You love souvenirs but you are tired of buying another fridge magnet? We can feel you! Therefore, we asked our free walking tour guides which local souvenirs from Cologne they recommend. Here we go!
A simple but very nice gift: Coffee! If you have someone at home who is in love with coffee or you yourself are a big coffee gourmet, check out Cologne’s oldest roastery: Schamong. First opened in September 1949, it has a long tradition of high quality coffee. Visit the roastery in Ehrenfeld, one of Cologne’s most artistic districts. 250 grams of the classic “Kölner Melange” cost 5.80 Euro.
Whereas the local beer “Kölsch” is present in every bar in Cologne, it is difficult to find it outside of the city. It is the Champagne of beers: Only when it is brewed inside the municipal boundary it can be called Kölsch. Today, you can find about 30 brands of Kölsch. The majority of the market is hold be Reissdorf, Gaffel and Früh. Since we drink it from small, thin glasses, you could get one of them too and bring the “Cologne feeling” to your home.
We love Kölsch but when the night gets longer, we don’t say no to some stronger alcohol. Here are some examples of liquor (or Schnaps) from Cologne companies:
Copyright: Welldone
That’s enough alcohol for now. Let’s talk about food souvenirs from Cologne!
These waffles are popular among locals: Enjoy the cathedral-shape waffles (Domwaffel) fresh or take them home to your friends. The confectionery Café Riese offers also other delicacies, like cake and ice cream (which is hard to take home though).
Copyright: © Georg Puetz | cubiclenet | Café Riese
One of the oldest mustard mills is located in the middle of Cologne. You can watch the miller making mustard on the over 200-year-old mill, and you can purchase it! Prices start from 7.55 Euro, the guided tour costs 2.50 Euro.
Do you have cravings for some apricot with pistachio? Or blackberry with Prosecco? The Marmeladen Haus (jam house) offers a variety of crazy and delicious jams, all of them are handmade! Definitely belongs to your list of souvenirs from Cologne.
There are a lot of typical Cologne dishes, e.g., “Himmel un ääd” (sky and earth) or “Grünkohl mit Mettwurst” (green cabbage with pork sausage). If you want to make them back home and you know German, get a recipe book from a local book store. If you don’t speak German, ask a local to write the recipes down for you. Very authentic and cheap souvenir!
It’s December and you are in Cologne, lucky you! The Christmas markets make the city even more beautiful. The small shacks sell a variety of small cute things, like handmade socks, christmas sweets and beautiful star lamps. Time for Christmas and souvenir shopping!
…and we are not talking about those postcards from the souvenir shops that also sell the fridge magnets! A lot of stores sell much more creative cards, e.g., with Cologne expressions, street art or modern photographs from places in the city. You can find them in small stores, like papelito or der Taschenbuchladen.
If you have joined our free walking tour, you know about Cologne’s Constitution. Follow our own law of 11 rules and it will make your life much better. So don’t forget about it, when you leave Cologne and get something with the rules on it, e.g., a postcard, a Kölsch glass or a mug.
Have you heard about the times when Cologne was the most criminal city in Germany? If not, better join our walking tour. There are several movies about this time, when Cologne was called “Chicago at the Rhein”. A recent documentary has the same name, another movie was even shot in the 60s, “Heißes Pflaster Köln”.
If you still don’t know, what souvenirs from Cologne you should bring home, try the shop “Siebter Himmel” or the weekly flea market at Unicenter.
Leave a Reply