Cologne
Reaching Cologne from London emits 14.7 kg CO₂e return by rail (7h 6m each way) against 125 kg by air — 8× the carbon. It averages 19.6 °C in August and 4.0 °C in January.
Cologne Lowland (German: Kölner Bucht) is a region in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, centered around the cities of Cologne and Bonn on the river Rhine. — Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0
When to go: Cologne is warmest in August (19.6 °C), sunniest in June (11.9 h a day); coldest in January (4.0 °C). Month by month
Getting there
| From | Distance | By rail | Rail time | By air | Air time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amsterdam | 214 km | 6.3 kg | 4h 12m | 53.9 kg | 3h 48m |
| Barcelona | 1,123 km | 33.1 kg | 12h 54m | 283 kg | 5h |
| Berlin | 479 km | 14.1 kg | 5h 48m | 120 kg | 4h 6m |
| Birmingham | 633 km | 27.7 kg | 9h 48m | 159 kg | 4h 18m |
| Bristol | 667 km | 28.4 kg | 10h 6m | 168 kg | 4h 24m |
| Brussels | 183 km | 5.4 kg | 3h 18m | 45.9 kg | 3h 42m |
| Cardiff | 708 km | 31.6 kg | 10h 18m | 178 kg | 4h 24m |
| Copenhagen | 646 km | 19.1 kg | 11h 18m | 162 kg | 4h 24m |
| Dublin | 938 km | — | — | 236 kg | 4h 48m |
| Edinburgh | 872 km | 57.6 kg | 12h 48m | 219 kg | 4h 42m |
| Frankfurt | 153 km | 4.5 kg | 2h 36m | 38.4 kg | 3h 42m |
| Glasgow | 922 km | 59.3 kg | 12h 54m | 232 kg | 4h 42m |
| Leeds | 658 km | 36.5 kg | 10h 42m | 166 kg | 4h 24m |
| Lisbon | 1,851 km | 54.6 kg | 28h 42m | 466 kg | 6h |
| Liverpool | 730 km | 37.7 kg | 10h 42m | 184 kg | 4h 30m |
| London | 497 km | 14.7 kg | 7h 6m | 125 kg | 4h 12m |
| Madrid | 1,430 km | 42.2 kg | 16h 30m | 360 kg | 5h 24m |
| Manchester | 686 km | 35.7 kg | 10h 36m | 173 kg | 4h 24m |
| Milan | 630 km | 18.6 kg | 11h 6m | 159 kg | 4h 18m |
| Munich | 456 km | 13.5 kg | 7h 6m | 115 kg | 4h 6m |
| Newcastle | 728 km | 46.6 kg | 11h 18m | 183 kg | 4h 30m |
| Nottingham | 599 km | 28.7 kg | 10h 12m | 151 kg | 4h 18m |
| Oslo | 1,026 km | 30.3 kg | 16h 48m | 258 kg | 4h 54m |
| Paris | 403 km | 11.9 kg | 4h 48m | 101 kg | 4h |
| Prague | 536 km | 15.8 kg | 9h 48m | 135 kg | 4h 12m |
| Rome | 1,091 km | 32.2 kg | 14h 36m | 275 kg | 5h |
| Sheffield | 635 km | 32.9 kg | 10h 30m | 160 kg | 4h 18m |
| Southampton | 585 km | 23.6 kg | 9h 48m | 147 kg | 4h 18m |
| Stockholm | 1,168 km | 34.5 kg | 16h 30m | 294 kg | 5h 6m |
| Vienna | 743 km | 21.9 kg | 12h 12m | 187 kg | 4h 30m |
| Warsaw | 981 km | 28.9 kg | 13h 12m | 247 kg | 4h 48m |
| Zurich | 413 km | 12.2 kg | 7h 54m | 104 kg | 4h 6m |
The year in Cologne
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Temp °C | 4.0 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 9.8 | 14.7 | 18.5 | 19.2 | 19.6 | 17.5 | 13.2 | 7.4 | 5.4 |
| Sun h/day | 3.8 | 4.2 | 6.0 | 7.8 | 10.7 | 11.9 | 11.2 | 10.7 | 9.8 | 5.8 | 3.7 | 2.6 |
| Rain mm/day | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 3.5 | 3.4 | 3.2 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.5 | 2.9 |
When to go
Cologne is warmest in August at 19.6 °C but brightest in June, averaging 11.9 hours of sun a day — the two do not always coincide, which is worth knowing before booking. Its coldest is January at 4.0 °C.
Three months worth booking
The same year of measurements, decided rather than tabulated. Each opens the map below on dates in that month.
Staying there
A hotel room in Germany emits about 13.2 kg CO₂e per night under UK Government 2026 factors — a country average per occupied room, not this or any particular hotel. 7 nights in one room adds roughly 92 kg — about 20.5× the carbon of one person getting there by rail from Frankfurt. Two sharing the room halve that share each; the journey does not halve.
How busy it gets
Köln, Kreisfreie Stadt records 6.8 overnight stays per resident a year (7,004,898 nights in 2024). Comparatively quiet by European standards.
Eurostat, nights spent at tourist accommodation by NUTS 3 region, against resident population. Shown for context only — it plays no part in which destinations appear or in what order. Eurostat does not cover the United Kingdom after 2016, nor North Africa or the Levant at all, so this figure is absent for roughly a third of the destinations here.
Where to stay in Cologne
Places to stay in Cologne, Germany, on a live map. Prices and availability come from Stay22 and its booking partners.
Search places to stay in Cologne →Opens the booking search in a new tab. Same partners as the map below.
Affiliate disclosure. A booking made through this map may earn 0xCarbon a commission, at no extra cost to you. It changes nothing above it: the emissions figures come from UK Government conversion factors and are computed before anyone is paid anything.See the method.
Distances are great-circle. Rail assumes international rail at 0.01135 kg CO₂e per passenger-km with a 1.3× track detour allowance; flights use 0.12576 kg per passenger-km including radiative forcing. Journey times are modelled, not timetabled. Full method.