Cologne
From the CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.
Cologne is a city in Germany, it's 4th biggest city of Germany with nearly one million inhabitans. Located 51°N, 6°E, at the Rhine River. Founded by the Romans.
Cologne's famous Cathedral belongs to the most visited sites in Germany. Also famous is the Carnival and the local beer called Kölsch. Cologne has an international airport
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Tips
Cologne seems to be a very wanted spot for couchsurfers. Local public transportation connects Cologne quite well with the outskirts. So it could be a good idea to broaden your couchsearch to a 10-20km circle in order to find hosts in the surrounding suburbs who are not so overrun with requests, even if their cities are called Leverkusen, Bergisch Gladbach, Brühl, Frechen or Wesseling, they're really not far from Cologne. Info about door-to-door connections, timetables and ticket tariffs can be found at http://www.vrsinfo.de
Travelers who like to think a bit more complicated in order to slowly build up something simple can try and learn about how to contribute and eventually profit from a beta-stage local couchpooling network here.
CouchSurfing Community
2008-04-07 the couchsearch found 1563 Couchsurfers in Cologne. A good way to meet couchsurfers in Cologne are the meetings.
Meetings
Upcoming Events
Additionally to announcements in the Cologne group, the very latest info is now always available at one glance in a google calendar. You can contribute or modify it follow these instructions.
Got any other helpful links? Tell us here!
Past Meetings
- 14th - 20t Feb 2007 Carnival in Cologne
There's a Carnival Guide for visitors on the official homepage of Cologne, also available in French, Dutch, and certainly German... get smart about the festival its places and habits a little ahead so you can smoothly mingle with the party folks right when you arrive.
Who wants to help organize CS meetings in and around Cologne?
Hospitalityclub meetings have already been taking place in Cologne on an monthly basis since June 2006. Now let's get the CSers together! please send a CSmail to one or more of the persons listed below or post in the Cologne group if you are interested in meetings or have a suggestion.
- Kaoxoni -- trying to keep this page up to date, cross-informer, universal sidekick (away travelling until July ;(.
- MrUlf -- frequently organizes meetings, moderator (or animator) of the Cologne group.
- YOU? -- got a hot tip? an idea? a good location? or just curious? Join us!
Public Transportation
Cologne has a tight-knit web of tram/underground stations (map) and bus lines (map). You can plan your route by address, point of interest, or by station at the timetable information:
Tariff tips: Tickets within the city area (including even the airport) are called Zone 1b. At Bundesbahn ticket machines type the direction code 2000 to get them. Buy bulk to save: If you are a group of 2-5, consider saving money with a 1b group daypass for 9,50 Euros. Single daypasses are 6,40 Euro, single rides 2,30 Euro. For trips beyond the city borders view the tariff info and the complete tariff table (pdf).
Other Transport Discounts The Welcome Ticket available for 24, 48 or 72 hrs, offers free inner city rides as above plus discounts on many sights and activities.
Regular tickets of theaters, philharmony, opera, zoo, sport events and trade fair usually include the bus/tram ticket for the date of their validity, so watch out for the vrs logo on event tickets:
In Case of Emergency
- EMERGENCY NUMBERS
Emergency operator: 112 Police : 110 Emergency Doctor/Ambulance: 19222
- POLICE STATIONS
If you are unlucky enough to land yourself in trouble or for whatever the reason you need to contact a local police station, ...TO BE COMPLETED...
- HOSPITALS
Again, should you need to get yourself medical attention, ...TO BE COMPLETED...
- MEDICAL ADVICE HELPLINE
...TO BE COMPLETED...
- WALK-IN CENTRES
...TO BE COMPLETED...
- EMBASSIES & CONSULATES
There are however several country consulates in the city, should you need any help or information. The countries represented are currently: Bangladesh, Switzerland, China, Italy, Monaco, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Norway & Pakistan. ...TO BE COMPLETED...
- LAST MINUTE HOSTEL
...TO BE COMPLETED...
- RAPE CRISIS UNIT
In case of rape, do get in touch with the nearest hospital. Visit them, get examined and of course report the incident to the nearest police station. Should you need to discuss the incident further and require support do not hesitate to contact ...TO BE COMPLETED...
- WALK-IN REFUGE
...TO BE COMPLETED...
- ANY OTHER GOOD-TO-KNOW INFO
...TO BE COMPLETED...
- YOUR LOCAL CS AMBASSADORS
If you have any questions that are not asnwered through this list, nor this wiki page for Manchester, you may want to ask the nearest CS ambassador. Current Köln's resident CS ambassadors are:
You can also seek advice to the Bonn ambassador, Tom Asten
Hosts only
In der Hot Hosts Cologne Gruppe gibt es die Möglichkeit, wie an einem schwarzen Brett die Couch-Anfragen, die wir ablehnen mußten, zu posten, um dem Anfrager trotzdem weiter zu helfen und manchem Gastgeber im Kölner Umland, der vielleicht gerne öfter Gäste hätte, auch noch einen Gefallen zu tun. Hier können wir ein lokales Gastgebernetzwerk bilden. Schreibt Euch also ein, wenn Ihr zuviel oder zu wenig Anfragen bekommt.
This group is ONLY for hosts from Cologne and nearby, to forward untaken couch requests on an internal message board. Travellers don't post here, but in the Cologne group, if ever. As a traveller looking for a couch can, however, ask the people you contact to forward your request to the Hot Hosts in case they cannot host you. Remember to provide them the group link, as they might not necessarily know about it yet. Information is power!
See Also
- For more general information, view Cologne on Wikipedia, available in Dutch, in English, in French, in German, in Italian, in Polish, in Portoguese, in Spanish, and in Swedish.
- Special travel info about Cologne look at Wikitravel and the Hitchhiking Wikia.
Trivia
wikipedia:Cologne
- This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
