Cologne City Guide

Dom, Altstadt & Rhein

From Cologne Cathedral and Museum Ludwig over the Hohenzollern Bridge with its love locks to the Historic Town Hall and Romanesque Great St. Martin. On to the Fischmarkt with its colourful gabled houses, along the Rhine to the Chocolate Museum and the modern Crane Houses at the Rheinauhafen.

1. Cologne Cathedral – Cologne Cathedral is the reason to come: northern Europe's largest Gothic cathedral, 632 years in the building, with two 157-metre towers right beside the main station. Entry is free; climb the 533 steps of the south tower for a sweeping view over city and Rhine.
2. Museum Ludwig – Right beside the cathedral, Museum Ludwig holds one of Europe's most important modern-art collections: Pop Art with Warhol and Lichtenstein, the world's third-largest Picasso holdings and German Expressionism. From the roof terrace you look straight at the cathedral towers.
3. Hohenzollernbrücke – The railway bridge right behind the cathedral is covered in tens of thousands of "love locks". A short walk across is worth it above all for the view back: from the far bank you fit the whole cathedral in frame - at sunset the sun sinks right behind it.
4. KölnTriangle (Panorama) – On the far side of the Rhine in Deutz rises the glass KölnTriangle - and on its roof, 100 metres above the city, sits Cologne's finest viewing platform. From here you get the famous postcard panorama: Cologne Cathedral with its twin spires, the Hohenzollern Bridge full of love locks, the Rhine and the whole old town - the city's best photo spot, especially at sunset.
5. Historic Town Hall & Alter Markt – On the Alter Markt stands Germany's oldest town hall, with origins going back over 900 years. The splendid Renaissance loggia and the Gothic tower with 124 stone figures define the square - brewpubs and cafés all around invite a break.
6. Groß St. Martin – The massive Romanesque crossing tower of Great St. Martin, together with the cathedral, shapes the skyline of Cologne's old town. The thousand-year-old church stands in the heart of the old fishing quarter and forms the backdrop of the famous Fischmarkt postcard view.
7. Fish Market – The little Fischmarkt right on the Rhine bank is the old town's most-photographed corner: a row of narrow, colourful gabled houses with the tower of Great St. Martin behind. Loveliest in the morning, before the restaurants set out their tables.
8. Chocolate Museum – On a small peninsula in the Rhine, the Chocolate Museum tells the story of cocoa - from the Maya to a real production line where pralines are cast. At its heart a three-metre chocolate fountain bubbles away, with a wafer to dip. Allow about 1.5 hours.
9. Kranhäuser (Crane Houses), Rheinauhafen – To finish, modern Cologne: at the redeveloped Rheinauhafen, three striking high-rises shaped like tipped-over harbour cranes tower over the water. The Crane Houses are the symbol of new Cologne - especially photogenic in the warm light of sunset. From here the U-Bahn at Severinstraße takes you back to the centre.