Why cologne?
My cousin said she was interested in travelling before she started her master's in September and, of course, I took the opportunity to make a quick getaway. After scrolling through the cheaper flights for the time frame we were looking at, we narrowed it down to Lyon and Cologne. After looking into what to do in both cities, we decided Cologne suited what we wanted to do! Also, I think it was time to give Germany another try...
Quick tips-
Carry some cash with you- The majority of places we went to took cards but a few museums only took cash. Also, for the free walking tour!!
Any bottles you may have it's common for individuals to come up to ask you for them (this is due to a money-back scheme) otherwise you can leave them on top of the bins and someone will collect it (just don't litter!)
Walking shoes are always a big must, we did a huge amount of steps and although you can get trams/busses, we found it easy to walk around the city.
If you have any free time, it's really nice to people-watch by the river Rhine.
Where we stayed in Cologne
There were a few places we were interested in staying in Cologne, but we decided on an A&O hostel. We booked a stay at 'a&o Hostel Köln Hauptbahnhof' through the main website, as it was slightly cheaper than comparison sights for €271.65 together. They have a few A&O hostels located in Cologne, but this was the cheapest for when we wanted to go. Although it's not the city hostel, it was in the perfect location! The station and cathedral were a 10-minute walk away and you could reach everything on foot. The room was huge! Two massive windows overlooking the Church of St. Ursula (which was cool, until the church bells went off early in the mornings), a TV and a good size bathroom. It was really clean, and the staff were really friendly, giving us ideas on what to do and what to see. It is a little loud here as it's by the church and the train tracks, but that didn't really bother us. I didn't see much of a hostel vibe if I was alone travelling, but I'm sure you'd meet other travellers in local hostels or on the walking tour!
Day 1- Flight, station and the hostel
We had an afternoon/ evening flight, so we got to the airport, grabbed a meal deal and waited for our plane. The plane was honestly the nicest and smooth flight I have ever been on. The plane itself was half full, and we were even ahead of time. When arriving at Cologne, we headed straight to the train station, bought a ticket to the city centre (€3 each) and off we went. Arriving at Cologne station (one of Europe's most important railway hubs) we headed out the side doors and saw the cathedral right in front. In less than a 10min walk, we were checking in to our hostel and planning the next few days.
Day 2- Boat trips, cologne and schnitzel
We woke up ready to go get some breakfast! I had found a highly reviewed breakfast place down the road from our hotel, which I wanted to try out. It was a Turkish Café called Café Pistazie. I got the Menemem (scrambled egg, tomatoes, onion and paprika) and my cousin's scrambled egg. We really liked breakfast and it was something different to try!
After breakfast, we headed for our boat trip on the Rhine River. It was about an hour long and we went up and down the river whilst being told facts about Cologne. They do have a bar on board for any drinks as well! You get told a lot but personally, I felt I wanted to know more about the city and so we booked a free walking tour for the next day.
After we got off the boat, we headed for the Cathedral, we took a walk around inside and then if you walk to the toilets behind it and go down the steps you are taken to a hallway with a desk to walk up the spirals (€3 each). Beware as the steps up are steep and it takes a long time, especially as the first part is the only route up and down, so you are constantly having to move for other people. The view from the top, however, is amazing and you can see the whole of Cologne from up there.
After a walk around the top, we headed back down to street level. I was getting a little hungry, and we ended up going to 'Rievkoochebud'. This is basically a fried potato pancake and your choice of side sauce (€3.80). It said apple sauce was the most popular and of course, I have to try it. Honestly, this was amazing! I was full after just one but ended up eating all of them because they just taste so good!
We sat by the water's edge while we ate and had a break from walking around the city. Then decided to head to 'KölnTriangle'. We took the walk over the Deutz Suspension Bridge and walked to the entrance (we got a little lost and if you go this way- make your way to the Hohenzollern bridge as the entrance is at the side after you come off this bridge). The Triangle only takes cash, so have this (€4-5) and you go up in a lift. The view from the top is my favourite in Cologne and I bet it looks incredible at the sunset. They don't have any benches up here, which I feel would've been a good perk, but it's good to take some photos. But it is glass all the way around so you'll need to be up close to the glass to not catch any reflection.
After we took our photos, we headed back down and walked across the Hohenzollern bridge, looking at all the padlocks which had been locked on. Some had been there forever and some placed recently. We sat at the end of the bridge whilst trying to get our bearings for dinner.
A short trip on the tram took us to 'Bei Oma Kleinmann', which we booked before as we read that it usually gets very busy. Here I got a vegan Schnitzel (Celery) with curry sauce and chips- you also get a huge side salad to start. This was a really nice German meal and something different from what I am used to. I also got two glasses of Kölsch which went down nicely with the meal (remember to put the beer mat on top of the glass to show you don't want any more!). The whole meal and drinks ( + one coke) cost me €24.70.
