Cologne Old Town (Altstadt)

Cologne's Altstadt stretches along the Rhine from the Cathedral southward, encompassing the Fischmarkt waterfront square, the Gothic Gürzenich banquet hall, and several of the twelve Romanesque churches that once ringed the medieval city, most of which survived or were rebuilt after wartime destruction. Alter Markt and Heumarkt form the district's traditional civic heart, lined with narrow gabled houses now occupied largely by Kölsch beer halls, where the local pale ale is served continuously in small 0.2-litre glasses until a visitor places a coaster over an empty glass to signal enough. A walk through the district taking in the riverfront, the main squares, and one or two of the Romanesque churches such as Groß St. Martin takes between two and four hours. The Altstadt is at its busiest during the Christmas market season in late November and December, when stalls fill Alter Markt and the surrounding lanes, and again during Cologne Carnival, when the district becomes one of the main centres of street celebration. Outside these peak periods, weekday afternoons offer a calmer pace for exploring the churches and riverside. Photographers favour the view of Groß St. Martin's tower rising above the Fischmarkt's colourful gabled houses, a classic Cologne postcard scene best captured from the Deutz side of the Rhine or from a river cruise boat.