48 Hours: Cologne

The city plays host to six of Germany's favourite Christmas markets. Let yourself get caught up in a flurry of bright lights and haggling sellers.

WHY GO NOW?

The city plays host to six of Germany's favourite Christmas markets. Let yourself get caught up in a flurry of bright lights and haggling sellers. Ward off the cold with roasted almonds, grilled bratwurst and a mug of the mandatory glühwein (mulled wine). Stroll around the Roncalliplatz in the shadows of the magnificent cathedral, or watch blacksmiths and basket weavers at work at the medieval market on the Rheinpromenade next to the chocolate museum while minstrels perform their ditties.

TOUCH DOWN

British Airways (0870 850 9850; www.ba.com) and Lufthansa (08457 737 747; www.lufthansa.com) fly from Heathrow to Cologne-Bonn airport; easyJet (0871 750 0100; www.easyJet.com) flies from Liverpool and Gatwick; Germanwings (0870 252 12 50; www.germanwings.com) flies from Edinburgh, Gatwick and Stansted. From the airport, a 20-minute train journey on S-Bahn line 13 takes you to the central train station or Hauptbahnhof. It costs €2 (£1.40), while a taxi from the airport to the city centre is about €25 (£16).

GET YOUR BEARINGS

The enormous cathedral, known as the Dom, towers over the rest of the city and acts as a useful landmark. The tourist office (Köln Tourismus) is opposite at Unter Fetterhennen 19 (00 49 221 2213 0400; www.koeln.de) and opens 9am-9pm, Monday-Saturday, and 10am-6pm on Sundays. You might want to spend €9 (£6.40) on a Welcome Card, which gives you free travel on public transport anywhere in Cologne and Bonn for 24 hours and reduced entry to museums and galleries. Many of Cologne's chief attractions - its museums, historic Roman sites and its rambling Altstadt (old town) - are located within a few streets south of the cathedral. To the west lie the major shopping districts and the trendy nightlife areas - the Latin quarter (or Kwartier Lateng) and the Belgian quarter, haunt of more discerning Kölners.

CHECK IN

Cologne's most prestigious residence is the Dom Hotel at Domkloster 2a (00 49 221 20240; www.lemeridien-hotels.com), where you can book a double room from €160 (£114), with breakfast an extra €20 (£14). For something different, try the Hotel im Wasserturm at Kaygasse 2 (00 49 221 20080; www.hotel-im-wasserturm.de), located in what was once Europe's largest water tower. Doubles from €190 (£130) with breakfast.

For those on a tighter budget, Das kleine Stäpelhäuschen at the Fischmarkt 1-3 (00 49 221 25 77 862; www.koeln-altstadt.de/stapelhaeuschen) is one of the city's most romantic hotels. It was built in 1235 and offers traditional, cosy accommodation and an excellent wine cellar. Doubles from €60 (£43), including breakfast.

TAKE A VIEW

Climb the 509 steps up the tower of the cathedral and, on a clear day, you can make out the dramatic outline of the Siebengebirge national park across the Rhine. Tours starting from inside the front entrance run every day from 9am until 4pm and cost €2 (£1.40).

TAKE A HIKE

Starting at the cathedral, take a turn down Am Hof, and have a look at the Haus Saaleck at No 50, a terrific reconstruction of a Gothic-style building with a gallery of local Kölner art in the basement. Head down Unter Taschenmacher and you'll get to the Rathaus (town hall) with its Renaissance decor and Gothic tower decorated with figures from German history, such as Karl Marx and writer Heinrich Böll. The glass shelter in the middle of the Rathausplatz covers the underground remains of the medieval Jewish bath, or Mikwe, which is thought to date from when the Jewish community thrived in this area around the town hall. Cross over Untere Goldschmied on the other side of the Rathausplatz and take a passageway into the An Farina complex. Start sniffing for traces of Cologne's most famous product - eau de cologne: it was in this neighbourhood that Johann Maria Farina began making the perfume in 1709. Head down through the Gülichplatz, to the Kasinostrasse, taking care to note house No 3, where Romantic writer Friedrich Schlegel lived. Directly opposite lies the St Maria im Kapitol church; have a look around and then head left into Marienplatz and the Immunitätsbezirk - once the sacred privilege of men of the cloth. Walk behind the Immunitätstor to the Rheingasse. Admire the Overstolzenhaus at No 8, which, finished in 1230, is the oldest example of late Romanesque architecture in the city. Turn north towards the cathedral, through the Heumarkt to the Alter Markt, where you can have a well-deserved rest in one of the many bustling cafés.

