Cologne holds more than 100 museums, collections, and exhibition halls, and several of the strongest sit close to the river. Museum Ludwig, beside the cathedral, holds the largest Pop Art collection outside the United States, the world's third-largest Picasso collection, and a photography archive of 70,000 works shown in rotation.

A short walk away, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum covers medieval painting through the 19th century and Germany's most extensive Impressionist and Post-Impressionist holdings. Kolumba adds the archdiocese's own collection, and the Farina Fragrance Museum turns the invention of Eau de Cologne into a tour.

Cologne Cathedral is the obvious starting point, and it earns the attention. Begun in 1248 and finished in 1880, it stands 157 meters tall, carries more than 10,000 square meters of window glass, and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. Tickets are required to visit the interior, so check the official cathedral site before you go.

What surprises most visitors is what surrounds it. Twelve Romanesque churches, built between 1000 and 1250, form a semicircle around the old center, and nowhere else are so many gathered in so small an area. Several stand on Roman foundations and were rebuilt after wartime damage.

Evenings in Cologne usually begin in a brewery house. The Köbes keeps the glasses coming, conversation with the next table is part of the experience, and the Old Town holds enough of them within a few streets that you can move between several in one night.

For something quieter, the Kölner Philharmonie sits beside Museum Ludwig, and panoramic evening sailings leave from the Old Town landing stages. Kwartier Latäng and Friesenviertel draw a younger, student crowd, while Ehrenfeld and the Belgian Quarter are known for street art, marked routes, and specialist galleries.