A city break to Germany, you say? It’s got to be Berlin, hasn’t it? With its fancy glass Reichstag roof, its spiralling Potsdamer Platz and all those cutting-edge galleries and museums, bars and hotels. Well, how about something a little bit different this year? Something more laid-back, more relaxed — less, if we’re being honest, Germanic.

I give you Cologne, the charming, fun-loving capital of the Rhineland and a new favourite on the no-frills network from the UK. It is everything buzzy Berlin isn’t. The locals concentrate so hard on chilling out and enjoying themselves that you’d be forgiven for thinking you were in Holland.

Cologne was flattened by the allies towards the end of the second world war and only a small section of the old town survived — but the reconstruction has left a thriving centre. Unesco might be threatening to remove Cologne’s spectacular cathedral from its World Heritage list because of some unsightly office blocks, but it’s hard to see why. The towers are more than a kilometre away on the other side of the Rhine. Back on our side, you’ve got designer stores, vibrant art galleries and cafe after cafe after cafe lining the pavements of central Cologne, all stretching out from the cathedral, one of Europe’s most exciting monuments. Miraculously, the cathedral survived 14 direct hits during the war, so its dark gothic spires can still enthral visiting pilgrims just as they have done for centuries. Wordsworth, Goethe and Warhol all took inspiration, and Lewis Carroll was so overcome when he saw it that he wept.

Best of the romanesque: the cathedral should take up at least a morning (the tour is excellent, the treasury gleaming, the view from the tower heavenly), but that’s not it for ecclesiastical treats — you can’t walk far in Cologne without stumbling upon romanesque churches. Built between 1150 and 1250 as a testament to the city’s early-medieval prosperity, many were destroyed during the war. They have now been beautifully restored — and they’re well worth poking your head round the door. Try St Gereon, at Gereonsdriesch 2-4 (9am-noon Mon-Sat, 1pm-6pm daily).

Beer goggle: after all that, you’ll need a drink. Kölsch, Cologne’s alcoholic party trick, is a dangerous but essential way to start your evening (or afternoon, if you follow the local lead). A light-coloured, sweet-tasting, sneakily potent beer, it’s served not in those huge 10-litre Bavarian steins but in innocent-looking 200ml glasses. Finish your drink, blink, and it’s been replaced by a full one: in effect, you have a magic bottomless beer glass. Flavours differ, and the only way to experience the subtlety is on a beer-hall crawl.

Start at Früh am Dom, right by the cathedral, one of the oldest, best and quirkiest breweries in the city. Waiters hurtle around with “crowns”, trays each holding 17 glasses, topping up from two men each harnessed to a gigantic vat of beer. It’s not a place to order a Sprite. Around the corner is the next brewery, Sion (Brauhaus Sion), followed by a 10-minute head-clearing stroll to Malzmühle, at Heumarkt. At sunset, squeeze in a round at one of the alfresco beer gardens: my favourite is the lakeside Aachener (Am Aachener Weiher).

Artists and ancients: Cologne has several world-class galleries, and two greats are right by the cathedral. Start contemporary with Museum Ludwig (00 49-221 221 26165; Tue-Sun 10am-6pm; adults £5), which houses one of Europe’s best collections of 20th-century art, packed as it is with everyone from Magritte, Picasso and Chagall to Dali and Warhol. Then travel back in time to the Römisch-Germanisches Museum (221 221 24438; Tue-Sun 10am-5pm; adults £4), which celebrates Cologne as a Roman settlement in spectacular detail. ()

Get out of the city: the pretty town of Zons was extremely well heeled in the 14th century, thanks to a tax levy from shipping on the Rhine — and feuding medieval knights all predictably wanted a piece of it. Hence the very wise decision to build the fortified stone walls that still survive today. It’s a brilliant day trip out of Cologne: by train from the main station, Cologne Hauptbahnhof to Dormagen. There is a regional express (12 mins) and three S-Bahn S11 trains an hour (30 mins). Both cost £5 return. At Dormagen, catch hourly buses (numbers 875, 876 or 882) to Zons (£3 return, 15-25 mins).()

Carnival crush: Cologne has five seasons — the usual four plus carnival. For six days each February everyone goes bonkers, so consider this an early warning for one of Europe’s best party weekends. It starts with Weiberfastnacht (Ladies’ Day), when women cut off men’s ties and run around kissing complete strangers. From there, it’s a maelstrom of floats, fancy dress and kölsch flowing like Niagara, until midnight on Tuesday, when a giant straw man is burnt, to mark the end of fun and the beginning of Lent. The 2006 carnival is over the weekend of February 25. Hotels are already filling up.

Getting around: is easy and preferably done on foot, although the underground tram system runs like clockwork. A book of four single-journey tickets costs £3.20.

Getting there: Eurostar (0870 518 6186, www.eurostar.com) has fares from Waterloo to Cologne from £69, via Brussels; journey time 5hr. Flights to Cologne operate from Birmingham, Edinburgh and Gatwick with Germanwings (0870 252 1250, www.germanwings.com), from £62; from Manchester and Newcastle with Hapag-Lloyd Express (0870 606 0519, www.hlx.com), from £41; from Liverpool, East Midlands and Gatwick with EasyJet (0905 821 0905, www.easyjet.com), from £31; from Heathrow with British Airways (0870 850 9850, www.ba.com) and BMI (www.flybmi.com), from £85; from Dublin with Germanwings (01 865 0125), from €65; and from Shannon with Hapag-Lloyd Express (0818 210018), from €100.

Harriet Perry travelled as a guest of Eurostar

Continued on page 2: Where to stay, where to eat, what to do

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