Have been in Cologne for 2wks now, having been posted here for work. I was searching the web & found this site ... could anyone advice on where to go & what to see ... I know there are tourist spots but I would also like to experience the non-tourist aspects of Cologne or even Europe if possible ...

was thinking of joining the tours ... would that be a good idea?

joining the tours ... now I think you can best decide that for yourself.
But you won't get the non-tourist aspects. If you're working there, hang out with your colleagues and other people you meet.
From Cologne you can easily visit many European countries.
Check www.bahn.de for train trips.

I hope you've been out for a good sprawl in the Kölsch breweries :)

Cologne is not my favourite city but the town museum (near the Dom) is nice.

As for daytrips, I can recommend local train to Schladern (or rent a car) where you can wander around the hills and dales and discover litte villages with pubs. Dattenfeld is a pretty village and there are several others in the river Sieg valley which this is.

More touristy daytrips include Aachen and Bonn which are easy to reach by train. There is also a castle at Brühl between Cologne and Bonn which is a World Heritage site but there I've not yet been myself so I cannot comment. Nor to the World Heritage mining heritage outside Essen. You can hop across to Düsseldorf and try some Alt beer in its many bars and you can of course try a boat trip down the Rhine. The more scenic part is between Koblenz and Bacharach and it is easy to catch a train to Koblenz if you don't want to spend time on a boat all the way from the relatively flat riversite at Cologne.

You can also easily hop on trains to the Netherlands and Belgium from Cologne. Trains to Brussels are regular and quite fast for instance.

Have you visited the Cologne tourist office already. You normally should find there also plenty of information not just about Cologne, but also of nearby sights.

Zons
http://www.zons-geschichte.de/rundgang/index.htm
Wuppertal suspension railway
http://www.schwebebahn.de/
Neanderthal Museum
http://www.neanderthal.de/

Museums in Cologne
http://www.museenkoeln.de/english/museum-ludwig/
Really touristic is only the chocolade museum. Important are the Museum Ludwig, the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum. From the latter also the branches Praetorium and Mikwe are intersting.
http://www.museenkoeln.de/english/roemisch-germanisches-museum/
(under "Branche" in the right column)

in the shadow of the cathedral but older and historically no less important: the twelve Romanesque churches of Cologne
http://www.romanische-kirchen-koeln.de/kirchen.html
e.g. St. Gereon, St. Andreas (grave of Albertus Magnus), St. Ursula

some further ideas
http://www.bonn-region.de/
http://www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/ *)
http://www.schlossbruehl.de/ *)
http://www.route-industriekultur.de/
with the
http://www.zollverein.de/index.php?f_categoryId=3&f_menu1=3&lang=en *)
*) UNESCO world heritage sites

Dear all,

vielen dank for all your replies & advise ... appreciate it.