Köln Hauptbahnhof (Cologne main station) is a railway station in Cologne, Germany. The station is an important local, national and international hub, with many ICE, Thalys and Intercity trains calling there, as well as regional RegionalExpress, RegionalBahn and local S-Bahn trains. EuroNight and DB NachtZug night services also call at the station. It has frequent connections to Frankfurt by way of the Cologne-Frankfurt high-speed rail line, which starts in southern Cologne. On an average day, about 280,000 travellers frequent the station,making it the fifth busiest station in Germany.
The automatic luggage deposit service inside the station is wonderful. But make sure to prepare coins or at least 5 EUR or 10 EUR banknote for using this service or the toilet inside. We just arrived from abroad and did not have enough changes with us, the automatic change machine accept only 5 EUR or 10 EUR but we have only 100 EUR banknote at that time. A lot of restaurants and shops inside, you can get almost everything there.
Large railway station with both domestic and international trains. Trains run pretty much on time. It's an old station and, due to its architecture (a large dome as roof), very noisy. Can be quite crowded at rushhours. International ICE train can take your from Cologne to Amsterdam in about 2.5 hours, much faster as by car.
Inner city of Cologne at walking distance as well as multiple hotels, restaurants, the river Rhine and of course the famous Cologne cathedral. Beware of pickpocketing at the station and it's surroundings.
Perfect station with everything you need to know or access within reach from the first minute you arrive. Huge variety of food venues, coffee shops and shopping parlors. Accessible from Koln by train.
I really liked the underground luggage storage facility positioned to the left of the main entry and it was much quicker to use than waiting for the huge line up at the 'Gepäckcenter'. The only issue was that the machine only takes coins but no notes, also the process was a bit unclear how it actually works until I read the pictorial guide which makes it clear. (Basically I paid 3€ to be able to deposit my bag and another 3€ when I collected it 20hrs later).
Great variety of business. Good service. You can go to everywhere from here
Well connected station. International brands. Some shops are open during the weekend. Rewe to go open for emergency grocery situations. Good options for eating. Luggage storage available. Not a boring place for waiting with the cologne cathedral outside the station
Great left luggage lockers. Shove your suitcase in the machine and it disappears in to an underground storage. When you want it back, go to any of the machines, put in your magnetic strip card, and it reappears as by magic. Only 3euros for 2 hours or 6 for 24 hours. Very easy to use and a bargain compared to other European cities.
Quite a practical railway station. Pretty new, but still nice. Massive shopping mall underneath with supermarkets, takeaway stalls, and even a bar. Reasonably easy to navigate. being next to the Cathedral is also a huge bonus.
It is like everything Made-in-Germany : functional, efficient, fast-paced. Has lots of stores and food joint, so you won't be miserable while waiting for those trains. If you have spare time, go and visit the Cologne Cathedral, just next to the station. Really made the trip worthwhile.