Cologne Day Trip from Frankfurt

Overview

Cologne is about 190 kilometres down the Rhine from Frankfurt, and it has one overwhelming reason to go. The cathedral stands directly beside the main station, so it is the first thing you see on arrival and it does not get smaller as you approach.

The cathedral

Cologne Cathedral is the largest Gothic church in northern Europe, and its twin spires reach 157 metres. Building started in 1248. It stopped in 1560 with the structure half-finished, a crane left standing on the unbuilt south tower where it remained for three hundred years, and it was only resumed in the nineteenth century using the original medieval plans, which had survived. It was completed in 1880 — 632 years after the first stone.

Inside, the height is the point: the nave draws the eye straight up, and the stained glass runs from the medieval windows in the ambulatory to Gerhard Richter’s 2007 window of coloured squares in the south transept. Behind the high altar stands the Shrine of the Three Kings, a gilded reliquary begun by Nicholas of Verdun around 1182 and finished about 1220, and the largest surviving piece of medieval goldwork in Europe. The relics it holds are the reason the cathedral was built at the size it was — this was a pilgrimage church, and it needed to hold the crowds.

The south tower can be climbed: 533 steps up a spiral stair to a platform around 100 metres up, with the city and the river below. It is a hard climb in a confined space and there is no lift.

Beyond the cathedral

The old town runs down from the cathedral terrace to the Rhine, rebuilt after the war in its old street pattern, with the Hohenzollern Bridge crossing the river beside the station under its weight of padlocks. There is time to walk it, to sit on the waterfront, and to try a Kölsch — the local beer, served in small straight glasses that are replaced without being asked until you put a beer mat on top.

Worth knowing

This is a nine-hour day with the journey at both ends, so the time in Cologne is a good part of a day rather than all of it. Confirm the departure point and time with us when you book.

The cathedral is a working church and admission to it is free, but it closes to visitors during services, and the tower climb and treasury are charged separately. Dress respectfully and keep quiet inside. The tower stair is narrow, two-way in places and not suitable for anyone with limited mobility, a heart condition or a fear of enclosed spaces.

Anything you choose to see or do in Cologne beyond the cathedral is at your own cost unless your booking says otherwise.