6 hour layover in Cologne

Post written by Laura

I’m on my way to another G Adventures trip, this time to explore the south Caucasus countries of Armenia and Georgia. With no direct flights to Yerevan I had spent some time shopping around, looking at different options. Eventually the most suitable seemed to be with Eurowings, a low cost German airline. And this resulted a 6 hour layover in Cologne! Woohoo!

I had never been to Cologne so rather than spend 6 hours sitting around at the airport I embarked on a micro adventure and headed off to see the famous cathedral.

Getting from Koln-Bohn airport to the city centre of Cologne was straightforward with a direct train link. Upon landing everyone had to go through the border control and is stamped into Germany whether you wish to leave the airport or not.

I purchased 2 x single train tickets for a total of 6.40 euros (£5.50) from the transport information office on the ground floor of the arrivals hall and followed the signs for the SBahn train station. The trains seemed to run every 20 minutes or so, and it didn’t take long before I was on the next one heading for the city centre. I travelled for 4 stops and after about 13 minutes I disembarked at Cologne Central Station (Koln Hbf).

The Gothic cathedral is literally next to the central station so you can’t miss it. As I exited the station, there it was in front of me. At 157 m high Cologne cathedral is the tallest twin spired church in the world and receives over 6 million visitors a year. It took over 600 years to build and was bombed 14 times during WW2.

Entry inside the cathedral was free and there was no queue. The interior is vast and its colourful stained glass windows are impressive.

I couldn’t resist the opportunity for a panoramic city view and set about climbing the 553 steps to the top of one of the the cathedral towers. This was a hot and slightly sweaty affair in 25 degrees but a good way to stretch my legs between the two flights. There was a small charge of 6 euros to climb the tower and there was no queue.

There were splendid views of Cologne from the top of the tower, although, similar to the Campanile di Grotto in Florence there was metal caging which meant carefully positioning your camera lens through the gaps (although I didn’t quite manage this with the above photo!)

The River Rhine is one of the major rivers of Europe and from its source in the Swiss Alps it flows through Germany before reaching the Netherlands and eventually the North Sea.

After the cathedral I set off in search of a cocktail. I looking for something refreshing in the city heat to take in the ambience and toast the start of my trip but there were no margaritas to be found! I asked in 2 bars but weirdly both said they don’t serve cocktails until 5 pm 🤔

So I headed back to the airport 🤷‍♀️

I had allowed plenty of time in any case as there is always a small risk that something may go awry with the plans. For example, if I had got on the wrong train and ended up in Dusseldorf (check the train stops at Flughafen Koln-Bonn) or if there is a sudden issue with the train line and I end up getting stuck midway between the city and the airport meaning I would miss my next flight to Yerevan.

Once back at the airport I went back through border control and as I still had around 2 hours until departure time I decided to try out my newly acquired Priority Lounge pass 😃👍

By now it was 2.30 pm and I had not eaten anything since my 5 am breakfast at Heathrow. I helped myself to some food and spotting a bottle of Aperol and some bottles of chilled Prosecco I decided to make my own cocktail. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any soda.

After relaxing in a comfy chair with a coffee while charging my mobile I left the Priority lounge in a slightly warm and fuzzy state and made my way to my departure gate.