Köln – Our 4 Day Itinerary

First things first, let me just establish that this is intended to be the first of a series of posts (probably around 4) which detail the trip that Nicola and me recently embarked upon to Cologne. The best way to clear up what we did, and what we intended to do, and to let you know a little bit about what to expect in the follow ups, is well, to just tell you.

Here goes.

Wednesday

This doesn’t count as our 4 days, but we landed in Germany at around 8:30 pm (EU time). Had a few hours to kill while we waited for Rok to land so we explored the “airport” if that’s what you want to call it – its more of a transport hub, and we decided to get something to eat.

Cue Rok landing and we got a friendly taxi back to our accommodation. Time for bed.

Thursday

Our first glorious day of exploring! Yes, we got lost.

The plan was to get out and about in the city and just explore really. Cologne cathedral was a necessity, so that was up on the list of things to go and see. Apart from that we just wanted to get a feel for the place, grab some good food, and relax.

A day that didn’t deviate too much from the intended plan! Not bad.

Friday

Initially we wanted to take the train up to Dusseldorf. Due to me exhausting Nicola with the excessive walking on Thursday, it took us a while to get out of the apartment, and back down the long walk into the city (why take the underground in such a beautiful place?).

Instead we did a bit more exploring, had a bit of a venture across the bridges, and explored a bit on the other side.

Saturday

Our Saturday was meant to be an action packed day – visit the zoo, ride the cable cars, perhaps head to the chocolate museum and a few other museums. We kind of did that.

We went to the zoo and went on the cable cars at least, but all the walking around in the heat makes for a tiring day, and after getting lost a couple of times on the way back we decided to go and get a few ice cold drinks.

Sunday

Glorious Gamescom. If you didn’t already know, I’m a bit of a gamer. Well a lot of a gamer. If I’m going to be in Cologne when there’s a convention on, I’m going to be at the convention. That was our plan and we stuck to it – up early to get in first, play a few games, explore the place, grab some freebies and food and then chill for the evening.

We left in the early afternoon after watching some of the finals, and took a long walk back to our accommodation, stopping to get something to drink and just relax by the river.

Monday

Again it doesn’t count as one of our 4 days, we got up pretty early (like 5:30 or 6:30 or something like that) so that we could figure out how to find our way back to the airport without taking a taxi. That meant a trip on the underground to Koeln HBF and then a train to the airport; simple really.

And there you have it, (essentially) our 4 day itinerary. It’s a little more filled out than that with our stopping at various places to get food and drink, wandering off down random back streets and exploring the different shops and bars that Cologne has to offer, but this is the bare bones of the trip.

I mentioned at the beginning a short post series, they’re still being worked on and while hopefully provide a couple of different perspectives on the various aspects of our trip. Hope you enjoy!