The main shopping area in Cologne is Schildergasse. But if you’re looking for more variety, the best place to start before you get to the pedestrian area is on the Ring, where it intersects with Ehrenstrasse.

Ehrenstrasse offers something for everyone – designer clothes, second-hand clothes, every style of shoe, cool gifts, household goods, kids clothes, oriental gifts, Moroccan lamps and tables.

You’ll also find French Connection, Kookai, Esprit, Diesel and many more well-known names.

And if you wander off Ehrenstrasse onto Mittelstrasse you’ll find expensive boutiques selling furs, leather, designer labels and much more. Cologne’s two main department stores are Kaufhof on Schildergasse and Karstadt on Neumarkt. Here you’ll find everything you’d normally find in a department store but do check the food halls in the basements for some tasty German specialities.