Appellhofplatz)
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sun: 12:00 - 17:00
Tue: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Adults: 5 €
Children (under 18 years): Free
Website: www.kolumba.de
Museum Ludwig
Museum Ludwig, located in Köln, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It also features many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein.
With around 900 works by Picasso, the museum today has the third largest collection of this artist worldwide, after Barcelona and Paris.
Address: Heinrich-Böll-Platz, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 5, 16, 18 (Köln, Dom / Hbf)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 18:00
First Thu: 10:00 - 22:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Adults: 13 €
Children (upto 18 years): Free
Website: www.museum-ludwig.de
Museum of Applied Art
The Museum of Applied Art also known as Museum für Angewandte Kunst or MAKK, is a decorative arts museum in Köln. The collections include jewellery, porcelain, furniture, weaponry and architectural exhibits. Until 1987 it was called the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Decorative Art Museum).
The museum has a large collection (over 100,000 items) of European applied art from the 10th century to the present. This is arranged chronologically by era, and includes furniture, decorative carpets, small sculptures, dining utensils, luxury items, and decorative objects.
Address: An der Rechtschule, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 3, 4, 5, 16, 18, E (Köln, Appellhofplatz)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 18:00
First Thu: 10:00 - 22:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Permanent Collections:
Adults: 6 €
Children (upto 18 years): Free
Website: www.museenkoeln.de
NS Documentation Center
NS Documentation Center also known as EL-DE Haus, is the former headquarters of the Gestapo and now a museum documenting the Third Reich.
In 2006, the Documentation Centre on National Socialism was awarded the Best in Heritage award, which is given to select museums. The only other German museum to have won the prize is the Buddenbrook Museum in Lübeck.
Address: Appellhofplatz 23-25, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 3, 4, 5, 16, 18, E (Köln, Appellhofplatz)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Fri: 10:00 - 18:00
Sat - Sun: 11:00 - 18:00
First Thu: 10:00 - 22:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Permanent collection:
Adults: 4.50 €
Children (under 6 years): Free
Website: www.museenkoeln.de
Roman Germanic Museum
The Roman-Germanic Museum also known as RGM or Römisch-Germanisches Museum, is an archaeological museum in Köln. It has a large collection of Roman artifacts from the Roman settlement of Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium, on which modern Cologne is built.
The museum also has the task of preserving the Roman cultural heritage of Köln, and therefore houses an extensive collection of Roman glass from funerals and burials and also exercises archaeological supervision over the construction of the Köln underground.
Address: Roncalliplatz 4, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 5, 16, 18 (Köln, Dom / Hbf)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 17:00
First Thu: 10:00 - 22:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Adults: 9 €
Students (upto 18 years): Free
Website: www.roemisch-germanisches-museum.de
St Gereons Basilica
St. Gereon's Basilica also known as Basilika Sankt Gereon, is a Roman Catholic church in Köln, dedicated to Saint Gereon, and designated a minor basilica on June 25, 1920. It is one of twelve great churches in Cologne that were built in the Romanesque style.
St. Gereon has a highly irregular plan, the nave being covered by a decagonal oval dome, 21.0 m long and 16.9 m wide, completed in 1227 on the remains of Roman walls, which are still visible. It is the largest dome built in the West between the erection of the Hagia Sophia in the 6th century and the Duomo of Florence in the 15th century.
Address: Gereonskloster 2, 50670 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 12, 15 (Köln, Christophstr./Mediapark), 3, 4, 5, 16, 18 (Köln, Appellhofplatz)
Opening Hours:
Mon - Fri: 10:00 - 18:00
Sat: 10:00 - 17:30
Sun: 13:00 - 18:00
Website: www.stgereon.de
St Marys in the Capitol
St. Mary's in the Capitol also known as St. Maria im Kapitol, is an 11th-century Romanesque church located in the Kapitol-Viertel in the old town of Köln. The Roman Catholic church is based on the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, was dedicated to St. Mary and built between 1040 and 1065.
It is one of twelve Romanesque churches built in Cologne during this period. Measuring 100 m x 40 m an encompassing 4,000 square metres of internal space, St. Maria is the largest of the Romanesque churches in Cologne.
Address: Kasinostraße 6, 50676 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 1, 5, 7, 9, E (Köln, Heumarkt)
Bus: 106, 132, 133, 250, 260, 978 (Köln, Heumarkt), 978 (Köln, Mühlenbach)
Opening Hours:
Mon - Sat: 9:00 - 18:00
Sun: 11:30 - 17:00
Entrance Fee: Free
Website: www.maria-im-kapitol.de
Wallraf Richartz Museum
The Wallraf-Richartz-Museum & Fondation Corboud is one of the three major museums in Köln. It houses an art gallery with a collection of fine art from the medieval period to the early twentieth century.
Address: Obenmarspforten 40, 50667 Köln
Reach:
Tram: 5 (Köln, Rathaus), 1, 5, 7, 9, E (Köln, Heumarkt)
Bus: 106, 132, 133, 250, 260, 978 (Köln, Heumarkt)
Opening Hours:
Tue - Sun: 10:00 - 18:00
Thu: 10:00 - 21:00
Mon: Closed
Entrance Fee:
Adults: 13 €
Children (upto 18 years): Free
Website: www.wallraf.museum