The best time to visit Cologne

Cologne has two good reasons to visit and they do not fall in the same month. The city itself is best in May or September, when the streets are dry enough for walking, while carnival and the Christmas markets are events you plan the whole trip around.

Spring and summer

May averages 13.7 °C with 14 rainy days, which is cool but good for climbing the cathedral tower at €8. The tower is open from March to October between 9 and 18, so spring gets you the full hours. June, July and August hover between 19.1 and 20.2 °C, a pleasant range for an afternoon on the Rhine bank, and the cable car over the river runs from spring onwards.

Summer is when events start to fill the hotels. ColognePride takes over in early July with a parade on the Sunday and three days of street festival on the Heumarkt, the Gürzenich and the Alter Markt. Gamescom follows at the end of August, and hotel prices jump: at the peak up to 188 % above the following week, with the median around 40 % higher. Book early or sleep outside the trade fair district.

Getting aroundThe cable car, the tram lines and the tickets for each season are on the getting around page.Getting around Cologne →

Autumn and Advent

September is the calm one, with 16.5 °C and the fewest rainy days of the year, 11, and Gamescom is already over. October drops to 12.7 °C and rises to 15 rainy days, so the second half of the month asks for an umbrella. The cable car runs until early November and then only on Saturdays and Sundays in Advent, when one way costs €5.50. The carnival season opens on 11 November at 11.11, though the real party is months away.

Cologne counts 13 Christmas markets. The ones by the cathedral, on the Neumarkt and on the Rudolfplatz open in mid-November and close on 23 December, while the Altstadt and Harbour markets keep going into January. The cathedral tower shortens its hours from November to February to 9 until 16, so a climb in daylight has to start early. Weekends are crowded and a weekday afternoon is the gentler option.

Story from the roadSix Cologne Christmas markets, from the cathedral to the harbour:Cologne Christmas markets: six markets, one route →

Winter and carnival

January averages 3.7 °C and February 6.1 °C, with 15 and 14 rainy days, and March is only slightly warmer at 7.4 °C. These are grey months, but museums and brewhouses work well in them.

Carnival is the reason to come in this cold. It starts on Weiberfastnacht, the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, and the streets belong to costumed crowds until Ash Wednesday itself. The city does not work normally in those days, rooms are booked months ahead, and KVB adds evening and night rides. Compare it with December: markets are for strolling, carnival is for joining in, and you should not arrive without a bed.

FoodAfter a day in the cold, the food page explains where to sit down for a Kölsch and a hot plate.What to eat in Cologne →

Where to stayCarnival and the markets push room prices up, so area and month go together on the where-to-stay page.Where to stay in Cologne →

Day tripsBrühl is closed in winter, so the month shapes the choice of trip, as the day trips page explains.Day trips from Cologne →