LUNCH ON THE RUN

Grab a bite of something spicy at cheap and cheerful café MexAttack, painted in a garish green on the corner of Zülpicher Platz and Hohenstaufen Ring. Wraps, tacos and burritos all come at about €3-€4. It also offers takeaway cocktails: Long Island ice-teas, €4 (£2.85).

CULTURAL AFTERNOON

The Museum Ludwig at Bischofsgartenstrasse 1 (00 49 221 221 261 65; www.museum-ludwig.de) is a modern art gallery with impressive collections of German Expressionist, Avant-Garde, Surrealist and Pop Art. Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroes greet you in the entrance hall, and an Edward Hopper exhibition, including classics such as Nighthawks, is showing until 9 January. The museum opens 10am-6pm Wednesday-Saturday, 10am-10pm on Tuesdays and Sundays, admission €5.50 (£3.90).

WINDOW SHOPPING

High-street favourites - Diesel, French Connection et al - are on Ehrenstrasse, as is the Wingenfeld cheese shop (No 90) filled with delicious (but smelly) products (open Monday-Friday from 10am-7pm and Saturdays 9am-6pm). Browse the handbags in Cocinelle, then cross over into leafy Pfeilstrasse, a street lined with boutiques selling all manner of chi-chi objects which would look fabulous in your home, if only you could defy the baggage allowance. Take a peek in Marrakech Interiors at No 44 for affordable knick-knacks with an oriental flavour. (Open Monday-Friday from 11am-7pm and on Saturdays from 11am-6pm). For a designer fix, head to Rainbow on the corner with Rudolfplatz and then wander around the square, full of antiquarian bookshops and an organic ("öko") food market every Wednesday and Saturday. On the other side of the Hahnentor, one of few remaining towers of the medieval city wall, a Christmas market is held daily from 11am-9pm.

AN APERITIF

Rosebud is a classy cocktail bar deep in the student quarter at Heinsbergstrasse 20 (00 49 221 240 1455; www.rosebud.de). Most drinks cost from €7.50-€10 (£5.35-£7.15) but Happy Hour runs every week night from 8.30pm-10pm, when a caipirinha or a mojito will cost you €5.50 (£3.90). Alternatively, try the bitter local beer, Kölsch, almost anywhere.

DINING WITH THE LOCALS

Brauhaus Sion at Unter Taschenmacher 5-7 (0049 221 257 8540; www.brauhaus-sion.de) is a Kölsch brewery which has also functioned as a restaurant since 1912. Dine on pork kidneys or roast beef in almond and sultana sauce.

SUNDAY MORNING: GO TO CHURCH

The awe-inspiring Gothic cathedral was begun in the 13th century and took more than 600 years to complete. See the Sarcophagus of the Magi, the largest reliquary in the world which some Christians believe contains the remains of the Three Wise Men. It opens 7.30am-7pm daily, admission free.

OUT TO BRUNCH

Café Fleur is a gem which hides away in a quiet, understated street (00 49 221 244 897; Lindenstrasse 10). Brunch here comprises Brötchen with salami, an egg or two, lashings of yogurt on muesli, rounded off with cake and coffee.

TAKE A RIDE

Catch the Bimmelbahn Express imitation train from outside the cathedral entrance. It goes daily every half-hour from 10am-6pm with a round-trip costing €4 (£2.85). The ride takes you a mile along the Rhine promenade to the gates of the Flora botanical gardens and zoo.

A WALK IN THE PARK

The Flora gardens at Amsterdamer Strasse 34 (00 49 221 560890) are almost 150 years old and bursting with flora of all kinds - from the exotic to the native German. Sweat it out with the tropical plants in the jungle greenhouses (open daily 10am-4pm), check out the cacti - then take a stroll down the more European walkways (open from 8am until dusk daily; entrance is free). The nearby zoo is home to some 650 species and specialises in primates. It opens 9am-5pm daily, €10 (£7.15).

WRITE A POSTCARD

Pick up cards either in the cathedral shop or in Museum Ludwig and head to Café Reichard at 11 Unter Fettenhennen (00 49 221 257 8542), a sparkling establishment ideal for penning a thoughtful card. Relax with a traditional slice of Baumkuchen with cream and pistachios, or Pfannkuchen (pancake) topped with apples, cinnamon and sugar.

THE ICING ON THE CAKE

At the Imhoff-Stollwerk chocolate museum at Rheinauhafen 1a (00 49 221 931 888 0; www.schokoladenmuseum.de, you can visit the greenhouses in which the museum's own cocoa beans grow and watch the finished product gush out in liquid form from a fountain. It opens 10am-6pm from Tuesday to Friday, 11am-7pm at weekends, €5.50 (3.90).

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