Cologne, Germany - Travel Help? Info On It?

fluke

Hi there,

I was wondering if anybody could help me. My 70-year old uncle is going to Cologne, Germany this year for Christmas, he is going alone. As he is not internet-savvy is there anywhere anyone could recommend for him to go visit in Cologne, be they places of interest, good steakhouses, nice ambient bars?

Faith

Sigh. Moved to travel & holidays.

fluke

okay thanks. sorry about that.

ok so any helpers?

kraggy

Is he going there for a particular reason?

Was there before and there wasn't much in it from what i could see.

If he doesn't have to go there, i'd suggest he go somewhere else.

fluke

well he's booked it already...

Bluetonic

The Cathedral and the area around it is the center, plenty of bars and restaurants around there down by the river. The Cathedral itself is well worth a visit.

fluke

i see... i wonder what it'll be like at this tim3 of year.

thanks pal

An Citeog

This time of year is the best time to visit Cologne (apart from Karneval). Weihnachtsmarkt begins on the 26th of November and runs through until 23rd December. The Christmas market in Cologne is probably the best in Germany and definitely worth seeing.

There isn't much in the way of actual tourist attractions there, about 90% of the city was destroyed during the second world war. The main reason the cathedral is still standing is because British bombers used it to help them navigate when flying over Germany. It's the tallest cathedral in the world iirc and is definitely worth a visit. You can climb all the way up to the top but there's no lift and it's an old windy staircase. Probably a bit much for a 70 year old.

Cologne is more a place to relax and enjoy a bit of German culture. He could take a stroll up along the Rhine or visit the chocolate museum. Depends what he's into really.

As for places to eat and drink, the area bound from the cathedral on the north to a tram stop called Heumarkt to the south have a lot of traditional German breweries. They're not particularly expensive and usually do some really good food aswell. He'll find American steakhouses, Hard Rock Cafe etc there aswell if he wants. The beer there is so good aswell. Koelsch is the local beer, comes in lots of different varieties and will have been brewed freshly. Incidentally, the Christmas market is also concentrated around here and bounded to the west by a tram stop called Neumarkt (you can pretty much get to anywhere in the city from here). It's all within 10 minutes walking distance aswell.

He shouldn't have any trouble with the language either. Almost everybody in Cologne can speak English, especially around the areas mentioned.

You can find details on everything here: http://www.koeln.de/en/

Ruu_Old

Yeah I went to the chocolate museum (pic below ), took the cablecar over the Rhine and there is a nice botanical gardens there too. It depends what you are into as mentioned above.

An Citeog

Mmmm, the chocolate from that fountain is so good! Unfortunately though, the cablecar doesn't operate during the winter.

Depending on the time he's there and his interests, he could go to watch FC Koeln or take in an ice-hockey game at the Koelnarena. There's also the botanical gardens as mentioned above, which I'm guessing is the one beside the zoo. There are a good few museums but nothing that I'd really recommend as being a must see.

craichoe

The largest brothel in Europe is in Cologne :P
Weird Germans !


The largest brothel in Europe is the eros center Pascha in Cologne, a 12 story building with some 120 rooms for rent and several bars.

An Citeog

craichoe wrote: »

The largest brothel in Europe is in Cologne :P
Weird Germans !


The largest brothel in Europe is the eros center Pascha in Cologne, a 12 story building with some 120 rooms for rent and several bars.

Haha, there's a strip club attached to it. You pay €25 in and the bar is free all night. You're then supposed to stumble out the door and into the brothel. Just make sure you don't go near the top floor, honestly! :eek: You can even do the brothel tour for €5!

Unfortunately the free bar was the death of me and I never made it in next door!