Cologne station safe?

CC 72100 · 2 Dec 2019

If Gare du Nord keeps coming up, then unfortunately the suburban lines that feed into it are relevant; the Northern suburbs of Paris do have a (justified in many cases) reputation, and so if the station has a bit reputation it is probably reflective of its clientele that feed into it (ie. from the RER B & RER D).

That and the fact that it is not in the best part of Paris city either.

In terms of Cologne Hbf, having stayed there and used the station over the time I was there, it didn't feel particularly unsafe to me, and was no better/worse than other German main stations. I do think - as much as they are criticised - being behind barriers does help on occasions in the UK, as stations on the continent tend to attract a lot more down and outs as a result. Also would agree with other comments that probably felt safer on the open platforms above as opposed to the tight-for-space subway and concourse area.

alex397 said:
I would also agree about Gare du Nord. I think it applies to most of Paris too. I've travlled to most parts of Western and Eastern Europe now, and Paris is the only place i've felt really unsafe. The amount of times gangs of people tried to corner me or grabbed me by the arm was terrifying - and this was in very busy areas in the middle of the day. Goodness knows what the grimy parts of Paris in the evening are like. I've visited three times and always had issues.

I've felt much safer in German cities and parts of Eastern Europe than I ever did in Paris; and I lived in Paris for just under a year and speak fluent french! I'm still not a huge fan of Paris, but the city did feel safer in my last visit (July 2019) than my time before that in July 2017 and when I lived there 2013/14.

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Jamesrob637 · 2 Dec 2019

Used Köln Hbf many a time and never had an issue. However I'm practically native German speaking which helps.

Mag_seven · 3 Dec 2019

duesselmartin said:
Paris felt ok to ne. Rome was another matter. I noticed at least five pick pocket tricks in me in three days. Termini station is very unpleasant. Milan felt relaxed in comparision.

I travelled through both Rome Termini and Milan Central stations yesterday as it happens - both seemed OK to me. As a general point pickpockets will always choose crowded areas so main stations will always be a draw for them. My rule is always to remain vigilant wherever you are.

Beebman · 3 Dec 2019

I work for a large organisation where I keep track of about 500 IT assets used by staff members. In ten years I've only had to organise replacements for stolen laptops on three occasions. One was as a result of a home burglary in London, but the other two were both as a result of thefts in Paris - one was on the RER from CDG airport and the other on the concourse at Gare du Nord.

I've done a lot of travelling by train in Germany since 1990. In the 90s I quite often felt unsafe at main stations, in particular I felt that several dubious types were watching me at Hamburg and Essen Hbfs but now I feel rather safer in that country. The only station in Italy where I've ever felt unsafe is Firenze SMN and indeed I once witnessed railway police pounce on and arrest someone there, presumably in relation to pickpocketing. (I visited Milano Centrale recently and I felt perfectly OK.) IMO the country with the safest main stations is the Netherlands. In the past year I've visited Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Arnhem CS, all three stations appeared to be kept very smart and clean and I felt very secure.

paddington · 3 Dec 2019

I've not felt unsafe at any German station even very late at night or very early in the morning.

I've been to the (or a) main station in every EU/EEA capital except Vilnius and Riga and apart from Gare du Nord I didn't feel unsafe. Even in Rome.

AlbertBeale · 3 Dec 2019

paddington said:
I've not felt unsafe at any German station even very late at night or very early in the morning.

I've been to the (or a) main station in every EU/EEA capital except Vilnius and Riga and apart from Gare du Nord I didn't feel unsafe. Even in Rome.

Interesting, the frequency of negative comments on GdN in Paris (though, to be fair, it is one of the European stations most commonly passed through by Brits, so I guess whatever experiences people tend to have there might be statistically magnified on this British-based thread).

I've been to Vilnius and (very briefly - long enough to buy an ice cream on the platform!) Riga, though this was many years back. (In the earlier post-Soviet days in the '90s, before western-style financial imperatives closed down the line through the Baltic states, and there were useful through trains Tallinn-Riga-Vilnius-Warsaw.) In those days, at least, a quarter of a century ago, Vilnius was absolutely fine, safety-wise!

