Cologne by night
May 27, 2011 12:52 AM Subscribe
I may purchase some train tickets that would have me staying at Cologne Hauptbahnhof from 0200-0600 early on a Saturday morning in August - is this a horrible idea, or might it actually be a positive experience as layovers go?
I've been to the website of the station and it seems like there are, at least, luggage lockers, showers, and 24-hour fast food places, but are there sheltered/non-outside-or-on-the-platforms places to sit/relax, like a waiting room or something?
Also...I'm up to hit the town a bit as well - are there some cool all-night cafés nearby? Can one get into the Dom next door? Any other tips (for a person whose German extends to about 15 words)?
Thanks!
I've been to the website of the station and it seems like there are, at least, luggage lockers, showers, and 24-hour fast food places, but are there sheltered/non-outside-or-on-the-platforms places to sit/relax, like a waiting room or something?
Also...I'm up to hit the town a bit as well - are there some cool all-night cafés nearby? Can one get into the Dom next door? Any other tips (for a person whose German extends to about 15 words)?
Thanks!
I was in Koeln Hbf a few weeks ago, but sadly I don't remember what amenities it had, as I was rushing for a train. Given your lead time and seeming interest in being awake during those hours, have you considered using CouchSurfing to find locals who'd be up for "Coffee or a Drink"?
posted by knile at 1:38 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by knile at 1:38 AM on May 27, 2011
There is a sheltered waiting room (near platform one).
You could also store your luggage in the automatic lockers and venture out in the old town around the cathedral.
Also just across the main entrance of the train station there is a "brauhaus" where the serve the cologne bear speciality known as "Kölsch" http://www.gaffelamdom.de/Brewhouse.cms (but I've never been there so I can't say anything about this place)
posted by ironicon at 2:27 AM on May 27, 2011
You could also store your luggage in the automatic lockers and venture out in the old town around the cathedral.
Also just across the main entrance of the train station there is a "brauhaus" where the serve the cologne bear speciality known as "Kölsch" http://www.gaffelamdom.de/Brewhouse.cms (but I've never been there so I can't say anything about this place)
posted by ironicon at 2:27 AM on May 27, 2011
Even if you can't get inside the Dom, you MUST go stand at its base and look up. Just that is breathtaking.
posted by sparrows at 3:42 AM on May 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by sparrows at 3:42 AM on May 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
There is a wating area in the station, but the seats have arms, or there are tables in between, or something, I don't remember exactly, all I know is I wanted sleep and sleeping wasn't possible. The showers cost 5€ or 7€, something around that, it was the best 5€/7€ I've ever spent, but I had just got off a train from St Petersburg.
We were there from about 7am to 11am, so I can't comment on what it's like early in the morning.
The luggage lockers are automated and your luggage disappears into some underground cavern, to reappear at a touch of a button. This fascinated me. Were there gnomes down there, sorting whose luggage was whose?
The cathedral is right *there*. Amazing, especially if you're operating in some sort of sleep-deprived haze.
Cologne will aways seem like a dream to me.
posted by Helga-woo at 5:09 AM on May 27, 2011
We were there from about 7am to 11am, so I can't comment on what it's like early in the morning.
The luggage lockers are automated and your luggage disappears into some underground cavern, to reappear at a touch of a button. This fascinated me. Were there gnomes down there, sorting whose luggage was whose?
The cathedral is right *there*. Amazing, especially if you're operating in some sort of sleep-deprived haze.
Cologne will aways seem like a dream to me.
posted by Helga-woo at 5:09 AM on May 27, 2011
I haven't been to the Cologne Hbf in years, but last summer I did the 2am-6am thing at a couple of other train stations in Germany--Brandenburg and, I think, Leipzig. (That's what I get for relying on the Schoenes Wochenende tickets!) It wasn't very fun, honestly, but at a certain point you reach a state of Zenlike resignation and time starts passing pretty quickly. There's also the option of finding a place that sells Sternis somewhere and then getting very drunk under a bridge or something, but that may not be a possibility.
posted by nasreddin at 7:42 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by nasreddin at 7:42 AM on May 27, 2011
The old station booking hall is now a bar/restaurant/nightclub but not sure how late it is open - website here.
posted by janecr at 7:57 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by janecr at 7:57 AM on May 27, 2011
I did this in Leeds a few years ago.
