Where is cologne germany

Sip on your Stange a small 0. Learn about the global history of chocolate, watch bars being made before your eyes and marvel at the 3-metre-high fountain of melted chocolate. Take a stroll down the river bank to watch the enormous barges float lazily by. Well-maintained cycle paths run the entire 1. Alternatively, there are a number of operators running boat tours. Cologne is well known for certain annual festivities, which visitors come from all over the world to attend:.

While mini processions take place throughout the week, the high point is the Rose Monday parade. Take a look at our list of the jobs on offer in Cologne. Home Lifestyle German cities. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn reddit What's up. Vacancies in English for expats in Cologne. Find jobs by recruiters and international companies in Germany. Expats should see the sights and attractions Germany has to offer!

Cologne lies on both sides of the river Rhine, which flows through it in a northerly direction. The left hand, or western side, is Cologne proper with the Old Town Altstadt , the famous cathedral and most landmarks and museums. The right side, or eastern side, used to be a separate town called Deutz - now Deutz is a neighbourhood of Cologne.

Cologne is divided into 9 districts Stadtbezirke , numbered from 1 to 9. Stadtbezirk 1 , called Innenstadt "inner city" , is probably the one most tourists will spend all of their time in, as it contains most of the city's points of interest. It is also the only district that lies on both sides of the Rhine, as it includes Deutz.

Districts 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are on the western bank of the Rhine, and districts 7, 8 and 9 on the eastern bank, surrounding the Innenstadt. Every Stadtbezirk is further divided into Stadtteile literally "city parts", or "neighbourhoods". The Altstadt is surrounded by a ring of wide avenues running over the former city walls of Cologne. They all have street names ending with the word Ring.

The part of Innenstadt lying on the outer side of the ring is the Neustadt , or "new town". Both parts of the Neustadt form a crescent embracing the Altstadt and reaching the Rhine on either side thereof. Finally, facing the Altstadt and Neustadt on the other eastern side of the Rhine is the Stadtteil of Deutz , which completes the Innenstadt.

Cologne is one of the oldest cities in Germany, having been founded and established in the 1st century AD, as the Roman Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.

It was Germany's largest city at several points in history and for most of the Middle Ages it was the only place that would even register as a major city population-wise by modern standards.

Today it is the fourth biggest city in Germany after Berlin, Hamburg and Munich and the biggest that is neither city state nor state capital. Its population is almost 1. The climate of North Western Germany is changeable, with seasonal changes and day-to-day weather often comparable to that of the England or Northern France. M-F , Sa Su The Cologne Tourist Office offers a wealth of information for the traveller who wishes to fill their itinerary with activities around the city.

Ask about guide books that are available, most of which provide information for free. Cologne is a traditionally Ripuarian-speaking city, though this has mostly been replaced by standard German, which is now the main language of the city. English-speaking guides and information are available for many of the landmarks of the city.

For tourists who speak German and wish to practice it, the citizens usually have a lot of patience with those trying to come to grips with the language. Cologne's citizens are very friendly and jovial people, welcoming tourists of all types and with all interests.

German is of course the language of this city but it is very easy to find information in French and English, also sometimes in Spanish and Japanese. Due to a large number of immigrants, Persian , Turkish , Polish and Russian are also widely spoken. Announcements in the main train station Hauptbahnhof are in German, French and English.

Away from the landmarks, workers of the Deutsche Bahn German railways often speak English reasonably well, and ticket machines have a language selection feature. In general, older people in Cologne tend to have little or no knowledge of English, while younger Germans and those working in the business world tend to be more proficient. Language is rarely a strong barrier, so this should not be much of a worry for the average tourist.

Just approach a friendly native with a smile on your face. In it doesn't run in July and Aug, but it's expected to be year-round from Long-distance buses cannot stop in the centre of Cologne. You can compare travel time and costs for various modes of transport on various websites.

Cologne requires all cars to have a "Low Emissions" sticker in order to drive around in the city centre Low Emission Zone "Umweltzone". Information on obtaining a sticker which must be done at least several weeks in advance is available here.

There are very few exceptions and even electric cars or foreign cars have to get the sticker. For cheap parking, with quick connections to central Cologne, use park and ride " park und ride ". At some stations, parking is free when you present a validated transit ticket on exit.

Cologne has an excellent public transport network consisting of trams, local trains and buses. Bicycles are also available for hire on the northern side of the Hauptbahnhof. Local transport systems rarely provide announcements in English, but network maps are commonly available to assist with your journey.

Those wishing to explore areas away from the central city should plan their journey and potential connections before leaving. Tickets are valid for subway, tram and regional train within the VRS-network.

A map of the network can be found at most stops, inside all vehicles check ceilings, back entrances and online. Cologne's subway and tram-system , or U-Bahn, is a mixture of systems: a subway line can go on street-level and end up as a tram or vice versa. There are vending machines or ticket-offices at larger stations The trains and buses also have vending-machines. Most of them don't have ticket vending-machines so remember to buy a ticket at the station.

Student travel: Student travel age 20 or less can be very cheap to and from Cologne, as well as around the Land of North Rhine-Westphalia.

These tickets are available to anyone with valid student identification student union card, enrolment card, etc. The ticket is only valid for the student holiday dates of North Rhine-Westphalia and the ticket is not valid for high speed express trains. After you register for an account on-line, it will charge your credit-card a per minute fee.

You can pick up or drop off one of the silver-red bikes anywhere in the city. It is also possible to rent a bike at many places; by bike is maybe the best way to go around in the city. But, on the whole, the centre of Cologne is not that big for a city of one million. It is entirely feasible to walk from one end of the centre, say, the Rudolfplatz, to the other end, say, the Cathedral, in half an hour. Cologne has one of the world's best collections of museums and galleries for a city of its size.

As well as world class museums of art and archaeology, Cologne boasts two museums of ecclesiastical art, both housed in architecturally stunning buildings. There is also an ethnographic museum, a chocolate museum, the German Sport Museum and an abundance of Roman remains.

One can purchase a MuseumsCard from one of the municipal museums such as the first five listed below. On its first day of validity, it can also be used as a ticket on all buses and trams on the Cologne transportation system VRS. Dominated by two very utilitarian land uses, the fairgrounds in the north and the actually functional freight harbour of Cologne in the south, Deutz is not without long history and much heritage and charm in its built environment as well. While the left Rhine bank is clearly the dominant one in Cologne, Deutz is where you can get the best views of it across the Rhine, and this is a reason alone to cross the river and get there, but by far not the only one.