After this, we headed back towards our hostel, took a quick stop at McDonald, grabbed an ice cream (yum, chocolate ice cream) and headed back to our room.
Day 3- History, tour and chocolate!!!
We started off the day nice and early due to the next-door church bells going off from 7 am and doing the longest chimes I've ever heard. After getting ready, we headed off for breakfast at 'Cinamood'. I was only going to get one, but I couldn't choose with all the flavours. I went for the oreo cinnamon bun and a blueberry cinnamon bun with an iced latte. I really enjoyed my oat-iced latte. The cinnamon buns are very yummy and full of flavour but very, very messy, but would definitely recommend it! Round the corner from the cafe was the 'NS-Documentation Center'(Take cash as they don't accept card, also a little more for an English audioguide). The documentation centre was really interesting and packed full of information about Cologne and the war. Being able to see the cells in which prisoners wrote on the walls is very upsetting but also eye-opening.
Next on our stop was the free walking tour we booked the day before. We headed to the start point at Eigelstein-Torburg and met our guide. It was a really interesting tour, told us a lot more about Cologne that we didn't know and also showed us what we had missed the day before. Our tour ran over a little late, but we still needed some lunch before the chocolate museum.
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We ended up at a 'L´Osteria' restaurant right next door to the chocolate factory. The pizzas
are huge and I loved that they did 1/2 and 1/2 on all the pizzas (Also, peanut allergy free!). After stuffing our faces it was time to enter the 'Schokoladenmuseum!'
The smell is incredible and I love the little Lindt chocolates you can get on the way round (definitely push the button on the production line on the ground floor- free chocolate!). We didn't really read much, but what I did learn was interesting and watching the liquid chocolate turn into a bar and then packaged was really cool. Upstairs in the factory, holds loads of history about chocolate and the company (including mascots, advertising, etc). I was even able to use an old chocolate machine to get a bar of chocolate! (Paid in Cash). They do have a little cafe here, but we came a little too late, and they had to set up for a wedding.
We then headed out to the river bank and sat on the wall and did a bit of people-watching and then back to the hostel and chilled out for a while. For dinner, we wanted to go to McDonald's to find curly fries (Which we actually had to go to two McDonalds to find)- definitely something they should do in the UK. We then headed home and got some sleep for our day tomorrow.
Day 4- Cable cars, Bonn and HARIBO
We woke up in the morning already with a plan for the day. We set off walking towards the cable cars in Cologne (Kölner Seilbahn) and stopped off at Backwerk for a quick coffee and pastry. You choose which coffee you want for the machine and choose anything you want from a range of bakery products- it's not fancy but good for a quick breakfast/.snack (€7.40 for a coffee and bakery item for two). When arriving at the cable cars, we got a return ticket (€8 each for a return) and off we went.
The cars take you to Rheinpark, which is a nice open area, with a playground and coffee shop. We took a walk around and then headed back to the cable cars to where we got on. Back on the other side (where we got on) is the Zoo and botanic gardens. We walked around the botanic gardens, took in some of the decorations there, and headed back to the main station.
We now wanted to make our way to Bonn. We had lunch at the station and then headed for the tram (The train is quicker and better but due to problems on the tracks we weren't able to use the train lines). It took ages to get there, especially as we had gone during the school rush hour, so probably stopped at every station, but I guess it was nice to see a little more of Germany not in the main city.
Once arrived at Bonn, we decided to have a walk around. Our first stop was the Ludwig van, Beethoven's birthplace (€7 each). I don't really know a lot about Beethoven but I can recognise his music. I still think this museum is worthwhile though as it tells you a lot of facts about his music and information about his childhood. Also, it's one of the 100 most popular sights in Germany!
After the museum, we headed towards the Haribo store. The 'BO' in HARIBO is actually because Hans Riegel founded HARIBO in Bonn and so this little trip was worthwhile! It had different types that are sold all over the world and also a 'pick & mix' station where you can create your own Haribo box. There are also photo opportunities upstairs. Also, who wouldn't want loads of HARIBO souvenirs?!
After spending all my money at the HARIBO factory, we took a walk around Bonn. Stopping at the University, The Beethoven Monument and the Catedral de Bonn. We sat for a bit, ate some Haribo and decided to head to the airport for our flight. We both had a Burger King for dinner and flew back home to Gatwick.
Overall, I really enjoyed this trip to Cologne and Bonn. I felt we probably could have squished it together a little more, so it's possible to see it all in less than 4 days. But I also enjoyed taking our time and being able to have a catch-up whilst exploring somewhere new. This was also a big eye-opener for me to go to more cities that are not as well known, as they still hold a lot of culture, history and things to do.
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