Cologne for under £100 a night
To spend time in Cologne is to see Germany at its most hedonistic. A lively bar scene and a raft of contemporary galleries and buzzing emerging neighbourhoods all make for a pleasingly boisterous counterpart to the austere Gothic cathedral. With direct eurostar trains to Brussels, from where you can hop on to a high-speed connecting train, it takes around four hours from London to reach the hub of the Rhineland. The beer glasses may be uniquely small, but the portion sizes, hospitality and air of carefree excess are all fabulously expansive. Where to stay Art’Otel Cologne YAChTs and a chocolate museum are the main draws to the former port area today, as well as this funky charmer of a hotel. The white lobby, drawings of oceans and mountains by korean painter sEo, and floor-to-ceiling windows in the rooms all combine for an achingly chic, pared-back vibe. B&B doubles from £97, artotelcologne.com Hotel Marsil soMEwhAT unfriendly staff prevent this discreet hotel, only a ten-minute walk from the heart of the Altstadt, from being the outstanding budget hotel in Cologne. it’s still a very decent option, however, with clean, white rooms (some with balconies) and an immense breakfast buffet with omelettes, cheeses and hams. doubles from £93 room only, marsil.de Hotel im Wasserturm housED inside a gargantuan 19th-century water tower (once the biggest in Europe), these are the most original lodgings in town. The top-floor terrace bar is perfect for a cocktail at dusk, and rooms are modern with pine floors and huge windows.
Ask for a north-facing room if you want views of the mighty cathedral (above) — one of the world’s great works of Gothic architecture. B&B doubles from £98, hotel-im-wasserturm.de/en
Hotel Mondial am Dom Cologne MGallery A sTronG contender for the most centrally located slumbers in town — the Alter Markt, cathedral and riverside strip of bars are all less than three minutes’ walk away — this smart, yet un-showy, hotel is aimed at business travellers.
Light wood and red furnishings give the rooms a comfortable, albeit slightly bland, feel.
Be warned that the larger rooms don’t offer views of the cathedral, so opt for a ‘classic’ if you want to wake up with the Dom. doubles from £74 room only, sofitel.com
around £1.50 for a 200ml glass, which the waiter will keep replacing until you put your beer mat on top of it.
The bill, in a noble act of trust, is calculated by the waiter marking your mat with a pen every time he serves you.
Pop goes the easel
MUSEUM Ludwig punches well above its weight with the big-hitters in its permanent collection (tickets £10, museumludwig. Works by Pop Art masters Roy Lichtenstein and Peter Blake are here — and it even has Andy Warhol’s Brillo Boxes. It’s the biggest collection of Pop Art outside the U.S.
Bunker down
ON THE site of a former synagogue in a quiet side street in Ehrenfeld sits an almost sinister-looking metal door. This is the entrance to a hochbunker, a surviving aboveground World War II shelter.
The thick, concrete walls now house the art gallery Bunker k101 (admission varies, but never exceeds £5, bunkerk101.de), which hosts an array of eclectic temporary shows.
Hit the sculpture trail
A SMALL forest of stone cacti, an immense ladder that seems to lead straight into the clouds and a giant fried egg simmering on a rock — surreal surprises at every turn are assured at the outdoor Skulpturen Park (free, skulpturenparkkoeln.de/en), which features an immense convex mirror by Anish Kapoor right by the main entrance.
Fine wine on the Rhine
EVENTUALLY — though it could take some time — you may find that you don’t want a bartender to fill up your stange again. This means only one thing: it’s time to move on to the hugely underrated wines from this region.
Bacchus ( weinstubebacchus. de) is a secluded bolthole with wine barrels built into the walls. Try a bottle of the zesty, dry 2017 Weissburgunder for £22.