Aachen: Printen and Charlemagne's Table ★ 4.8
Aachen is 65 minutes from Cologne by train; Leo van den Daele at Büchel 18 has produced Printen gingerbread since 1655 alongside Aachener Bier.
30 day trips worth the trip across Germany, editor-ranked by TableJourney. All Germany guides.
Bonn: Rhineland Gastronomy and Cassius Garten ★ 4.7
Bonn is 25 minutes from Cologne by S-Bahn; Cassius Garten at Maximilianstr. 28d is Germany's most celebrated organic vegetarian buffet, open Monday.
Andechs (Monastery brewery) ★ 4.7
Andechs Monastery, on the Holy Hill above Lake Ammersee, has brewed Andechser beers for 500+ years; the Bräustüberl beer hall pours Doppelbock.
Kloster Eberbach (Eltville) ★ 4.6
Kloster Eberbach pairs one of Europe's best-kept medieval monasteries with a working state winery, tastings daily in the vinothek until 19:00.
TipBook the guided tour with tasting to get into the old cellars; the wine shop pours daily and the abbey filmed The Name of the Rose.
Luebeck ★ 4.6
Luebeck, 45 minutes north of Hamburg by train, is the marzipan capital of Germany, with the Niederegger company on Breite Strasse making marzipan since 1806.
TipNiederegger's first-floor cafe and museum on Breite Strasse is the canonical visit; train continues to Travemuende on the Baltic.
Salzburg (Austria) ★ 4.6
Salzburg, 1.5 hours by train from Munich, has its own Old Town and the Augustiner Bräustübl Mülln, a 17th-century monastery beer hall that still pours.
Ahr Valley: Germany's Pinot Noir Country ★ 4.5
The Ahr Valley is 80 minutes from Cologne; Germany's northernmost Pinot Noir region produces acclaimed Spatburgunder on steep slate terraces.
Rüdesheim am Rhein (Rheingau) ★ 4.5
Rüdesheim packs the Rheingau's wine culture into one riverside town: Drosselgasse taverns, Riesling estates and vineyard paths over the Rhine.
TipSkip the Drosselgasse crush at lunch and climb into the vineyards; rustic Schänken like the Bauerschänke side of town pour the same Riesling.
Sylt ★ 4.5
Sylt, 3.5 hours from Hamburg on the IC over the Hindenburgdamm, is the North Sea oyster island, with Sylter Royal oysters from the Dittmeyer farm in List.
TipDittmeyer's Austern-Compagnie in List runs farm tours and tastings; book ahead in season.
Tegernsee (Lake town, Bavarian Alps) ★ 4.5
Lake Tegernsee, an hour south of Munich, is officially designated a Genussort (place of culinary enjoyment), 200+ restaurants between the lake's two shores.
Freising (Weihenstephan brewery) ★ 4.5
Freising, half an hour north of Munich, is home to Bayerische Staatsbrauerei Weihenstephan, the world's oldest continuously operating brewery (since 1040).
Mosel Valley: Riesling at its Source ★ 4.4
The Mosel Valley is 105 minutes from Cologne by IC train; steep slate vineyards produce Germany's most mineral Riesling alongside pike-perch at riverside.
Mainz ★ 4.4
Mainz styles itself a wine capital, and earns it: old-town wine taverns, Rheinhessen growers and a weekly market that doubles as a party twice a week.
TipGo on a market morning and drink a Schoppen standing among the stalls by the cathedral, the local Marktfrühstück ritual.
Bremen ★ 4.4
Bremen, 1.5 hours west of Hamburg by IC train, is the city of Bremer Knipp (oat-and-pork sausage), Buntje (offal stew) and its own Hanseatic stew tradition.
TipRatskeller Bremen under the Town Hall is the canonical Knipp address; cellar wine list runs since 1405.
Helgoland ★ 4.4
Helgoland, 3 hours by catamaran from the Landungsbruecken in Hamburg, is Germany's only deep-sea island, with the Helgolaender Knieper crab claws.
TipKnieper season runs Apr to Sep; Hotel Atoll on the harbour serves the best at the dockside.
Potsdam (Dutch Quarter) ★ 4.3
Potsdam combines Schloss Sanssouci's park gardens with the cobbled Dutch Quarter built by Frederick William I for Dutch craftsmen in the 1730s.
