Cologne is the fourth largest city in Germany and one of the oldest, founded by the Romans in 50 AD, and it is dominated by a single object. The Kolner Dom was begun in 1248, abandoned for three hundred years with a crane left standing on the unfinished south tower, and completed in 1880 to the original medieval plans. At 157 metres it was briefly the tallest building in the world, and it survived the war that flattened almost everything around it.
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The rest of the old town was rebuilt, so Cologne is not a picturesque city in the way Dresden or Bamberg are. What it has instead is atmosphere: the Rhine promenade, the brewery houses where Kolsch is served in 200 millilitre glasses that are replaced automatically until you put your beermat on top, a genuinely enormous Karneval, and seven separate Christmas markets. It is also the most relaxed and least formal German city, with a strong queer scene and a local temperament that considers Dusseldorf the enemy.
What Makes Cologne Different to Pack For
It rains in every month and the winters are grey rather than cold
Cologne has a mild oceanic climate: summer 18°C to 26°C, winter 1°C to 7°C, and rainfall spread evenly across the year with a slight summer peak. Snow is occasional and does not last; what you get instead is weeks of grey, damp, drizzling 4°C, which is the actual Rhineland winter and which needs a waterproof layer more than it needs insulation.
A merino wool base layer for women suits this well, because damp mild cold is exactly where wool outperforms both cotton and a thick synthetic fleece.
The cathedral tower is 533 steps
And they are a tight spiral with no lift, no shortcut and two way traffic.
Karneval is a week long civic event, not a parade you watch
From Weiberfastnacht on the Thursday to Rosenmontag, the city effectively stops, everyone is in costume, and a great deal of Kolsch is drunk outdoors in February.
Christmas markets run from late November and are outdoors
Seven of them, the largest at the cathedral, and they involve standing still in the cold for hours with a gluhwein.
It is a very walkable, very flat city
Which is a relief after the cobbled hill towns, though the old town has its share of uneven paving.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Cologne Packing List
Footwear
Comfortable flat walking shoes, waterproof or water resistant, which you will wear every day. Cologne is flat and you will walk a great deal of it, and the streets are wet for much of the year.
For the cathedral tower, shoes with grip and a back, because 533 worn stone steps in a tight spiral is no place for a loose sandal. For Karneval and the Christmas markets, warm waterproof boots, because you will be standing outdoors in the cold for hours rather than moving.
Clothing
Layers under a shell. A base layer, a fleece or light insulated mid layer, and a genuinely waterproof jacket with a hood, which is the item that makes a Cologne trip pleasant. A packable rain jacket covers it, and an umbrella also works here because the city is sheltered and not especially windy.
For a winter visit, add a warm hat, gloves and a scarf, and understand you will use them standing at a market stall rather than walking. For summer, light clothing plus the rain layer.
Cologne dresses casually and unpretentiously, notably more so than Munich or Hamburg. Nothing smart is required. If you are coming for Karneval, a costume is not optional in the sense that being the only person not in one is the conspicuous choice; something simple bought locally on arrival is the normal approach.
For sun
Modest but real in summer. Sunglasses and sunscreen for a long day on the Rhine promenade or a river cruise, where there is no shade.
Practical
Cash in euros, more than you expect. Germany is markedly less card friendly than the rest of western Europe, and the traditional Kolsch brewery houses, many bakeries, market stalls and public toilets are cash only. The brauhaus will present a paper beermat tally at the end and expect cash. Coins for toilets, which almost always charge.
A refillable bottle, since German tap water is safe. A power bank. A tote bag, because shops charge for bags. A small padlock if you are in a hostel.
Book accommodation months ahead for Karneval and well ahead for the Christmas market weekends, when the whole Rhineland fills and prices climb sharply.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Kolner Dom
The cathedral, free to enter, with the Shrine of the Three Kings inside and the south tower climb.
Practically: modest dress, covered shoulders and knees, and it is enforced at the door in summer. The interior is cold year round, so a layer. The tower is 533 steps, narrow, two way and with a queue on the stairs, and there is no way to turn back easily once committed, so decide before you start. Bags are checked. Entry to the cathedral itself is free; the tower and treasury are ticketed.
The Rhine promenade and the Hohenzollern bridge
The river walk, and the rail bridge covered in tens of thousands of love padlocks.
Practically: exposed to wind off the water, so a windproof layer. The bridge is a working rail and pedestrian bridge, so stay on the walkway. The view back at the cathedral from the far bank is the photograph everyone comes for, best at dusk.
The brauhaus houses
Früh, Päffgen, Sion and others, serving Kolsch in small glasses carried by a Köbes in a blue apron.
Practically: ordinary clothing. Understand the system before you sit down: the 200 millilitre glass is replaced automatically the moment it is empty, your beermat is tallied with pencil strokes, and the only way to stop is to place the beermat on top of your glass. The Köbes is traditionally brusque and it is theatre rather than rudeness. Cash.
The museums
The Romano-Germanic Museum, Museum Ludwig for modern art, and the Chocolate Museum on the river.
Practically: indoors and warm, so a layer to shed, and they are the right answer to a wet Cologne afternoon. The Museum Ludwig holds one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe.
Karneval
Weiberfastnacht on the Thursday, the street carnival through the weekend, and the Rosenmontag parade.
