Bram Hendriks
Slow walks, Romanesque churches and the city beyond the Dom
Based in Nippes, Cologne, Germany.
Bram moved from Rotterdam to Cologne a decade ago and now writes walking routes through Ehrenfeld, the Rheinauhafen and the medieval streets around the Dom. He is more interested in a quiet Romanesque church or a Sunday flea market than in the queue for the cathedral roof.
Latest stories
The newest 15 of 16 stories.
Kölsch by the Kranz in Cologne's Old Town
What a 0,2 l glass costs at five Altstadt houses, which four beers they pour, and which of them will seat a group.
Picasso and Pop Art at Cologne's Museum Ludwig in October
The world's third-largest Picasso holding is three minutes from the cathedral, under a saw-tooth roof, and an October afternoon is a good time to walk it.
Cologne's Gestapo cells and the Jewish sites around them
Under Appellhofplatz is the Gestapo prison. The schoolyard that sent 130 children out on Kindertransports and the brick wall where the trains loaded are both within the same day's walk.
Cologne Cathedral in October and the Smart Way In
The Dom now charges €12 at the west portal, the south tower keeps its late summer hours until 1 November, and the treasury stays open after the nave closes. All three fit into one October morning.
Walking Cologne's Melaten Cemetery Like a Sculpture Park
A free, unhurried walk through 55,540 graves and a century of Cologne sculpture, with the gates, the rules, what a guided tour costs and the café that shuts at five.
Roman Cologne Now Lives in the Belgian House
The Roncalliplatz building is shut until the end of the decade, so seeing Roman Cologne now means one door on Cäcilienstraße and five stops in the street outside.
Cologne from Above and Across the Rhine
Where to stand for a cathedral view that works: the Deutz steps, the KölnTriangle deck, the cable car and the rooftops with a chair, plus prices, seasons and door rules.
Cologne Day Trips to Castles, Forests and the Rhine
Eleven trips out of the city: a Rococo palace twenty minutes south, a cogwheel railway to a ruined keep, a cable car over the Rhine gorge, 5.4 km of level beech forest. Fares, opening dates and what groups need to know.
Cologne's Parks and Forests from the Rhine to Königsforst
Cologne's parks, riverbanks and forests one walk at a time, with the opening hours, fares and group sizes that decide where you end up.
The Smell of Cologne: How This City Invented Perfume
Three hundred years after Johann Maria Farina first bottled Eau de Cologne, the streets where he and his imitators worked still smell like the invention — and you can walk through nearly all of them in an afternoon.
Inside Cologne's Kölsch Halls, Köbes, and Beer Mat Ritual
How Cologne's brewery halls actually work — the köbes, the small glass, the beer mat that stops the round, and which houses suit a group versus a couple.
The System in the Glass: Inside Cologne's Kölsch Ritual
Kölsch is not so much ordered as administered — here is how the ritual works, and the Cologne houses where it is poured best, whether you are two at the bar or twenty at a long table.
The Fifth Season: Inside Cologne's Karneval, Where the City Loses Its Mind
A calm, practical field guide to Cologne's carnival week in February 2026 — which square, brauhaus, parade or gala actually suits your group, and how to survive the crowds.
Cologne Beyond the Cathedral: The Art Scene Germany Kept Quiet
Past the twin spires lies one of Germany's densest concentrations of serious art — the museums, member associations, blue-chip dealers and one-room off-spaces worth planning a trip around.
The Kölsch Communion: Cologne's Brewery Halls and the Beer That Never Stops Coming
A calm, practical walk through Cologne's brauhäuser — the ritual of the endless 0.2-litre Stange, and exactly where to sit, book and behave.
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