Cologne

Cologne is Germany's fourth-largest city, and is the largest city both in the German Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia and within the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Area.

The climate of north-western Germany is changeable, with seasonal changes and day-to-day weather often comparable to that of the United Kingdom or northern France. Travellers to Cologne can expect the hottest time of the year to be July, the coldest is Feburary and the month with the most precipitation is June.

Cologne has a very good subway/tram and bus network "KVB"; one- and three-day-passes are available. The tickets are valid for subway, tram and regional train within the VRS-network. Trips within the city limits require zone 1b tickets. For short trips of up to 4 stops on subway, tram or bus there is also the slightly cheaper "Kurzstrecke". A map of the network should be found at any station.

Cologne has a wide variety of restaurants, both German and otherwise, as a glance in the colored pages of the local telephone book will illustrate.