A weekend trip to Cologne in winter is just the ticket for seeking out cosy indoor spaces on cold days. With less going on before the street carnival, there’s more time for good food, hot yoga at 39 degrees, culture to dive into and music to fill your evenings.
Vegan waffles at Vevi
Start your day with a sumptuous breakfast of freshly baked waffles, topped with hot cherries and lashings of icing sugar. At quaint vintage café Vevi in the Belgian Quarter, the waffle batter is vegan and there’s matcha latte or cold brew coffee to wake you up. The vintage furniture in this cosy café comes courtesy of owner Jess’ focus on sustainability. With all the greenery and pretty pictures on the walls, you could quite easily spend your whole Saturday here!
Brüsseler Str. 29, 50674 Cologne
Opening hours: Wednesday – Monday, 11 am – 6 pm
Get your sweat on with some hot yoga
With hot yoga at Yoga39, you can escape to tropical temperatures even in winter. The sessions involve a series of specially selected, centuries-old Hatha yoga poses and breathing exercises at 39 (!) degrees in high humidity. The studio offers classes for both beginners and more advanced participants, which can be booked online in advance. We’d definitely recommend doing so to make sure you secure a spot on the mat.
Richard-Wagner-Str. 18, 50674 Cologne
A warm break at Café Mansito
If you’re in need of a little pick-me-up, Café Mansito in the city’s Südstadt quarter mentally catapults you back to your last summer holiday. With surfboards on the walls, travel magazines on the shelves and delicious empanadas on the menu, the wintery temperatures outside are soon forgotten. They also have some out-of-the-ordinary teas, including Mango Madness (green tea with natural mango flavouring, sunflower and rose petals), Positivitea (made from bamboo leaves with prickly pear, mango and mint) and Magic Mate. It’s a place that instantly puts a warm glow in your heart.
Kurfürstenstr. 1, 50678 Cologne
Opening hours: Tuesday – Saturday, 10:30 am – 8 pm
Pop art, urban art and exhibitions: exploring Cologne’s hot gallery scene
Fancy some art? Cologne has you covered. .Galerie 30works, for example, spans everything from naturalism and hyperrealism to abstract painting and urban art. On the website of Art Initiatives Cologne, you’ll find many more addresses and events across the city. A tip for February: on Thursday the 5th, the exhibition “Über Wasser” by Franz Baumgartner opens at Matjö. The show features various paintings of bodies of water – including, of course, the Rhine.
Pfeilstr. 47, 50672 Cologne
Opening hours: Wednesday – Friday, 12 – 6pm, Saturday 11 am – 4 pm
Fiery chili creations at Bambule’s Chilistube
Chili is a real winter warmer – all the better that the street-food start-up Bambule’s Chilistube has a home in Cologne’s Belgian Quarter. Here, everything revolves around chilli con carne, interpreted in a cosmoculinary way. That means the fiery bean isn’t just served in its classic form, but also in creative variations inspired by cuisines from around the world. How about an Indonesian satay chilli, for example, with marinated minced beef, bamboo shoots and coconut milk? And if you like things extra hot, you can level up your chilli with jalapeños or pink habanero onions.
Gladbacher Str. 9 50672 Cologne
Opening hours: Monday – Friday, 9:30 am – 8 pm
Dance away the winter blues at Stereo Wonderland
When the days get darker, so can your spirits. If you want to shake off the winter blues, turn night into day. Dancing the night away to some good tunes is a proven way to lift your mood. Enter Stereo Wonderland, a little indie bar between Barbarossaplatz and Bahnhof Süd station that regularly hosts small gigs and indie parties. Nice people, divine drinks and, most importantly, really good music make Stereo Wonderland the perfect place to dance ’til dawn.
Trierer Str. 65, 50674 Cologne
Relax and recharge at a spa, hammam or sauna*
When even the thickest woollen socks and warmest quilted coat can’t keep the cold at bay, there’s only one solution left: a proper spa session. At Neptunbad in the Ehrenfeld district, grey winter days are easy to forget thanks to its two spacious sauna areas. No matter how cold it is outside, you’ll definitely break a sweat here. Hamam Köln is also perfect for a longer winter getaway. Here, it’s not just the body that gets a deep cleanse, but the mind as well. Traditional hammam treatments and a wide range of massages send your senses on a short oriental escape.
Neptunbad: Neptunplatz 1, 50823 Cologne
Sauna opening hours: daily, 9am – midnight
Hamam Köln: Holunderweg 75, 50858 Cologne
Opening hours: Tuesday, 12 – 10 pm, Wednesday, 10 am – 10 pm, Thursday, 12 – 10 pm, Friday, 12 – 11 pm, Saturday, 10 am – 11 pm, Sunday, 10 am – 22 pm
Agrippabad: Kämmergasse 1, 50676 Cologne; opening hours: Monday – Friday, 6.30am – 10.30pm, Saturday and Sunday, 9am – 9pm
* Be aware that German saunas tend to require customers to be unclothed.
Hearty local cuisine for body and soul
Hot, hearty food wards off winter chills so some yummy Rhineland cuisine is a must on your winter break to Cologne. Classics include Himmel un Ääd (mashed potato, black pudding and apple) and Halver Hahn (a rye roll with butter and cheese). Places like Brauerei Hellers in the heart of the Latin Quarter serve traditional pub cuisine such as “hop sausage” or pork knuckle. The menu there also includes vegetarian and vegan dishes. And it all tastes best when paired with a glass of kölsch beer, fresh from the tap.
If you happen to be in the Ehrenfeld district of the city, you shouldn’t leave without popping into Braustelle, Cologne’s smallest brewery. As well as house-brewed beer, they do a range of hearty food like Ehrenfelder Schnitzel or Biergulasch.
Hellers Brauhaus: Roonstr. 33, 50674 Cologne. Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 5 pm.
Braustelle: Christianstr. 2, 50825 Cologne. Opening hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 6 pm – 1 am
Watch an independent film in a comfy seat at Off Broadway
Photo: Adobe Stock
When winter weather gets the better of you, Off Broadway is the perfect place to end a day in Cologne. A small arthouse cinema with a big programme, it screens international indie gems – almost always in the original language with German subtitles. Add queer films, special screenings and regular festival showings, and you’re guaranteed not to end up watching just any film.
Zülpicher Str. 34, 50674 Cologne
0 comments on “A winter weekend in Cologne: favourite places to warm up”