In Cologne the best-value ticket in the centre is not in a garage. At street machines marked with a blue band, €5 buys 24 hours, in the Innenstadt and in Ehrenfeld, Lindenthal, Mülheim, Nippes and Porz — about 13,300 spaces, and you can pay up to a week ahead. The machine next to it, without the band, charges €4 an hour.
The other change is at the cathedral. Since 1 July 2026 sightseeing inside the Dom is paid. Worship and quiet prayer stay free; walking round with a camera does not.
First lookYou leave the station and the cathedral is already there
Most cities make you look for their landmark. Cologne puts it next to the platform: step out of the Hauptbahnhof and the Dom fills the sky, 157 metres of it. Drivers get the same view from underneath — the city's own garage, Tiefgarage Am Dom, is under the square beside it.
It was the tallest building in the world from 1880 until 1884. I still find it hard to take in from close up, so I walk across the Hohenzollern bridge and look back.
Tourist trapsSunday is free, except where the crowds are
Street parking in Cologne is free on Sundays and public holidays — with three exceptions, and they are exactly where visitors go. Around the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Koelnmesse you pay on those days too, from 9:00 until 18:00 or 23:00 depending on the street.
The second trap is the sticker. The Umweltzone covers 137 km² on both banks of the Rhine, and every car needs the green Feinstaubplakette, foreign plates and electric cars included. Driving in without it is €100 plus fees. I buy mine before I leave home; it is tied to the number plate and never expires.
Local pickA 0.2-litre glass that keeps coming back
Kölsch is served in slim 0.2-litre Stangen, carried round on a ring-shaped tray, the Kranz. The waiter — the Köbes — keeps the tally with pencil marks on your beer mat. At FRÜH am Dom, a brewery house since 1904, the ritual is the whole point; I sit down, and the first glass arrives before I have asked.
Survival ruleFind the blue band before you feed the machine
The €5 day ticket is sold only at machines with a blue band. Machines with a red band also take cards; the rest want coins. Selected machines have a Brötchentaste — a button that prints 15 minutes free for a quick errand.
A rise to €5 an hour and €30 a day has been proposed and has sat before the council since February 2025. As of September 2026 it has not been adopted. I read the machine rather than the news.
01 · Parking€4 at the kerb, €24 a day under the Dom
Low-emission zones in Europe: Umweltzone Köln
- Foreign plates
- Green sticker compulsory, foreign plates included
- When
- 24 hours, every day
- Fine
- €100 plus fees
- EV
- An electric car still needs the green sticker; it is classed in pollution group 4
No diesel ban. The zone is large enough that the ring motorways are the only clean way past the city.
The street costs €4 an hour in the Innenstadt and Deutz, €2 in the other districts. No ticket is €20 up to 30 minutes, rising to €40 after three hours.
The city's own garages are the fair price. Tiefgarage Am Dom charges €0.80 per 20 minutes and €24 a day, height 1.90 m. On the Ring, Tiefgarage Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring is €0.70 per 20 minutes and €21 a day. The private garages in the old town cost more: Opern Passagen is €3.20 an hour with a €28 day cap and a 2.20 m roof, Tiefgarage Heumarkt €5 an hour and €32 a day.
For the chocolate museum, Tiefgarage Rheinauhafen is €5 an hour at the barrier and €3 through the APCOA FLOW app — the museum publishes both.
Car parks worth knowing
| Car park | Price | EV |
|---|---|---|
| Tiefgarage Am Dom (city garage, Contipark)Kurt-Hackenberg-Platz 2 — under the square beside the cathedral and the Hauptbahnhof | **€0.80 per 20 minutes** — €2.40 an hour — and **€24 a day**. 520 spaces, height 1.90 m. | Not published. |
| Tiefgarage Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring (city garage, Contipark)Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring 26 — on the ring road at the edge of the old town | **€0.70 per 20 minutes** — €2.10 an hour — and **€21 a day**. 600 spaces, height 1.90 m. | Not published. |
| Parkhaus Opern Passagen (Contipark)Schwertnergasse 1 — by the opera and the shopping streets | **€3.20 an hour** (Saturday €3.70), **€28 a day**; overnight 18:00–07:00 €2.50 an hour, capped at €10. 550 spaces, height **2.20 m** — the tallest roof in the centre. | Not published. |
| Tiefgarage Heumarkt (Contipark)Markmannsgasse 3 — under the Heumarkt, a short walk to the Rhine and the Altstadt pubs | **€5 an hour** Monday to Friday, €5.50 at weekends, **€32 a day**. 429 spaces, height 1.90 m. | **36 chargers**, 11 kW, €0.55 per kWh. |
The cheapest way to park, by how long you stay
| If you stay | Cheapest | Cost | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 hours in the centre | Tiefgarage Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring (city garage, Contipark) | €4.20 | height 1.90 m · €0.70 per 20 minutes |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Tiefgarage Am Dom (city garage, Contipark) | €4.80 | height 1.90 m · €0.80 per 20 minutes |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Innenstadt and Deutz | €8 | €4 an hour, but machines with a blue band sell 24 hours for €5. Sunday is free except near the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Messe. No ticket is €20–€40. |
| A full day (10 h) | Tiefgarage Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring (city garage, Contipark) | €21 | height 1.90 m · €0.70 per 20 minutes |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Tiefgarage Am Dom (city garage, Contipark) | €24 | height 1.90 m · €0.80 per 20 minutes |
| …and the kerb, for comparison | Kerb, Innenstadt and Deutz | €40 | €4 an hour, but machines with a blue band sell 24 hours for €5. Sunday is free except near the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Messe. No ticket is €20–€40. |
| 24 hours | Tiefgarage Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring (city garage, Contipark) | €21 | height 1.90 m · €0.70 per 20 minutes |
| …and the cheapest central garage | Tiefgarage Am Dom (city garage, Contipark) | €24 | height 1.90 m · €0.80 per 20 minutes |
02 · TowedPrivate tow firms, and a city line that tells you which one
Cologne has no central pound. The city orders the tow and a contracted private firm takes the car to its own yard. Ring the Verkehrsdienst on 0221 221-32000 to find out which one; outside its hours the police answer on 0221 229-0.
