7 reasons why Cologne could be Germany's coolest city

21.07.2023 - 08:01 / roughguides.com

If you’re looking for a city with fairytale architecture and gas-lit cobbled alleyways, you should probably stop reading now. Book a flight to Prague or Paris and be done with it. For Cologne (or Köln), is at first glance underwhelming in its postwar geometricity, with more busy roads than pedestrianised ones and only one blockbuster sight in the form of its towering cathedral. And even that’s the stuff of Gothic horror, not fairytales.

But what the city lacks in aesthetic appeal it makes up for in character by the bucket-load, with an open-minded, artsy scene that prompts obvious but accurate comparisons with Berlin, and a completely different kind of beer-drinking culture. Here are seven compelling reasons why you should go to Cologne for your next city break.

If you thoughtGermany’s beer culture was all about oversized steins of frothy lager clinking together, think again.

Here, the brauhauses serve up skinny 20cl glasses of Kölsch, a pale and hoppy beer that, a bit like Champagne, must be made in Cologne to be granted the title. Expect the köbes (waiter) to keep slapping cold beers onto your table until you admit defeat and place a beer mat over your glass.

German Kölsch Beer, Cologne © yotily/Shutterstock

Peter’s Brauhaus, Gaffel am Dom and Früh are the big names in the Altstadt and each offer a rousing, if slightly gimmicky, experience. For those who take their beer a bit more seriously, the microbrewery in Ehrenfeld has a wide range of brews and runs popular tasting sessions and tours.

Of course, it’s not all about beer in Cologne. The city also has a taste for wine – the nearby Middle Rhine Valley is home to some of Germany’s finest vineyards.

The standout spot for wine is Wein am Rhein. The ambience here is almost the complete opposite of a brauhaus; tranquil and sophisticated with thoughtful decorative touches, like the hundreds of drooping white pockets of material hanging from the ceiling. If you go for the four- or five-course weinschmecker menu, sommelier Melanie will explain how the wines complement each dish with a degree of passion as intoxicating as the house aperitif.

Lazy travel writers describe anywhere remotely hipster-ish as “The Dalston of…” these days, but the similarities between East London’s coolest neighbourhood and Ehrenfeld are too great to ignore.

Ehrenfeld’s main artery, Venloer Strasse, affronts the senses with the fumes of its traffic and Turkish takeaways, with the odd boho café – squeezed between a pound store and an offy – pumping the irresistible aroma of roasted coffee into the street.

Occasionally you’ll be enticed away from the main drag by a residential street like Koernerstrasse, with its festive bunting joining the dots between boutique shops and charming brunch