Germany · Nordrhein-Westfalen · Köln
Nippes, Köln — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Nippes is the fifth borough of Cologne, holding the Cologne Zoological Garden, incorporated into the city in 1888 and made a district in 1975.
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Where to stay in Nippes
How the choice of base plays out on the ground.
The zoo decides it for most people. Rooms near the Cologne Zoological Garden and the Cologne Zoo Aquarium suit anyone with a day at the animals planned, while the blocks around St. Quirinus and the Lutherkirche give a quieter residential base inside the borough. Niehl is the working end.
Beds there answer to the Ford Europe plant rather than to visitors, and travellers without business at the works will do better nearer the zoo or in Cologne itself.
Find hotels in Nippes
Direct booking searches for these neighbourhoods.
Zoo quarter
The streets beside the Cologne Zoological Garden and the Cologne Zoo Aquarium, the two paying attractions of the borough.Find hotels in Zoo quartera quiet residential night away from the zoo gatesSt. Quirinus and the Lutherkirche
The older church blocks of Nippes, where St. Quirinus, the Lutherkirche and the Thomaskirche stand within a few streets of each other. Few places to stay nearby — book ahead.Find hotels in St. Quirinus and the Lutherkirchecontractors and visitors to the Ford Europe worksNiehl
The industrial end of Nippes, built around the Ford Europe production plant rather than around anything a visitor would seek out. Rooms are few around here — worth securing early.Find hotels in NiehlHotel links are affiliate links: booking through them may earn us a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never affects how places are ranked. How this works
About Nippes
What are the main landmarks in Nippes?
Cologne Zoological Garden pulls the visitors. The Cologne Zoo Aquarium sits alongside it, and between the two they account for most of the reason anyone travels out to Nippes rather than staying in the middle of the city. Churches fill out the rest.
St. Quirinus, the Lutherkirche and the Thomaskirche are registered here, along with St. Bonifatius and St. Salvator. The Clouth Historischer Pfad is different again, a marked industrial route through the borough.
What is the history of Nippes?
Nippes came into Cologne in 1888. The borough as a formal unit is younger by most of a century, drawn up in 1975 when the city reorganised its districts, so the name long predates the boundary that carries it. Industry sits at one end.
Niehl holds a large Ford Europe production plant, while the Clouth Historischer Pfad marks a route through the borough's own industrial ground.
Where is Nippes?
The borough covers some 32 square kilometres of Cologne and reaches out to Niehl, where a large Ford Europe production plant occupies its far end.
Common questions
What is the best area to stay in Nippes?
Zoo quarter: families with a day booked at the Cologne Zoological Garden. St. Quirinus and the Lutherkirche: a quiet residential night away from the zoo gates. Niehl: contractors and visitors to the Ford Europe works.
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Updated October 2026