Cologne's main station: Location map
Cologne Hauptbahnhof (Köln Hbf) is Cologne's main station, in the heart of Cologne next to the city's historic cathedral and a few minutes walk from the banks of the River Rhine. First opened in 1859, the station was rebuilt after the war and the current station building dates from 1957. You can read more about Cologne Hbf and its history at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Köln_Hauptbahnhof.
Main entrance and station square (bahnhofplatz) taken from the steps up to the cathedral. If you're staying in Cologne overnight, the good but inexpensive Ibis Hotel Köln-am-Dom is the building immediately to the left of the glass station facade.
Looking the other way, you can see how close the cathedral is!
The main hall, inside the main entrance. You can see the main departures board in the photo, with an information point beneath it. You walk under the departures board into the broad shop-lined passageway under the tracks, with escalators up to each platform. Or you can turn left immediately after entering the station into the passageway behind the camera for the ticket office and left luggage machines.
Station layout & finding your train
You walk through the main station entrance into the main hall at ground level. The main departures board and an information desk is in front of you. From this main hall, a passageway lined with shops leads straight ahead under the tracks with steps, escalators & lifts up to each platform - the platforms are above ground level. The various passageways under the tracks contain shops, cafes & kiosks selling food, drink & so on. The station is a safe place to be, even late at night.
Station plan: see www.bahnhof.de/koeln-hbf/karte (please let me know if that link stops working).
Which platform for your train?
Platforms are numbered 1 to 11 starting with platform 1 on the main (cathedral) side of the station. The station isn't vast, you could walk from platform 1 to platform 11 in 2-3 minutes even with luggage. The station departure screens show which platform your train leaves from.
You can check which platform your train is due to use by finding your train at the German Railways website int.bahn.de and clicking for details. Once at the station, the station departure screens will confirm which platform your train will use.
For live departure/arrivals see www.bahnhof.de/en/koeln-hbf and click Live departure/arrival.
High-speed and long distance trains such as IC, ICE, EC use platforms 1-9. The ICE trains to Brussels & the Eurostar (formerly Thalys) trains to Brussels & Paris use platforms 5-9. The Nightjet sleeper to Munich, Innsbruck & Vienna usually goes from platform 7, but always check the departure screens. For local S-bahn trains to Koln Messe/Deutz, go to platform 10, they leave every few minutes.
Tip: Sometimes two trains use the same platform, one at sectors A-C and another at sectors D-G. Read the departure boards and look at both ends of the platform, so you don't get caught out!
Arrivals & departures on your phone
You can see a summary of departures on your phone using int.bahn.de/en/buchung/abfahrten-ankuenfte, with platform numbers & real time updates. Type Koeln, select Köln Hbf, use Mode of transport to select Long-distance travel only.
Train composition
The train composition poster (Wagenstandsanzeiger, see photo here) on each platform tells you which sector to stand in on the platform so you're in the right place for your car when the train comes in. Sectors are labelled A to G, with sector A at the east (Rhine bridge) end of each platform and Sector G at the west (Brussels) end.
A view of the platforms, looking towards the bridge over the Rhine. The advert for 4711 Echt Kolnisch Wasser refers to a traditional perfume produced in Cologne since at least 1799, the original Eau de Cologne, see en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4711.
To take this photo I'm standing next to the tracks with my back to the Hohenzollern Bridge across the Rhine. Platform 1 is on the left of the photo, platform 11 on the far right.
Tickets & reservations
There is a large DB travel centre (DB Reisezentrum) selling national & international tickets & reservations. Walk through the main station entrance into the main hall and turn immediately left into the passageway shown in the photo below left. There are many self-service DB ticket machines all over the station, these have a touch screen and English language facility.
Update: In mid-2025 the ticket office is being renovated, there's a temporary Reisezentrum in the passageway under the tracks between the escalators up to platforms 5 & 6. Please let me know if you find that the original office (shown below) has reopened.
Enter the station & turn immediately left into this passageway to find the ticket office (entrance on the right, behind the Ibis sign, marked Reisezentrum). In the centre of the photo is a left luggage machine.
Luggage lockers, ATMs, WiFi
The station has WiFi, but only the first 30 minutes are free. The network to select is Telekom.
There are various ATMs around the station.
Left luggage is available if you need to store your bags, see the luggage lockers page for prices & opening hours. Cologne has an innovative left luggage system - self-service left luggage machines (see the centre photo below) take your bag down to underground storage and return it when you key in the code. It's a bit scary watching your bags disappear, but it does work! The machines are located in the main passageway outside the DB travel centre (DB ReiseZentrum).
DB First Class Lounge
In the unlikely event that you have an expensive 1st class Flexpreis ticket for a long-distance train run by DB & partner railways (for example, a 1st class Flexpreis ticket for an IC, ICE or EC train) you can use the DB first class lounge with complimentary tea, coffee, beer and snacks plus free WiFi. The entrance is on platform 1, follow the signs to DB Lounge. It's usually open 07:00-21:00 daily, you can check int.bahn.de for opening times. You cannot use the lounge with advance-purchase Sparpreis or Super Sparpreis tickets even if they're 1st class, or with an Interrail or Eurail pass, or with tickets for Nightjet sleeper trains or regional trains.
