Getting around in a new city can be quite daunting. When planning our recent trip to Cologne, we couldn’t find much information about Using Public Transport. Bearing that in mind I’ve put together a short guide on getting around in Cologne and how to get from Cologne airport to city centre.
Check out my guide to Cologne before you plan your trip!
Getting into Cologne from the airport!
So you’ve landed in Cologne Bonn Airport, now what? We found that there were a few options, the easiest and cheapest in our experience was the train.
The station is located inside the terminal building and is signposted once you get through customs.
Take a left out of passport control and head down to the bottom floor of the airport, once you get here follow the signs towards the station. (ask around if you can’t see them as most people are helpful).
Use the ticket machines to get your tickets. (You can select the language you want so it’s pretty straight forward). The main station in Cologne is ‘Koln HBF’ from here you’ll be able to access the whole city. The main service to the city is the S13 which costs you €3 per person and takes around 15 minutes.
The trains in Cologne are really spacious and comfortable so you won’t have much trouble finding a seat or enjoying the journey! It won’t be long until you’re leaving Cologne airport to the city.
Once you arrive in Cologne there are plenty of options. Cologne is a very flat city so getting around on foot is fairly easy. If you’re only here for a couple of days (like we were) or your hotel wasn’t directly in the city center then a few of the following options might be more suitable.
Electric Scooters in Cologne
The easiest and most fun way to get around the city by far. There are hundreds of electric scooters dotted around Cologne.
To get started all you need to do is download the app relating to the scooters you wish to use. We used Lime scooters as these seemed to be the most popular and we could use Apple pay to fund our rides.
Once you’ve downloaded the app and signed up to the services you’ll be able to locate the nearest scooters to you and see how much charge they have. You now simply have to scan a barcode on the scooter and away you go!
The scooters cost €1 to unlock and €0.20 per minute of riding. So a 10-minute ride would cost a total of €3 (per rider/scooter).
The scooters can reach speeds of 18km/h and are used in the bike lanes all around Cologne. (You’ll notice that most pavements are split into a bike lane and a traditional sidewalk).
There are plenty of different companies that offer the service but
Riding a Bike
If you’d rather explore Cologne at a steadier pace, with a seat or maybe you’re just not that tech-savvy, then renting a bike may be the best option for you.
There are plenty of places to hire bikes around the city I’d recommend Radstation Koln. They offer rentals from as little as €6 for 3 hours all the way up to 2 weeks at €9 per day.
They also offer E-bikes and bikes for disabled people at a higher cost if this is something you require.
NOTE: You will need a cash deposit and a form of ID in order to hire one of these bikes.
Using Taxi’s & Uber
As with any city, there’s always the more expensive option of using local taxi services and apps such as uber to get around.
If Money isn’t a problem and you’d rather stay warm and comfortable then this is probably the best way for you to get around cologne.
In summary
I’d highly recommend getting around Cologne on foot or by e-scooter. This will give you the best possible experience and of course, it’s the most fun. You’ll stumble across so many more hidden gems and enjoy Cologne to the full! Hopefully you’ll have a good understanding of how to get from Cologne airport to city centre after reading this guide!
I hope that I covered everything that you may need to know about public transport in Cologne. As always if I missed anything please drop a comment below or feel free to message me on Instagram.
Keep Exploring
Danny
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