Parks and Gardens, Cologne

The Sculpture Park in Cologne was fantastic!

It houses some fabulous Modern Art, some very weird!! For instance they have a tent there, when I first saw it I instantly thought that somebody had decided to camp in the park! How wrong I was...as we got closer, I noticed the plaque in front of it, with the artists name etc!! As I said.....Very Modern!

Entrance is free!!

The Rhine park is located on the opposite side of the river to the Dom, so for a start it offers superb views of the Dom and the Dome!

There are playgrounds and benches, its a really beautiful park, really relaxing and extremely scenic.

The Tanzbrunnen is located here, in the summer they have concerts on the huge stage....I would imagine that it would be amazing!

As it was November when we had the pleasure of visiting, we missed this opportunity, but we did see the wondeful golden and brown colours of the park during Autumn...which more than made up for it!

This small area close to the Cologne zoo contains a beautiful collection of modern sculpture. It is definately worth a visit, not only because it is free! Enter the park from "An der Schanz".

The photo is of my favourite sculpture in the park. It's not the most aesthetically pleasing but it's useful in a thunder storm.

4 more images

If the weather is good, take a walk through the Rheinpark and catch a cable car to the Zoo.
Start by crossing the river on the Hohenzollernbrücke and when you get to the end, go down the steps on the left and follow the path beside the river. From here you get a very good view of Cologne across the river. Soon you will come to the Rheinpark which is a lovely place for a rest and a leisurely stroll away from the bustle of the city centre. Walk diagonally across the park and eventually you will come to the cable car station (Seilbahn). The Seilbahn is open from April to October - 10am to 6pm. Tickets cost €3.80 single or €5.50 return - less for children and groups. The ride only takes a few minutes but it's spectacular, giving great views of the park, the river and the city. The station at the other end is directly opposite the Zoo and Botanical Garden and when you've visited them, you can either go back the way you came, walk back beside the river or take the little tourist train back into central Cologne.

3 more images

The Cologne Botanical Garden is a lovely place to take a rest from the city. Wander around the paths and admire the trees, flowers and lakes and you can also visit the hothouse plant collections. When I was there, I came upon a pair of very brightly coloured parrots sitting in a tree beside the greenhouses and they were happily posing for photographs. Entrance is free and the garden's not too large so you can easily combine it with a trip to the Zoo, which is right opposite.

The Cologne riverfront area along Frankenverft -- from the Hauptbahnhof to the Maria im Lyskirchen -- is a nice spot for an afternoon stroll. Here there is a wide park with nice walking paths and many locals enjoying the fresh air. At the northern end of this stretch you will see the Cologne Cathedral, then you will pass the more modern Philharmonie and Oper der Stadt Koln (Cologne Opera House). This area also runs along Cologne's Altstadt (old city), so with a quick detour you can find a nice bite to eat or a beer.

FLORA
The Flora is a big botanical garden in Cologne and it is free. You don't have to pay for the entrance. If you like to relax in nature in the town then visit the FLORA.

We spent an afternoon sitting in a park by the river Rhine eating Hagen Daas ice cream. There are some odd sculptures to look at, and it looks to be a favourite place to sunbathe, walk, jog and rollerblade. The Altstadt is, I think, mainly reconstructed after WWII, and is now just a bit of a tourist trap, but a nice one nevertheless. Behind the Altstadt is Gross St. Martin church, about which I know nothing except that in my opinion it is more beautiful than the cathedral (controversial?...)

this area is really amazing: roomy lawns with abundance of room with nice sunlight, the entering parts of the garden is protected by stone lions .

there is a nice football pitch where surrounded by tall trees there are facilities to other sports too, nice pond is located in the middle part of the park, beautiful dukes going here and there on the waters of that’s wonderful pond,