Things to do in Cologne, Frankfurt & the Rhine

Cologne Cathedral, with its tower climb, anchors a visit to Cologne, where the Chocolate Museum follows cocoa from a large cocoa tree model and a 10-metre-high tropical house to the chocolate factory before a café with Rhine views serving chocolate fondue and waffles. In Aachen, Charlemagne's royal throne and the Gothic choir hall await in the cathedral, while in Frankfurt the New Old Town, completed in 2018 between the Römer and the Kaiserdom, lets you walk the Coronation Route once followed by monarchs. Castle lovers can tour the hilltop Marksburg above the Rhine and Eltz Castle, one of Germany's best-known medieval castles. Theme-park fans can head to Phantasialand near Cologne, with the steampunk-style Rookburgh, its 'Pulse of Rookburgh' show and the Hotel Charles Lindbergh, or to the film-themed Movie Park Germany in the Ruhr region, with its Halloween Horror Festival in autumn; in the run-up to Christmas, Heinzels Wintermärchen fills Cologne's Alter Markt and Heumarkt with more than 100 stalls and an open-air ice rink that loops around the equestrian statue.

Good to knowSightseeing inside Cologne Cathedral now needs a ticket, booked online or at the ticket office on Roncalliplatz (free for children up to 13; worship and prayer in the north transept stay free), while Aachen Cathedral is free to explore outside services but shows the throne and choir hall only on a guided tour. The Marksburg can only be visited on a guided tour of about 50 minutes and closes over Christmas, and Eltz Castle opens daily from late March to the start of November but is closed in winter; if driving, enter 'Burg Eltz, Wierschem' into the satnav. Movie Park Germany's operating days vary by season, so check its calendar, while Phantasialand stays open in winter for its Wintertraum season with light installations.