8 Iconic Photo Spots in Cologne as inspiration for your next Trip
From the famous Cologne Cathedral to an abandoned church in the middle of the city, you'll find various interesting photo spots in Cologne. In this blog post, I'll show you the most iconic photo spots in Cologne, and you'll get some tips about how to get the best shot.
Know before you go
If you arrive by plane, it's straightforward to get to the city from the Cologne Airpot. The airport train will take you right to the central station. From there, take either the tram or subway to get to your hotel.
Speaking about hotels: Cologne is a trade fair city. So before you plan your trip, make sure that you're not going there while a big trade fair is taking place. During such a period, hotel prices are incredibly high. Even without a trade fair, I recommend staying in a hotel that's a few tram stops away from the city center to save money.
To get around in the city, you can buy a 24- or 48-hour ticket using the "KVB App". But Cologne isn't that big; you can also experience the city and city center by walking.
Iconic photo spots in Cologne
Almost all the iconic photo spots in Cologne are located in the city center or along the river "Rhine". You can easily see them within a day, even when you just walk.
The Köln Triangle also known as the LVR-Tower
The Köln Triangle is actually not a place to photograph, but a place from which to photograph. It's a 29-story skyscraper with a 360 degree viewing platform at the top. From there you'll get a stunning view over the entire city. For EUR 5,- you can go up the the platform using an elevator.
For stunning photos, I'll recommend going up there during the golden hour when the sun sets. To figure out when that's the case, check my blog post about two golden hour and blue hour calculators for iPhone I use. I took the following photo of the Cologne Cathedral during the golden hour.
Cologne Cathedrahl photographed from the Cologne Triangle
Please note that tripods are not allowed at the platform. But the platform is surrounded by a glass wall. So you can put your iPhone against the glass wall to avoid camera shake.
Once the sun sets, leave the Köln Triangle and walk to the Rheinboulevard for another iconic photo spot.
Rheinboulevard
The Rheinboulevard is a recreational area with some restaurants and bars. From here you can get one of the most iconic photos of Cologne: the Cologne Cathedral with the Hohenzollern Bridge.
The best time to visit to take a photo is the blue hour right after sunset. Here you can use a tripod to capture this iconic view of Cologne. You can either use a dedicated long exposure app for iPhone or try a Live Photo that you can convert to a long exposure
Cologne Cathedrahl shot from the Rheinboulevard during the blue hour
I've been to this photo spot during the day and the blue hour. I found it to be more spectacular during the blue hour. But judge for yourself. Here's a photo I took during the daytime.
Cologne Cathedrahl photographed from the Rheinboulevard during the day
Lovelocks at the Hohenzollern Bridge
If you walk across the Hohenzollern Bridge, walk on the left side towards the central station. There you'll see the iconic lovelocks. These are padlocks, often with engraved names or initials, that lovers attach to the bridge (interestingly, mainly on the left side).
Lovelocks at the Hohenzollern Bridge
Cologne Central Station
Trainspotters can capture photos of the Cologne central station. But there are only two spots where you'll get an unobstructed view of the station and the trains. One is right at the end of the Hohenzollern Bridge. The other one is from a small area next to the Cologne Cathedrahl.
Cologne Central Station
That's a good opportunity to either capture a long exposure of a leaving train or practice your night photography with an iPhone.
Tunnel at the Turiner Straße/Ursulastraße
This small tunnel is right next to the Central Station. Facing towards the Hohenzollern Bridge, exit the central station to the left and turn left immediately. Walk for 5-7 minutes, and you'll see the small tunnel on the left.
During the day I found this tunnel to be not so spectacular. But during the night it's beautifully illuminated, which brings out the steel struts. If you take a photo there, mind the cars. Though it's not a busy road during the evening hours or at night, you'll need to stand in the middle of the street to take such a photo.
Tunnel at the Turiner Straße/Ursulastraße
Church ruin Alt St. Alban
St. Albain is a church ruin in the city center. It was almost destroyed during heavy bombing raids during the Second World War. Instead of being rebuilt, it now stands as a Prisoner of War Memorial. Though you can't enter the ruin, there's a gate through which you can take photos.
Church ruin St. Alban
Severinsbrücke
The Severinsbrücke is the second iconic bridge and photo spot in Cologne. I've been here during the day and at night and found it to be more photogenic at night. The best place to photograph it is from Rheinauhafen.
Severinsbrücke
Hospitals at the Rheinauhafen
The last iconic photo spot in Cologne are the hospitals at the Rheinauhafen. I found the best place to photograph them from the Deutzer side of the Rhine. There's an island and recreation area that's a great place to photograph them. To get on the Island, take the tram Line "7" and get off at the stop "Drehbrücke". Then keep left and go to the bank of the Rhine.
Hospitals at the Rheinauhafen
How I photographed during my stay in Cologne
My iPhone 17 Pro Max didn't arrive in time for my Cologne trip. So I took all of the above photos with my iPhone 16 Pro Max. As always, I took the majority of the photos in RAW format. To learn more about that, head to my blog post about how to shoot RAW with iPhone.
This was the third trip after I decided to switch from Lightroom Mobile to Pixelmator Photo and thus I edited all photos using this app. More info is available in my Pixelmator Photo App Review.
Finally, for the long exposures you see in this blog post, I used my Gorillapod. I've also a dedicated blog post where you'll find a Gorillapod Magnetic for iPhone Review.
Summary
Cologne is a city worth visiting. You'll find many iconic photo spots there, and the majority are nearby each other. While some of them look great during the day and the night, I found some of them more appealing at night, like the Cologne Cathedral, the tunnel at the Turiner Straße/Ursulastraße or the Hohelzoller Bridge.
If you're in Cologne, consider a day trip to visit the classic car graveyard in Neandertal. It's just 30 minutes from Cologne by car.
And finally, if you are into sweets, Cologne is the place to go. You'll find many stores with tons of different sweets in the city center.
