Trip to Cologne

Categories: Family and Kids, Shopping, Dining

Hohenzollernbrücke (bridge) with Cathedral (Kölner Dom)

[ source: Wikipedia]

I always enjoyed trips to Cologne (Cologne vacation rentals | Cologne travel guide) (Köln). With less than 100 miles away from Wetzlar (Wetzlar vacation rentals | Wetzlar travel guide) (where we used to live.) this is a perfect day trip. Driving is mostly on the Autobahn. Travel time (from Wetzlar) is about 1 hour and 30 minutes only.

About Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city after Berlin (Berlin vacation rentals | Berlin travel guide), Hamburg (Hamburg vacation rentals | Hamburg travel guide) and Munich (Munich vacation rentals | Munich travel guide), and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area, one of the major European metropolitan areas with more than 10 million inhabitants. It is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded by the Romans in the year 38 BC. Cologne was granted the status of a Roman "city" in the year 50 AD.

Cologne lies on the Rhine. The city's famous Cologne Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is the seat of the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Cologne. The University of Cologne (Universität zu Köln) is one of Europe's oldest universities.

What you can do in Cologne

Cologne is a major cultural center of the Rhineland and has a vibrant art scene. Cologne counts over 30 museums and hundreds of galleries. Exhibitions range from local ancient Roman archaeological sites to contemporary graphics and sculpture. The city's Trade Fair Grounds are host to a number of trade shows such as the Art Cologne Fair, the International Furniture Fair (IMM) and the Photokina. Cologne is also well known for its celebration of Cologne Carnival and the LGBT festival Christopher Street Day (CSD.)

As a highlight you definitely need to visit the Cologne Cathedral. This is a must. I highly recommend to read through A day's walk through the city of Cologne to give you more ideas on how to get the most out of your Cologne trip (see link below.)

[ source: Wikipedia ]

Location, Map, and Driving Directions

Related Links

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Browse Related Photos (Interactive Slideshow)

The pictures shown are part of our Live Like a German Travel Guide to Germany group on Flickr. If you have great Germany pictures please consider joining that group and sharing them on Flickr. If you tag them with cologne (and they got approved) they will also show up in the slide show above.

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