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Overview
Cologne (Köln) is a vibrant German city famous for its awe-inspiring cathedral, atmospheric brauhauses and its edgy, exciting ability to have a good time.
The first thing you'll notice, whenever you hit the centre, is the impressive spires of its heavyweight cathedral, the Dom. Once the world's tallest building and still both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and Germany's most frequently visited monument, its silhouette, combined with the curves of the Hohenzollernbrücke bridge, have become the icons that define the city.
While Catholicism still flourishes here, Cologne's certainly not a place for puritanical restraint. Crowds flood the streets during carnival each year and its Pride parades are some of the best attended in the country. The University of Cologne gives the city a young, fresh, energetic feel while Cologne's reflective look at its dark points in history keeps the place grounded.
When it comes to food, you can expect men in white shirts and leather waistcoats to serve knuckles of ham and sauerkraut or perhaps bratwurst and flammkuchen. Yet Cologne's culinary scene has opened up over the last few years, with a range of Michelin-starred restaurants serving French and Asiatic fusion flavours, not to mention the Berlin and student favourite: currywurst.
Art comes in many styles, from Roman mosaics unearthed every few weeks, to medieval sculptures and impressive stained glass to world-class art museums that feature Andy Warhol, Roy Liechtenstein and Pablo Picasso among others.
Then there's the classic European seduction: the narrow streets and the houses painted in peach, lemon and lilac in Cologne's Old Town. While much of this area is repaired or restored following the brutal bombing the city underwent in WWII, the atmospheric beer gardens, parasols and unhurried sense of joie de vivre make it just as romantic and enjoyable as parts of Paris, Venice and Rome.
Yet Cologne is a city of substance. A place with grit when it needs it. It's ready for business, with trade fairs, conference centres and transport hubs to suit the world. Its modern towers give views to rival that of the Dom, while its strategic position makes it a good base for day trips to Bonn, Essen and Aachen.
It caters for children with one of the world's best zoos complete with pink pelicans and yellow-breasted monkeys and we haven't even got started on the non-Disney-but-spectacular theme park Phantasialand nearby.
For adults, one of the highlights has to be the brauhauses that serve kölsch, the local beer. Cologne claims to have more breweries than any other city in Europe and each is a work of art in progress to behold. Bartenders spin kölsch glasses around like battle-weary magicians, while antique cash registers wait in the corner and beer mats pile up to keep a track of who had what when.
Last, but by no means least, there's one more thing you ought to know. Cologne has a chocolate museum in pride of place on the Rhine. Now that's a city with its priorities right.
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