Wunderbarer Hauptbahnhof mit Dach. Die Imbiss und Sandwichshops sind offen. Es ist warm und sehr…read morehell. Review: 5

Central station for the city of Köln (Cologne), it is one of the busiest rail stations in Germany…read more It is quite large and I got to explore it a bit today thanks to a delay by the wonderful folks at Deutsche Bahn. My tip to you is that if you do have an extended layover here, use the luggage storage for your suitcases and step outside. You'll find the tremendous Kölner Dom that is worth photographing and touring. I did not have THAT much time so it was pictures only today. The train station has coffee (including Starbucks, yuck), pastries, lots of restaurants, restrooms, a waiting lounge if your train ticket includes that service, car rentals, ATMs and yes, the Ibis hotel. [Review 21267 overall - 271 in Germany - 232 of 2024.]

Mostly Stairs plus long distances to connecting local streetcars - it's just exhausting…read more Only a handful lockers :( I cannot recommend to exit here at all !

I could have sworn the name on the bar outside the train station said "Deutzer Bahnhof". It has a…read morebig patio outside of a good sized bar and grill. It also had a side trailer adjustment that served cocktails. If someone can tell me the true name of this place, I will correct it. We had a quick beer, so that we could put the great beer debate to the proper test. Who's beer is better? Dusseldorf Alt or Koln Golden Kolsch. The hands down winner is Alt. Sorry, Koln, but I thought your beer was not as tasty. Great bar, though. This place was pretty cool.

The idea of this train station is great. Except, it's one of the worst stations I've ever tried to…read morenavigate. Employees are not helpful at all as their directions left us more confused than when we started out. However, once we finally did figure things out (frustrated and on our own that is), it was a quick train ride into city centre. The station is clean.

This train station is connected to the Koln Bonn airport, and for a train station that services an…read moreairport, I expected better. The airport was wonderful! We got off the plane, went through immigration, and the train station was right there, downstairs. We didn't even have to go out into the elements. The train station is covered from the rain, which was a plus. The ticket kiosks had English and buying a ticket was fairly easy. However, the train schedules were off. Due to our lack of German knowledge, we went to the wrong platform and missed the first train into the city. Oops- but that is an honest mistake in a new country. We finally figured out when the next train was, which was about 20 minutes later... although that train was late, so we had to wait an additional 35 minutes. I do wish the station had an attendant to help with ticketing or trains, especially since this is a larger station and by an airport. More seating would have been nice too, especially with the wait times. Also, if you are planning to use trains in Germany, I recommend learning some of the basic German words around public transit, as well as packing your patience. Google Maps directions are not always accurate and neither are the schedules.