When I booked my February long weekend trip (23rd-26th) to Cologne back in November, I had no idea that it was going to be Cologne Carnival weekend. How’s that for a happy accident?! 
I was so excited about it that I hadn’t realized what the cons of going to a city for the first (and probably only) time on carnival weekend could possibly be.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that I got to see it and of course, there are pros, but if your only chance to see Cologne happens to be during the carnival, here are a few pros and cons about the weekend to consider if that happens to be your only chance to see Cologne.
Pros ![😀]()
1) You will be smiling and giggling in amusement all the time. Everyone is full of joy happily dressed up in and as anything and everything possible, and they’ll most likely be drunk as skunks.
2) If you’re like me and dressing up isn’t your thing, you and your travel twin will stand out; you’ll have no trouble finding each other if you lose each other in the carnival crowds.
3) If you do decide to dress up, ANYTHING goes. You can be frightening like for Hallowe’en, or you can be any animal or character you want. There are no limits.
4) Because of the carnival, there are far fewer people sightseeing, going to museums, and anything else that is touristy, which makes taking photos a lot easier and crossing bridges like the one in the photo below much more pleasant.
Getting a shot here was a piece of cake since everyone was partying.
Cons ![🙁]()
1) A lot of places are closed for the carnival, and not just museums and other touristy places. For example, the NS Dokumentationzentrum, the former city Gestapo headquarters where you can see the basement prison, was only open for one day during my visit. A lot of shops were closed as well. I even saw several places being boarded up to protect the windows and displays from the crazy drunks.
2) There was garbage all over the place, including a lot of broken glass. Be careful and watch your step!
3) The number of (very) drunk people is overwhelming; it wasn’t like anything I’ve ever experienced. People were drinking on the streets, and since they were drunk, they were obnoxiously loud – screaming, chanting, singing, yelling, you name it. However, most people were happy, friendly, and they want you to join their party. 
4) Hotels were crazy expensive, but that means it’s a great time to try AirBnB! If you’ve never tried it, you can get a discount automatically applied toward your first stay from me if you sign up right here.
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All in all, I think that the pros outweigh the cons. If your only chance to see Cologne is during its carnival, then great! Of course, I recommend that you go and trek the city, but take this post as a heads-up.
Have you ever been to a city
only during its annual carnival/festival?
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