Be warned that you won't be able to doze off in the station, and that even if you don't, the security guards will assume you're homeless, and try to chase you out of the station.
(No idea if Germany's any different, although I can't really imagine that it is)
posted by schmod at 8:06 AM on May 27, 2011
Be warned that you won't be able to doze off in the station, and that even if you don't, the security guards will assume you're homeless, and try to chase you out of the station.
(No idea if Germany's any different, although I can't really imagine that it is)
posted by schmod at 8:06 AM on May 27, 2011
Ha. I'll echo what nasreddin says. It wasn't a great experience. Once I hit 4AM though, the rest of the time flew by, and the station was suddenly packed with commuters.
posted by schmod at 8:07 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by schmod at 8:07 AM on May 27, 2011
I did this in Frankfurt once, longer ago than I care to believe (the early 90s :-).
I came in on an overnight train that arrived in the wee hours, and I didn't leave until mid-morning. It was lovely to see the city wake up, and I was able to slip out and buy some food at the market for a quick breakfast. This sitting around part, though, was cold and uncomfortable.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:15 AM on May 27, 2011
I came in on an overnight train that arrived in the wee hours, and I didn't leave until mid-morning. It was lovely to see the city wake up, and I was able to slip out and buy some food at the market for a quick breakfast. This sitting around part, though, was cold and uncomfortable.
posted by wenestvedt at 8:15 AM on May 27, 2011
I know the Köln Bahnhof well, and I wouldn't have any problem hanging around there for a few hours, whenever, even that early in the morning. The large hall is definitely "sheltered/non-outside" and many little shops are available, if not inside, outside and nearby. Of course, most of them will be closed in the wee hours. There will be some homeless guys wandering around, but you'll probably look enough like a tourist that the Polizei will ignore you.
posted by Rash at 8:28 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by Rash at 8:28 AM on May 27, 2011
Also, don't worry about your lack of German. Once a local hears a few of your fifteen words, they'll invariably switch to English.
posted by Rash at 8:30 AM on May 27, 2011
posted by Rash at 8:30 AM on May 27, 2011
I was in Cologne and the Hbf last week. That part of town is tourist-oriented and pretty dead before 6am and almost nothing will be open.
The nearby (across the square) Ibis hotel has breakfast from 4am and 24-hour snacks:
http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-0739-ibis-koeln-am-dom/index.shtml
I can't speak to the quality though.
Seconding Rash on the english fluency of most of the population, and that the inside of the station (off the platforms) is pretty much a shopping mall, albeit one whose businesses will be mostly closed at those hours.
posted by cardboard at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2011
The nearby (across the square) Ibis hotel has breakfast from 4am and 24-hour snacks:
http://www.ibishotel.com/gb/hotel-0739-ibis-koeln-am-dom/index.shtml
I can't speak to the quality though.
Seconding Rash on the english fluency of most of the population, and that the inside of the station (off the platforms) is pretty much a shopping mall, albeit one whose businesses will be mostly closed at those hours.
posted by cardboard at 8:42 AM on May 27, 2011
Response by poster: Bought the tickets! Thanks for the advice, all. :)
posted by mdonley at 2:55 PM on June 1, 2011
posted by mdonley at 2:55 PM on June 1, 2011
My memories from stopping there a couple of times in the past six months: The station feels fairly safe at night. It's not Leeds (sigh), between 0200 and 0600 there are 44 trains departing, so plenty of people around. When I was waiting there for a few hours for a delayed international train I got talking with a Russian and we took turns watching each other's bags while one of us went for a smoke or a walk.
The left luggage office closes at, iirc, 2200, but the automatic lockers are 24 hour and probably worth using to avoid having to worry about your bags. The showers are clean.
If you're looking for a bar or club, try browsing through this section of Cologne in Your Pocket. Visit the venue websites, use Google translate and it should be possible to figure out which places party all night.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 4:10 AM on June 13, 2011
The left luggage office closes at, iirc, 2200, but the automatic lockers are 24 hour and probably worth using to avoid having to worry about your bags. The showers are clean.
If you're looking for a bar or club, try browsing through this section of Cologne in Your Pocket. Visit the venue websites, use Google translate and it should be possible to figure out which places party all night.
posted by Busy Old Fool at 4:10 AM on June 13, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
The Dom is open from 6:00 to 21:00 in August, so you won't be able to go inside.
posted by neushoorn at 1:32 AM on May 27, 2011