Cologne Christmas Markets

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There are seven Christmas markets and a chocolate museum in Cologne and the plan was to see them all with my son Sam, daughter Amy and her boyfriend Jon. I originally intended to spend 2 nights in Cologne but due to unforeseen circumstances this was reduced to one night, it would mean quite a lot of driving in a short time but I thought it would still be worth it.

Saturday

The alarm went off at 5.45am and by 6.45am we were on the road to the Channel Tunnel terminal. We had travelled down from Lincoln the previous evening and stayed in the Travellodge just outside Ashford, which is only 10-15 minutes drive from the terminal. It was a bit cramped with four of us in one small room but it was only for one night.

On arrival at the tunnel terminal we checked in and joined the queue for the trains. The queue moved quite quickly and we were soon on the top deck of one of the trains, it departed on time and 40 minutes later we were on the French roads driving past Calais. The train was quite comfortable and very convenient and I'll definitely use the tunnel again. As the cars are loaded onto the train fire doors close to form compartments, toilets are located in every third compartment and you can get out of the car to walk about and stretch your legs.

After a fairly straightforward drive through France, Belgium and Holland we arrived at the Holiday Inn am Stadtwald on the Western side of Cologne at about 1pm, the trusty Sat Nav proved invaluable once again. The official check-in time was 3pm but luckily our rooms were available so we unloaded the car, dropped our stuff in the rooms and headed for town. There is a very good public transport system in Cologne with trams, buses and underground trains, and the nearest a tram stop was only 5 minutes walk from the hotel.

The nearest market to the hotel was Rudolfplatz, which was only six stops on the tram, so we decided to start there. The first stall we came to as we entered the market was a food stall selling various types of grilled sausage (Bratwurst) and right next to that was the stall selling hot spiced red wine (gluhwein) at €5.00 per cup with a refund of €3.00 if you brought the cup back. I bought a cup on the first stall and the refills were €2.00 for the rest of the weekend on the different markets. Other food stalls were selling roasted almonds in around thirty different flavours, lebkuchen (like soft gingerbread) made into different shapes and decorated with icing, fried button mushrooms with different sauces and chocolate covered fruit kebabs of all shapes and sizes. After we’d all eaten we looked around the rest of the market and headed for Neumarkt.

Neumarkt was only a short walk from Rudolfplatz and was a bigger market, although it had the same mix of food and craft stalls. There was a large variety of craft stalls selling everything from handmade glassware to traditional wooden toys and Christmas decorations, jewellery and lacework. It took us a while to get round this market as it was much busier than Rudolfplatz. After more sausage, gluhwein and roasted almonds we headed down into the underground for a train to the Dom (cathedral).

The Dom is the largest Gothic church in Northern Europe and it certainly towers over the area outside the train station. Unfortunately it was getting dark when we entered the Dom so we didn’t see the full effect of sunlight through the stained glass, and the long queue for the tower meant we also gave that a miss, but it was still a very impressive place. The market was set up on the opposite side of the Dom from the station and was overlooked by a large building that had musicians and carol singers playing on the roof. We decided to skirt the edge of the market and do a little bit of shopping before heading into the crowd. We went into a few shops then managed to find the German equivalent of Primark and bought some tacky presents. There were a lot more shops to visit but the shopping area led away from the market so we didn’t go too far. We stopped in a pub for a drink and it really made me appreciate the smoking ban in England because I could barely see the bar through the fog as we entered and we all stunk of smoke when we left. As we got back to the market it started to rain so we took shelter in an ice cream shop (never too cold or wet for ice cream!) where Amy and John added to the weekend calorie count. We then walked around the stalls and I had a hot smoked pork sandwich and a cup of gluhwein to help fend off the cold.

The next market was on the MS Wappen, which is a ship moored on the Rhine not far from the Dom. There was a €2.00 fee to get onboard but it was very warm and very dry (apart from the top deck) and well worth the money. There was a restaurant on the bottom deck, a bar-restaurant, two decks filled with craft stalls and a partly covered area on the top deck selling food and drinks. There were also a lot of uncovered tables and seating on the top deck but they were all deserted because of the rain. After walking around the stalls we had a rest and a drink in the bar before heading ashore for the next market.

When we reached the Alter Markt it was still raining and we took shelter at a food stall where Sam and I had some reibekuchen (fried potato cakes) with apple sauce while Amy and Jon worked their way through yet another bowl of garlic mushrooms. There was an ice-skating rink set up at the Southern end of the Alter Markt but because of the heavy rain it looked more like a swimming pool and the only people using it seemed to be either decent skaters or those who didn’t mind getting very wet when they fell over. We got back to the hotel totally knackered at about 10.30pm and despite having complimentary vouchers for free drinks in the bar decided to call it a night. The rooms were large and comfortable and the hot shower was very welcome.

Sunday

We got up around 9am on Sunday, packed the bags into the car and checked out at about 10am. The rain had stopped overnight and it was a lovely clear and sunny morning, although quite cold, but over the next hour the clouds arrived with the threat of rain. There was a nice view of the nearby lake from our rooms and there were hundreds of people running around it on a pre-Christmas fun run. Breakfast in the hotel seemed quite expensive at €16.00 each so we decided to head back to Rudolplatz to have a healthy McDonalds breakfast instead at a total cost of €12.00. After breakfast we caught the tram and headed across the river to the Duxer market but this one was fairly disappointing; I don't know if we went at the wrong time but it only consisted of half a dozen stalls. Very shortly after arriving we were back on the tram heading back across the river. On the way back to the tram we passed a local who had given us directions, chuckling away to himself.

We got off the tram near the Alter Markt and it only took about ten minutes to walk to the Medieval market which is located next to the Chocolate Museum. It cost €2.50 to enter the market and the stalls were based around traditional arts and crafts including candle making, woodworking, metalworking and tanning (leather, not sun). There was also a small selection of food and drink stalls and a couple of medieval musicians entertaining the crowds. Amy decided to have a go at colour-dipping candles in hot wax and after a disastrous first attempt finished with a nicely coloured candle, which she then left in the Chocolate Museum.

Entry into the Chocolate Museum was €6.00 each or €17.50 for the family ticket. The museum is split over three floors and has two distinct areas, not counting the shop and restaurant as you enter. The Northern end is a working factory producing Lindt chocolate (with free samples that you can try again, and again, and…), the machines have clear plastic covers that allow you to see the process from cocoa mass to finished product and it’s actually very interesting. There is a small hothouse growing cocoa trees that is accessed through air locks to maintain the heat and humidity, and the Southern part of the building is dedicated to the history of chocolate and it’s effect on culture throughout history. For any chocolate lovers visiting the city this is a must.

We walked back to the Alter Markt for another look around in the daylight and to buy our last German meal then caught the tram back to the hotel to pick up the car. The trip back took longer than I’d hoped for a couple of reasons; the autobahn was totally closed after an accident just outside Cologne which meant a long diversion through country lanes, and the heavens opened as we went through Belgium and France slowing everyone down. As we approached Calais I realised we’d missed check-in and we stopped in town for something to eat and to fill the car with cheap European fuel. We were allocated a space on the next available train, 3 hours later than our original, and went to do some duty-free shopping. We were eventually called forward to a much earlier train and finally got back to Lincoln around 1am on Monday.

It was a great weekend, but very tiring. I think two nights would have been much better because we didn't get to do any serious shopping and there was quite a lot of the city we never got to see, but there's always next year!

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