Practically: a costume, warm waterproof clothing underneath it, and boots, because February in Cologne is 3°C and wet and you will be outdoors all day. Carry almost nothing, in a small bag worn across the body: pickpocketing at Karneval is organised and significant. Drink pacing matters, because the day starts at eleven in the morning. Weiberfastnacht has a tradition of women cutting off men's ties and of kissing strangers, called a Bützchen; it is meant lightly, it is not a licence for anything more, and a firm no is a complete answer. Agree a meeting point, because phone signal fails in the crowds.
The Christmas markets
Seven markets from late November to 23 December, the biggest at the cathedral, plus the harbour, the old town and the Rudolfplatz.
Practically: dress for standing still at 2°C for three hours, not for walking: thermal base layer, warm socks, boots, hat and gloves. Gluhwein comes in a deposit mug you return or keep. Weekday afternoons are far calmer than weekend evenings. Cash for most stalls.
What Not to Bring
Leave the expectation of a chocolate box German old town, because Cologne was rebuilt and its appeal is atmosphere rather than architecture.
Leave a reliance on cards, which is the single most common practical complaint visitors have about Germany. Leave heels for 533 cathedral steps. Leave a light jacket for a Christmas market, because standing still is colder than walking. Leave a large bag for Karneval. Leave the assumption that Kolsch glasses stop arriving on their own. And leave Karneval week unbooked, because the city sells out months ahead.
Essential Resources for Women in Cologne
Emergency numbers in Germany: 112 is the European emergency number for ambulance and fire, and 110 reaches the police. 116117 is the out of hours medical service for anything that is not an emergency. All operators will find English.
Tourist support: Germany has no tourist police. KolnTourismus runs an information office opposite the cathedral. A theft is reported at a Polizei station or online for the report your insurer needs, and English is generally spoken. The Hauptbahnhof has a significant police presence, which tells you something about where the city's problems concentrate.
US Consulate: the Consulate General in Dusseldorf is about forty minutes away by train and is the nearest, with the Embassy in Berlin, both at de.usembassy.gov. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Uniklinik Koln is a major teaching hospital and the standard of care throughout the city is excellent. EU and EEA visitors should carry the European Health Insurance Card and UK visitors the Global Health Insurance Card, both accepted in Germany; everyone else needs travel insurance. Pharmacies operate an out of hours rota posted on the door.
Official health authority: the Robert Koch Institute at rki.de. Tap water is safe and good. There are no vaccination requirements and no notable disease risks in the city. Ticks and tick borne encephalitis are a concern in southern Germany rather than in North Rhine-Westphalia, so this is not a Cologne issue. The realistic health inputs here are alcohol, cold exposure at outdoor winter events, and the effects of a long grey winter.
US State Department travel advisory for Germany: current advisory level and detail. Germany sits at a low advisory level with a standard note on terrorism in European cities and on large public events. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Germany: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the sections on large events and on crime at major stations.
Official tourism authority: the German National Tourist Board at germany.travel, with KolnTourismus for the Karneval programme, the Christmas market dates and the cathedral tower opening hours.
Solo women safety assessment: Cologne is a comfortable and easy city for a woman travelling alone. It is prosperous, flat, exceptionally well served by public transport, socially relaxed, and has a large student population and one of the biggest queer scenes in Germany, all of which makes a solo traveller unremarkable. Walking alone in the centre in the evening is normal, eating alone is normal, and German social norms leave you alone unless you invite otherwise. Street harassment is low by European standards. Violent crime against visitors is uncommon. There are two concentrations worth knowing. The first is the Hauptbahnhof and the immediate streets around it, including the Ringe at night, which have a visible drug scene, aggressive begging and the city's highest rate of pickpocketing and phone theft; it is not dangerous so much as unpleasant, and the sensible approach is to pass through rather than linger and to keep your bag closed. The second is large events, and here Cologne carries a specific history that a guide should not skate over: the mass sexual assaults and robberies at the Hauptbahnhof on New Year's Eve 2015 into 2016 led to a significant and lasting change in how the city polices its big public gatherings, with far heavier presence, dedicated security zones and reporting points at New Year and at Karneval. That policing is now a visible feature of both events. The practical reading is that crowds here are the context where trouble has occurred, and the standard precautions matter more than they would on an ordinary evening: go with people or arrange to meet them, keep almost nothing on you, agree a meeting point because signal fails, pace the drinking in an event that starts at eleven in the morning and runs all day, and use the marked security or help points, which exist and are staffed. Karneval's kissing tradition is meant lightly and is not consent to anything further; no is a complete sentence and locals will back you. Beyond that the risks are ordinary: pickpocketing at markets and on crowded trams, bicycle theft, and the usual care with drinks. The physical risks are minor, being a flat city: wet paving, the 533 cathedral steps, and standing cold at outdoor winter events, which is why the boots and the base layer matter.
Reading On
Cologne is an hour from Frankfurt by fast train, forty minutes from Dusseldorf, and is the gateway to the Rhineland. The Germany travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Germany packing list for women covers a trip across it. Elsewhere in Germany, the Berlin packing list for women covers the capital, the Munich packing list for women Bavaria, the Dresden packing list for women Saxony and the Black Forest packing list for women the southwest hills. For other Christmas market cities, the Europe Christmas markets packing list for women and the Europe winter packing list for women cover the wider circuit. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer beats a thick fleece in damp mild cold, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, the merino wool for women who run cold covers standing still at a market stall, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
