Cologne Transportation

Getting There

Air

The Cologne/Bonn Airport (+49 22 03 40 40 19 / http://www.koeln-bonn-airport.de/) is located approximately 17 km (10 mi) from the central Cologne. Its terminals dock some of the world's largest airlines including:

Air Berlin (+45 30 41 47 75 10 / http://www.airberlin.com/) Air Malta (+49 69 920 35 22 26 / http://www.airmalta.de/) British Airways (+49 1 80 526 65 22 / http://www.british-airways.com/) Condor (+1 800 524 6975 / http://www7.condor.com/) Easy Jet (+33 8 25 08 25 08 / http://www.easyjet.com/) Germanwings (+44 870 252 12 50 / http://www1.germanwings.com/) Hapag-Lloyd Express (+180 509 3 509 / http://www.hlx.com/) KLM (+491 80 521 42 01 / http://www.klm.com/) Lufthansa (+49 18 05 83 84 267 / http://www.lufthansa.com/) Scandinavian Airlines (+49 1803 234 023 / http://www.scandinavian.net/) Sky Europe (+421 2 4850 1111 / http://www.skyeurope.com/in.php/) Spanair (+49 1 80 568 06 81 / http://www.spanair.com/) Sun Express (+45 30 0180 59 59 59 0 / http://www.sunexpress.com.tr/) Thomson Fly (+43 0192 89 598 / http://www.thomsonfly.com/) Turkish Airlines (+49 22 03 40 26 76 / http://www.turkishairlines.com/) Wizz Air (+48 22 351 9499 / http://www.wizzair.com/)

From the Airport

Public Transport: A regional bus (line 161) is available to and from Cologne via Stadtbahn (city railway) Line 7. Simply take bus 161 to Porzmarkt and hop on the Stadtbahn to the city center.

Taxi: Expect to pay around EUR25 for the trip to central Cologne. Depending on traffic most rides last 35-40 minutes. Taxi service providers including Colonia Taxi and Taxi Ruf Koeln are ideal transport options.

Car Rentals: Car Rental companies at the airport include:

ANS (+49 22 03 40 24 59) Avis (+49 22 03 40 21 38 / http://www.avis.com/) Budget (+49 22 03 40 23 50 / http://www.budget.com/) Europcar (+49 22 03 40 25 55 / http://www.europcar.com/) Hertz (+49 22 03 40 25 01 / http://www.hertz.com/) Train

Cologne is a major train hub with train services to and from Bonn, Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich and more. If your visit to Cologne is part of a larger trip, it may be cheaper to buy a rail pass than point-to-point tickets. For non-European citizens, there are a range of passes available, depending on whether you are visiting Germany only or other countries in Europe as well. Information about the different passes and train travel in Europe can be found at http://www.europrail.net/. Europeans can buy an Interrail pass instead - it is cheaper to buy one in your own country, so call your local train station for more information.

Bus

Eurolines (+49 8 89 89 513 / http://www.eurolines.com/) is a popular international bus service that has a stop in Cologne. The bus station (Busbahnhof) is located behind the Hauptbahnhof on Breslauer Platz.

Car

Cologne is a major autobahn hub, encircled by the Kolner Ring with exits heading in all directions. The A3 approaches Cologne from southeast, via A4 you can get into the city from the east and the west, and the A1 cuts through Cologne from northeast and the southwest.

Getting Around

Public Transport

The public transport network (KVB) (http://www.kvb-koeln.de) is the most convenient way to get around via bus, tram or subway. Daily or 3-day passes are worthwhile if you plan on traveling much throughout the city. 11 tram routs and 44 bus routes cover the city of Cologne. To explore Cologne's surroundings the convenient S-Bahn (urban railway). Apart from crossing one of Cologne's many bridges on foot or by car, you can also take the Rheinseilbahn (funicular). It is Germany's only funicular spanning across a river.

Car

Driving throughout Cologne is fairly easy with the streets laid out in concentric rings. Parking is free on weekends and holidays, except for the area around Kölnarena. Finding a parking spot can prove to a challenge. Parking garages are also available. However, this convenient alternative to street parking is more expensive.

Planning a Trip

Getting There

By Plane -- Cologne and Bonn are served by the same airport, Flughafen Köln/Bonn Konrad Adenauer (tel. 02203/404001; www.airport-cgn.de), 14km (9 miles) southeast of Cologne. Flights come from most major European cities. Bus no. 170 from the airport to the center of Cologne operates every 12 minutes, from 5am to 7pm. Travel time takes 20 minutes, and the fare is 9€ ($14) per person. A taxi, suitable for up to four passengers, costs from 25€ ($40).

By Train -- The Cologne Hauptbahnhof is in the heart of the city, next to the cathedral. For schedules, call tel. 01805/996633 (tel. 11861 in Germany; www.bahn.de). This depot has frequent rail connections to all major German cities and many Continental destinations. There are 18 trains per day from Berlin (trip time: 4 hr., 20 min.), 30 from Frankfurt (trip time: 1 hr., 22 min.), and 25 from Hamburg (trip time: 4 1/2 hr.).

By Bus -- Cologne is linked to several major cities, including Frankfurt, by bus. For complete information and schedules, call Deutsche Touring GmbH (tel. 0221/7598660; www.deutsche-touring.com). Regional bus service to nearby cities such as Trier is provided by Regionalverkehr Köln GmbH (KVB; tel. 0221/16370).

By Car -- Cologne is easily reached from major German cities. It's connected north and south by the A3 Autobahn and east and west by the A4 Autobahn.

Visitor Information

For tourist information, go to the Köln Tourismus Office, Unter Fettenhennen 19 (Am Dom; tel. 0221/22130400; www.koelntourismus.de), a few steps from the cathedral. October to June, it's open Monday to Saturday 9am to 9pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm; July to September, hours are Monday to Saturday 9am to 10pm and Sunday 10am to 6pm.

Getting Around

For 1.50€ to 9.30€ ($2.40-$15), depending on where you're going, you can purchase a ticket allowing you to travel on Cologne's excellent bus, tram, U-Bahn, and S-Bahn connections. A day ticket, the Kölner Tageskarte, which costs 5.20€ ($8.30), allows you to travel throughout the city's transportation network from 9am to 3am. For more information, call tel. 0221/5470 or go to www.kvb-koeln.de.

For a taxi, call tel. 0221/19410 for a recorded message and then press 1 in reply. Meters start at 2.50€ ($4) and rise 1.45€ ($2.30) per kilometer for rides between 6am and 10pm and 1.55€ ($2.50) per kilometer for rides between 10pm and 6am.