The city does not publish the price. It says the bill depends on the vehicle, the time, the days in storage and an administrative fee, and that you pay even if the tow truck was called but has not yet taken the car. Bring ID and the registration document, Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I. In a hire car, ring the rental company first.
If your car has disappeared
- Who took it
- The city's Verkehrsdienst orders the tow and a contracted private firm takes the car to its own yard. There is no central pound.
- Phone
- Verkehrsdienst — which firm has the car: 0221 221 32000
Police, outside the Verkehrsdienst's hours: 0221 2290 - Collect it at
- At the yard of whichever firm towed it — the Verkehrsdienst tells you which. Its office is Verkehrsdienst, Willy-Brandt-Platz 3 in Deutz.
- Hours
- The office is open Monday to Friday 08:00–12:00. The city's dispatch line runs into the evening every day; the two city pages give different closing times, so ring the police if nobody answers.
- What it costs
- Not published. The city says the bill is made up of the tow, storage by the day and an administrative fee, and that you pay even if the tow truck was called but had not yet taken the car. The parking fine comes on top.
- Bring
- ID and the registration document, Zulassungsbescheinigung Teil I. In a hire car the document is locked inside, so ring the rental company first.
03 · EV€0.49 a kWh, and a clock that starts at four hours
TankE, the charging arm of the local utility RheinEnergie, publishes its walk-up prices: €0.49 per kWh on AC and €0.59 on DC, paid by card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Stay plugged in too long and a blocking fee of €0.10 a minute starts — after 241 minutes on AC (only between 09:00 and 21:00) and after 61 minutes on DC, round the clock.
Under the old town, Tiefgarage Heumarkt has 36 chargers at €0.55 a kWh. Remember the sticker: an electric car still needs the green one.
Where to charge
- TankE public chargers — €0.49 AC, €0.59 DC — On-street across Cologne; RheinEnergie counts more than 1,000 public charging points in the city. Walk-up prices €0.49 per kWh AC and €0.59 DC, card, Apple Pay or Google Pay. Blocking fee €0.10 a minute after 241 minutes on AC (09:00–21:00 only) and after 61 minutes on DC.
- Tiefgarage Heumarkt — 36 chargers — Markmannsgasse 3, under the Heumarkt. 36 points at 11 kW, €0.55 per kWh, plus the garage tariff.
04 · Free spotsSunday, 15 minutes, and €5 for a whole day
Three honest ways to pay little. Sunday and holidays, away from the arena, Zoo and Messe, the street is free. The Brötchentaste gives 15 minutes for nothing. And the blue-band day ticket gives a whole day for €5, less than two hours at the next machine.
The park and ride sites, such as Weiden West with 685 spaces, are built for people who continue by train or tram. A local report from 2020 said they were free for 24 hours with a transit ticket; KVB, which runs them, did not answer our checks, so read the sign at the barrier.
Free or nearly-free spots
Sundays and holidays at the kerb — away from the arena, Zoo and Messe
Street parking is free on Sundays and public holidays across the city, except around the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Koelnmesse, where it is charged from 09:00 to 18:00 or 23:00.
€5 for 24 hours at a blue-band machine
Machines with a blue band sell a 24-hour ticket for €5 in the Innenstadt and in Ehrenfeld, Lindenthal, Mülheim, Nippes and Porz — about 13,300 spaces. You can pay up to a week ahead. Selected machines also have a Brötchentaste for 15 minutes free.
Hotels with free parking
- Excelsior Hotel Ernst — Trankgasse 1-5 — opposite the cathedral Map. Guests park in the Dom garage for €35 a night — stated on the hotel's own contact page
⚠ The small print on 'free' parking
- Green Feinstaubplakette compulsory in the Umweltzone — 137 km² on both banks of the Rhine, motorways excluded. Electric and foreign cars need it too. Fine €100 plus fees.
- Street parking €4 an hour in the Innenstadt and Deutz, €2 elsewhere. No ticket: €20 up to 30 minutes, €25, €30, €35 and €40 after three hours.
- Sunday is free at the kerb except around the LANXESS arena, the Zoo and the Koelnmesse.
- Cathedral sightseeing is paid since 1 July 2026; worship stays free.
Take these places with you
Every place on this page as a file you can keep — car parks with their prices, the free and park-and-ride spots, the chargers and the pound.