The trails
Over 200km of marked paths.
Doktent — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Atamari — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Atamari — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Sarefo — CC BY-SA 4.0
Light rail line 9 from central Cologne to Königsforst station, the end of the line — about thirty minutes, with the trails starting directly at the station. That makes it one of the easiest large forests in Germany to reach by public transport, and the reason Cologne residents use it at weekends.
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The Königsforst is a woodland covering some twenty-five square kilometres east of Cologne, among the largest continuous forests in the region. Its name is literally historical: it was a royal hunting reserve from the Middle Ages, and that legal protection is why it remained forest while the land around it was farmed. The forest is today a nature reserve and part of a regional natural park, holding mature oak and beech, wet areas and small ponds. Wild boar, deer and foxes live in it, and more than two hundred kilometres of marked walking and cycling trails run through it. What makes it practical for a Cologne visitor is the access: light rail line 9 terminates directly at its edge, meaning you step out of a station and into forest without a car. This is not a tourist destination but a space Cologne residents use for walking and running at weekends — and it is the city's best option for anyone wanting a day in nature.
Over 200km of marked paths.
A forest that survived as a hunting reserve.
Konigsforst, 51109 Cologne