Update: In mid-2025 the DB Lounge is closed for renovations.
Supermarkets
There are plenty of shops & kiosks in the passageways beneath the platforms for stocking up with food and drink for the journey. The best place to stock up is the REWE To Go minimarket in the passageway underneath platforms 6 & 7 - look for the large green illuminated To Go sign on the front, see the photo below.
Food & drink, restaurants
For a meal between trains there are several places in the station itself including the usual suspects such as KFC, but the best options are outside:
Brauhaus Sion: My personal favourite is the excellent Brauhaus Sion, www.brauhaus-sion.de is only 5 minutes walk from the station, see it marked on this map. It serves hearty German meals and great local beer in a traditional German beer hall.
Malzmuehle restaurant: Outside the station, the Malzmuehle restaurant (www.muehlenkoelsch.de) is 13 minutes walk away and has been highly recommended to me (it gets great reviews) but I have yet to try it myself.
Restaurants by the Rhine: Another option is to walk 5 minutes down to the river, where there's a long row of beer houses all facing the Rhine. The area by the river is obviously touristy, with walkers, picnic-ers and drinkers at the many outside tables, but it's a nice place to hang out on a summer evening
Row of beer-houses down by the Rhine.
Local transport: Walking, taxis & buses
Walking: It's easy to walk from the station into the city. The station in right in the centre, right next to the cathedral and central shops, you can walk to the banks of the Rhine in 10 minutes.
Urban transport in Cologne: www.kvb-koeln.de.
Taxis: For a taxi fare calculator see www.taxifarefinder.com/main.php?city=Cologne-Germany.
Hotels at & near the station
If you need to stay overnight, the inexpensive Ibis Hotel Köln-am-Dom is ideal as it's part of the station itself, the entrance is left of the station entrance. Many rooms have a cathedral view. Also near the station with good reviews are the Breslauer Hof Am Dom, Hotel Domspitzen, CityClass Hotel Europa am Dom, Hilton Cologne, Excelsior Hotel Ernst am Dom.
Above, the Ibis Hotel Köln-am-Dom, to the left of the main station entrance. The Ibis also has an entrance inside the station (above right).
More information
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You can find more station information & a 3D plan of the station at www.bahnhof.de, just search for Koeln Hbf.
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If you have a sweet tooth, Cologne has a chocolate museum, www.schokoladenmuseum.de.
The Hohenzollern Bridge
Hohenzollern bridge, looking back towards Cologne Hbf. Note the walkway with its inner railing covered in 'love locks'.
Cologne cathedral
Cologne cathedral is right next to the station. For a few euros you can climb one of the towers, well worth the effort - the photo below right shows the Hohenzollern Railway Bridge across the Rhine seen from the top of the cathedral tower, with part of the station roof at Cologne Hbf visible at lower left. For more information & opening times see www.koelner-dom.de. Get there early, the tower climb opens at 9am and closes at 4pm, 5pm or 6pm depending on the time of year.
Cologne Messe/Deutz: Location map
Köln Messe/Deutz is Cologne's second station, 1 km from Köln Hbf on the other side of the Rhine across the Hohenzollern bridge. You'll sometimes find trains which call at Cologne Messe/Deutz but which don't call at Cologne Hbf, or trains which should call at Cologne Hbf diverted to call at Cologne Messe/Deutz instead due to trackwork, so changing trains in Cologne occasionally involves a transfer between stations.
Station layout & platforms
There's a station plan at www.bahnhof.de/koeln-messe-deutz/karte (please let me know if that link goes 404).
The station has 12 platforms. Platforms 1-10 are on a high viaduct, numbered starting on the south (station building) side of the tracks. Platforms 11 & 12 are on a lower viaduct which passes under the other tracks at an angle, see the station plan. All platforms are reached by a long flight of steps from the passageway below, but there are escalators if you use a different passageway at the east end of platforms 1-10, see station plan.
Luggage lockers
The station has a limited number of luggage lockers, just off the main hall in the passageway towards the platforms, next to the information office. For prices, see the left luggage page.
Places to eat
There's a McDonalds in the main hall and a large cafe, plus various food outlets. For a nicer restaurant, walk across the Rhine and look for somewhere on the west bank.
How to transfer between Hbf & Messe/Deutz
By S-Bahn train: S-Bahn (suburban) trains link Cologne Hbf with Cologne Messe/Deutz every 5 to 10 minutes, leaving from platform 10 at Cologne Hbf and taking 3 minutes, one stop.
On foot: It's an easy 18-minute 1.4 km stroll between stations using the pedestrian walkway over the Hohenzollern bridge, see walking map. If you've time, it's a nice walk over the Rhine.
Cologne Messe/Deutz, main entrance. The station building dates from 1913.
Main hall. The entrance is on the right. Ticket office (Reisezentrum) on the left. The passageway leading to the platforms is behind the camera.
Passageway leading from the main hall under the tracks with steps and lifts up to each platform. Note the information desk on the right.
An ICE3neo from Amsterdam on platform 11. Platforms 11 & 12 are on a level of their own, the wider viaduct with platforms 1-10 crosses over it.