Düsseldorf: Altbier and Rhine Promenade ★ 4.3
Düsseldorf is 35 minutes from Cologne; Altbier at Uerige on Berger Str. 1 and Japan's largest Japanese community outside Japan at the Immermannstrasse.
Garmisch-Partenkirchen (Alps) ★ 4.3
Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the foot of the Zugspitze, Germany's highest mountain, is the Alps day trip from Munich, mountain inns serve Käsespätzle.
Spreewald (Luebbenau) ★ 4.2
The Spreewald biosphere reserve 100km south of Berlin is the origin of Germany's most famous gherkin. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.
Travemuende ★ 4.2
Travemuende, on the Baltic 1 hour from Hamburg, runs harbour seafood restaurants serving Baltic turbot, eel soup and the Luebeck marzipan tradition.
TipAtlantic Hotel terrace looks out over the Baltic; Stoever's Fischhandel near the harbour does Fischbroetchen.
Lueneburger Heide ★ 4.2
Lueneburger Heide, 1.5 hours south of Hamburg, is the heather-honey and Heidschnucke (Heath lamb) heartland, with smoked trout from the river Seeve nearby.
TipWilsede's Imkerei Suckow runs honey tastings; Heidschnucke lamb on most village tavern menus.
Beelitz (Asparagus Country) ★ 4.1
Beelitz, 40km south of Berlin, grows the asparagus that fills Berlin's restaurant menus from late April to 24 June. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.
Münster: Westphalian Food Culture ★ 4.1
Münster is 90 minutes from Cologne by direct IC train; the cathedral market sells Westphalian pumpernickel while Pinkus Müller on Kreuzstr. 4 pours Altbier.
Wiesbaden ★ 4.1
Wiesbaden does the elegant spa-town food day: Kaffeehaus stops like Maldaners Coffee Roasters, smart dining and Rheingau wine nearby, one S-Bahn ride away.
TipCombine a morning coffee crawl with an afternoon in the Rheingau vineyards; the state capital sits at the wine region's gate.
Hochheim am Main ★ 4.1
Hochheim is the closest real wine town to Frankfurt, its estates and Vinothek pouring the Rieslings that named English Hock, a short S-Bahn hop from the city.
TipThe tourist office doubles as a Vinothek with regular VinoTreff tastings; walk the vineyard paths between village and river first.
Waren an der Mueritz (Lake District) ★ 4.0
Waren at the edge of Mecklenburg's Mueritz lake is the destination for freshwater fish that supplies Berlin's better restaurants. Booking recommended.
Siegburg and Bergisches Land ★ 4.0
Bergisches Land is 40 minutes from Cologne by RE train; the home of the Bergisches Kaffeetafel tradition, a Sunday coffee spread with Waffeln and Roggenbrot.
Werder an der Havel (Fruit Country) ★ 3.9
Werder an der Havel, 35km west of Berlin, supplies the capital's markets with cherries, apples and redcurrants. Booking recommended. Reservations advised.
Darmstadt ★ 3.9
Darmstadt adds a food excuse to its UNESCO Mathildenhöhe: a September wine festival, market squares and the Ratskeller, twenty minutes away.
TipFrankfurters grumble that Darmstädter Ratskeller won the 2026 Grüne Soße Festival; go and judge the sauce for yourself.
Seligenstadt ★ 3.8
Seligenstadt, the Einhard town upriver from Frankfurt, does the slow half-timbered day: old-town cafes, monastery gardens, Main-side walks and ferry rides.
TipCross the Main on the little ferry and walk back along the bank; the old town's cake cafes fill by mid-afternoon on Sundays.
Book food experiences in Cologne
Guided tour · 3 hours
Cologne Südstadt Culinary, The Food Tour
Experience the Severin district in Cologne's Südstadt on a culinary city tour with exciting stories, local highlights, and five tastings at selected restaurants.
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Guided tour · 3 hours
Cologne: Wine Museum Tour, Tasting, and Guided Walk
Discover Cologne's wine history on a guided tour with a wine expert. Visit the Cologne Wine Museum, explore the Agnesviertel, and enjoy a guided wine tasting with small bites.
from€89 Check dates
Guided tour · 4 - 4.5 hours
Cologne-Nippes: Cheese and Wine with Champagne and Grand Cru
The cheese and wine evening in Cologne-Nippes starts with a champagne, then French cheeses and wines are tasted, accompanied by an experienced sommelier, and a Grand C...
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