The Hohe Strasse has been the talk of the town since 1967 – it's 1km of pedestrianised shopping heaven that starts at the cathedral. And the 15,000 shoppers per hour who grace the Schildergasse simply cannot be wrong.

In the shadows of the cathedral
Huge department stores, fashion houses, shoe emporiums, book stores, consumer electronics, smaller bargain boutiques nestling among unexpectedly exquisite shops, fast-food joints or trendy street cafes – the vibrant mix you'd expect to find in any pedestrianised area. And as soon as this area ends, the next shopping area begins – the Neumarkt centre which is famously adorned with an ice cream cone on its roof!

Cologne can look back on a long and eventful history, and you can see evidence of this all over the city. Cologne Cathedral is Germany's largest cathedral and a designated UNESCO World Heritage site. The city's Rheingarten park and old quarter are a firm favourite with locals and tourists alike, a great place to enjoy a stroll and stop off at one of the traditional breweries. You'll find a striking group of twelve large Romanesque churches in the city centre.

With a fascinating range of museums and the ART COLOGNE art fair, Cologne's international reputation as a centre of art and culture is well-deserved. The most important museums include the Ludwig Museum and the Wallraf Richartz Museum/Fondation Corboud, one of Germany's largest collections of paintings. The Romano-Germanic Museum presents Cologne's archaeological heritage, and the Museum Schnütgen houses one of the world's most important collections of art from the Middle Ages.