Cologne / Koln - Site seeing help
 

Dear fodorites / Koln experts,
I will be on a business visit to Koln from 7th May to 13th May both days included. I will fly in from India and will arrive at dusseldrof airport around 2 pm on 7th May. I have already booked a room at the Hilton in Koln. I have travelled to europe, couple of times before and have not experienced any jet lag. Here is what I plan to do
1. 7th May - 6 pm just stroll around the city center area or along the river front , possibly take 2 hour night river cruise
2. 8th May - Colonia aktiv bike tour ( 3 hrs ) for a orientation of the city. After lunch will possibly visit some of the sites seen during the bike tour for a detailed and longer visit. Will do the night river cruise , if I dont do it on 7th May.
3. 9th to 13th May : After business hours can spend 1-2 hours on 2 days possibly to do a self guided walking/biking tour . Other evenings I will possibly be with the team for dinner.

Pls critique this plan and suggest me any hidden treasure I should not miss. The bike tour would cover most of the touristry things. Regarding my interests, I am not a great fan of musuems , but if there is anything WW1 or WW2 related , I'll be interested. Arts , music , paintings would be low priority for me. I am open to other things.
Also I am an Indian vegetarian ( very close to vegan habits) and would also like to try any local vegan dishes and places, pls suggest.

local travel : I will be travelling daily to office by train, should I buy a train pass for a week, if I am eligible for any.

warm regards

<i> Cologne / Koln - Site seeing help
Posted by: VIDHAMAA3 on Apr 16, 16 at 9:30am</i>

If you are up to it Saturday afternoon in the D&uuml;sseldorf Alt Stadt is a busy outdoor bar scene. Saturday night is pretty crazy. Sunday afternoon on the K&ouml;nigsallee is walking time for the locals. Dress well and join the parade. Find a restaurant for early afternoon dinner.

The Dom in K&ouml;ln is quite spectacular. It was partially damaged in WW2 as evidenced by the lighter color stones in the outside walls.

Close to the Dom you'll find the germano-roman museum. Worth it.
Lots of Indian food in koeln.

8 may Is end of WW2 so lots of shops will be closed.

Disregard 8 may. They didn't win that one there.

spaarne & Whathello - Thanks for your response.

spaarne - How do I interpret "dress well" ? Since its summer will a pair of jeans and t shirt be acceptable ? I havent thought about joining the parade in the sense that I will walk along with people, but I will spend some time watching the parade.

<i>VIDHAMAA3 on Apr 17, 16 at 3:15am
spaarne - How do I interpret "dress well" ? Since its summer will a pair of jeans and t shirt be acceptable ? I havent thought about joining the parade in the sense that I will walk along with people, but I will spend some time watching the parade.</i>

It is not a parade as such. I used the word loosely to describe the locals walking and window shopping in their Sunday clothes. It's a bit of a show-off tradition. Jeans and t-shirt never.