Cologne, verdict by verdict

Cologne is a one-big-sight city that overdelivers around the edges: the cathedral is staggering up close, its nave and stained glass stopping first-timers at the door, the Altstadt brew houses pour Kolsch in small glasses until you say stop, the Ludwig and Chocolate museums round out the rainy days, and the Rhine promenade ties it together. Bonn and Dusseldorf sit twenty minutes out, so the city also works as a Rhine base.

The caveat is looks: wartime bombing and 1950s rebuilding left Cologne more functional than beautiful, so outside the cathedral quarter the architecture disappoints anyone expecting a pretty German old town. The museum list beyond the big names is short, the cathedral's 533-step tower packs and sweats at peak times, the Chocolate Museum fills even on timed tickets, and the brew-house scene thins outside carnival and Christmas weeks.

One to two days covers the city, plus a day for Bonn's Beethoven street or Dusseldorf's old town. The airport lands you in town in fifteen minutes by rail, so arrival is easy; bags go by escalator. May to October brings Rhine terrace weather, December some of Germany's best Christmas markets, and February's carnival is either the reason to come or the reason to leave.