A Walking Tour of Cologne’s Best Sights

Cologne is a fascinating city and there is no better way to see it than on foot.  Most of the city’s finest sights are within walking distance of each other and you can very easily spend a day wandering around with no particular route and still see most of the major local attractions.  Whether you’re looking for the architecture and culture the city is so famous for, or you want to sample the local specialties of chocolate and beer, there is plenty here to keep you entertained.  Here are some of the local attractions and destinations you should include on a walking tour of cologne’s best sights.

Within 1 mile of the city centre

If you want to keep your walking tour fairly short, or you simply want to make sure you have plenty of time to explore everything in a nice relaxed manner then it’s a good idea to stick to those of Cologne’s sights that are within a 1 mile walk of the centre of the city.  Be sure to include the following:

Cologne Cathedral (http://www.koelner-dom.de) is one of the city’s most famous landmarks, a monument of Christianity and an excellent example of Gothic architecture.  The cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and there are some fantastic views from the viewing platform 98 metres up if you can climb 509 stone steps of the spiral staircase to get there.

Museum Ludwig (http://www.museum-ludwig.de) is an art museum with an interesting and diverse collection that includes everything from Dali to Warhol to one of the world’s largest Picasso collections.  There is also the Wallraf-Richartz Museum nearby (http://www.wallraf.museum), which has artwork covering every genre from the 13th century through the 19th century.

The Chocolate Museum (Imhoff-Schokoladenmuseum http://www.schokoladenmuseum.de) is a highly popular tourist attraction among sweet-toothed tourists.  It is located above the city’s famous chocolate factory and has a fascinating collection of chocolate art creations and chocolate-wrapper artwork.

NS Dokumentationszentrum Gestapo Prison is an old Nazi prison that has been kept in its original state.  It might not be the most cheerful way to spend a morning but it’s an important part if history and a pertinent reminder of the horrors of the Holocaust.

Gross St. Martin is a famous Romanesque cathedral that comes second only to Cologne Cathedral in terms of prominent religious structures in Cologne.  It was re-opened in 1985 after being badly damaged during World War II.

1 – 2 Miles From The City Centre

Koelner Zoo Experience (http://www.koelnerzoo.de) is one of the oldest zoos in Germany and has lots of different animal houses, rich landscape immersions and a huge aquarium to gaze at.

Claudius Therme (http://www.claudius-therme.de) is a series of beautiful thermal baths, supplied by a natural thermal mineral spring with healing waters that have even been visited for health reasons for by generations of health-conscious tourists.

Rheinseilbahn is a cableway that runs across the River Rhine in Cologne, connecting the two banks of the Rhine at the height of Cologne’s Zoo Bridge (Zoobrücke).  It was opened in 1957 and since then has transported more than 13.7 million people across this picturesque spot.

Amy blogs for easyjet.com who offer cheap flights to Cologne and Berlin.