Cologne has many outdoor activities for you to choose from on your lovely day out of the hotel. It is also a great child-friendly city with many wonderful spaces for children to play and to have fun. One of the places most frequented by families is Cologne Zoo. Cologne Zoo is one of the best in this region of Germany with an unusual array of animals to view and even interact with. The zoo is busy all year round especially during the European summer and school term breaks when visitors will find a massive number of local and tourist families getting the most out of their free time.

The Cologne Zoo has been around since 1860 making it one of the oldest zoos in Germany. There are over 500 species of animals here and plenty of photographic opportunities for you and your loved ones to remember the day by. Some of the most popular species at the Cologne Zoo are the elephants and the apes. The Cologne Zoo elephant park is one of the most impressive in Europe and a huge attraction to visitors from all throughout the region. The zoo also has an impressive aquarium with the latest technology in lighting and unusual displays to make you and your family feel as though you have just gone into a headfirst diving experience. The zoo is open seven days a week and is a mere 13 Euros to get into making it one of the lowest costing zoos in Europe. A great experience for all, it is sure to be real treat for children and adults alike.

Another one of Cologne's family fun adventure features is the Odysseum. The Odysseum is located along the Rhine River and close to many different hotels in Cologne city centre. Built as a giant interactive scientific learning centre, the Odysseum attracts guests of all ages and is sure to please the young ones. The museum is separated into seven different sections each with its own underlying theme. The themes cover much of the major scientific discoveries that scientist's have made about the planet Earth, outer space, the existence of life and the growth and development of technology and cyberspace. There is also a specially designated area for children only as well as an outdoor adventure park. Spend the entire day or a few hours in the afternoon – either way you are to have plenty of fun and learn something exciting and new. Climate change has also made its way into the Odysseum featured in a new exhibition. The sometimes controversial topic gets its fair share of accurate coverage here where the museum makes sure to analyze and present without any politics or judgment.

Another one of the child friendly features of Cologne is the many family package deals that the city has to offer. For very reasonable costs, you can obtain the family fun packs with a variety of choices paying one lump sum for a family of four to enter the Odysseum and the Cologne Zoo or any number of other family attractions. Contact your hotel ahead of time to ask about these family friendly package deals. The Cologne tourist authority has been promoting such packages to local hotels to try and encourage tourists from around Germany and the rest of Europe to visit Cologne with the entire family during summer holidays. If costs are a concern for your family budget you may also want to consider visiting Cologne when the season is just a little quieter in May or September. The weather is still lovely, but most of the students have returned back to school and hotels have become less strict about room costs and reservation deposits.