Melissa Shock, new to the Kaiserslautern Community, recently spent 30 hours in Cologne and managed to pack a ton of stuff into her short visit!
Check out her trip, tips, and photos below and let us know if you have a favorite city in Germany (or beyond) that you’d like to give us the inside scoop on! Visit our SHARE page for more information, by clicking here.
Tips and photos by Melissa Shock
Drive:
Cologne is a 2.5 hour drive from the KMC area.
Park:
Research parking before you go. It can be up to 24 Euros a day in the city center.
Stay:
Stay near the Cathedral, it’s in a great central location. Use Airbnb or Booking.com to find a good deal.
Eat and Drink:
Note: the beer of Cologne is Kölsch. It’s served in .2 litre glasses. Beer will keep being poured until you put your coaster on top of your glass to indicate you’re finished drinking.
Kamps @ Backstube is right near the Cathedral and a great spot for breakfast offering a fantastic array of coffee, fruit, pastries and sandwiches.
Café Reichard has delicious food and sits right outside the Cathedral. It is a bit touristy so expect a pricier bill, but the view is worth it. [Author Note: try the spinach, cheese and onion pancake]
Peters Brauhaus is a great patio spot for a few drinks. It’s along the edge of Alter Markt in a restaurant filled square.
Päffgen is a very cool beer hall. They have their own Kölsch beer on tap and fantastic food. The atmosphere is very authentic!
Friesenstrasse, Hohenzollernring and Aachenerstrasse are all streets lined with great bars and restaurants.
Museums:
Museum Ludwig is a modern art museum that houses the biggest collection of Pop Art outside of the United States. Entrance fee is only 3 Euros and well worth it! [Author Note: keep an eye out for Georg Herold’s caviar art- see if you can spot the 2 mistakes!]
The Chocolate Museum contains everything you need to know about chocolate! It’s 8.50 Euros to get in and they offer group and family discounts. Kids can even customize their your own chocolate bar and watch it being made!
[Author Note: skip the museum and pick up chocolate souvenirs at the chocolate market and grab some coffee and a chocolaty treat at the café- both right inside the entrance of the museum.]
Site Seeing:
Kölner Dom (Cologne Cathedral) is the number one attraction in Cologne with nearly 20,000 visitors a day. It’s free to go inside and only 3 Euros to climb the 503 stairs to the top of the south tower for some fantastic views!
Hohenzollern Bridge is home to thousands of locks left by couples securing their love in Cologne and tossing the key in the Rhine.
[Authors Note: Cologne is a very romantic city. During the 30 hours, I saw at least 10 weddings!]
The Rhine River is a great spot to catch a short cruise or buy a take-away lunch and sit along the bank to people watch.
Shopping:
Cologne has many pedestrian streets that offer some great shopping. Schildergasse and Hohestrasse are the most popular streets to head to, while Ehrenstrasse offers quite a few contemporary boutiques.
Happy travels!
About the author: Melissa recently moved to Kaiserslautern and has already fallen in love with Germany and it’s proximity to so many places she’d like to explore.
