Renting in Cologne
A one-bedroom flat in Cologne costs about $1,300 a month. Landlords usually ask for a deposit of 2 months of rent, and the average commute to the centre is 27 minutes.
How the search works
Cologne is a student city, so the market moves with the semester. September and March are the worst months to search and the best months to be already housed. If you can choose, look in June or in December, when the notice periods of the previous term run out and the queue at viewings is half as long.
Ehrenfeld and Nippes have the liveliest streets and the most shared flats. Deutz sits across the river with a direct bridge to the cathedral and is quieter than its distance suggests. Sülz and Lindenthal belong to families and to the university, and are priced accordingly.
Much of the city was rebuilt quickly after the war, and the buildings show it: thin walls, small windows, heating that was modern in its day. Ask about the heating bill before anything else, because an older house here can double the cost of a winter, and ask whether the windows were replaced.
Carnival is not a detail. For a week in February the centre does not sleep, and a flat on the route of the parade is a different flat during that week. Long-term residents either join in or leave town, and both groups will tell you so at the viewing if you ask.