In terms of your having visited a/the main station "in every EU/EEA capital", I look forward to news from Reykjavík Hbf, and Nicosia Centrale....

TRAX · 3 Dec 2019

Paris is a **** hole (I live there). Assaults, theft, and violence have all risen in the last year, with the only exception being (surprisingly) drug-related crime.
Here’s, in French, a table (source: French Home Office) listing the different crime types in Paris and their evolution in the last year. Enjoy.

12 % rise in theft, + 7 % in assaults, + 4.9 % in sexual assaults, + 15 % in weapon possession, etc.
Overall, a 10.5 % increase in crime in Paris since last year.
Honestly I don’t think any city in Germany, or even in Europe, can top this off.

Bletchleyite · 3 Dec 2019

TRAX said:
Paris is a **** hole (I live there).

I agree, I don't get why people see it as romantic. It's an expensive, polluted, crime-ridden dump. Of the original two E* destinations I definitely prefer Brussels, though that can be a little rough too.

TRAX · 3 Dec 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I agree, I don't get why people see it as romantic. It's an expensive, polluted, crime-ridden dump. Of the original two E* destinations I definitely prefer Brussels, though that can be a little rough too.

I agree about Paris. And it’s getting worse day by day.
I don’t know much about Belgium but from what I’ve seen it’s not that brilliant either. Can’t be as bad as Paris, though.

AlbertBeale · 3 Dec 2019

TRAX said:
I agree about Paris. And it’s getting worse day by day.
I don’t know much about Belgium but from what I’ve seen it’s not that brilliant either. Can’t be as bad as Paris, though.

Re the reference to Belgium...

I did once get my pocket picked on a very crowded tram in Brussels, many years ago. But the "sense of threat" there - after making allowances for a degree of linguistic and cultural unfamiliarity, etc - isn't (in my view) much different from a large British city.

I used to spend time in Brussels quite frequently, a long time back, and found the areas I was hanging out in very friendly in those days. But in recent years my Brussels experiences are mostly just a bit of time in and round Gare du Midi - which seemed and seems OK to me. (The most threatening ambience I experienced there in recent years was the swarms of heavily-armed police and military around the station after there was a terrorist incident in Brussels.)

Bletchleyite · 3 Dec 2019

Gare du Midi/Zuidstation is a bit of a pickpocket's den as are many European stations, so just be aware. But that aside it's OK. I'd say Brussels has a slightly rough edge in a way 1990s Manchester did, though for some reason pickpocketing never seems to have been as much of an issue in the UK as elsewhere.

Bungle965 · 3 Dec 2019

Bletchleyite said:
I agree, I don't get why people see it as romantic. It's an expensive, polluted, crime-ridden dump. Of the original two E* destinations I definitely prefer Brussels, though that can be a little rough too.

I have to say I generally prefer neither, I often use them as a gateway to other destinations.
Sam

Meerkat · 4 Dec 2019

When we were in Florence station twenty years ago waiting for an overnight train there was what we presumed to be a pimp slapping about an off her face hooker (literally slapping rather than a real beating). Discretion being the better part etc etc we pretended to be asleep.
The real eye opener was a midget hooker in a basque and overcoat picking up a businessman on a packed morning peak Paris metro train!!

blackfive460 · 4 Dec 2019

Tram queues and the main station (Hl.n) in Prague can be good for feeling those fairy fingers checking out your back pockets but nowhere beats Paris which is just about the only place I've really felt unsafe, particularly the area around Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est.
Köln Hbf and most of the city are fine. I've never had a moment's concern there though the number of beggars both at the station and around the Dom seem to be increasing.

duesselmartin · 4 Dec 2019

blackfive460 said:
Tram queues and the main station (Hl.n) in Prague can be good for feeling those fairy fingers checking out your back pockets but nowhere beats Paris which is just about the only place I've really felt unsafe, particularly the area around Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est.
Köln Hbf and most of the city are fine. I've never had a moment's concern there though the number of beggars both at the station and around the Dom seem to be increasing.

The number certainly increases in winter and esp. during the Christmas Market. One could have the impression that they are bussed in.
Generally I dont find them more visible in Germany than in the UK. Aberdeen's Union Street can be very creepy in the evening/night.
Same goes for Oxford'S Cornmarket St.
But that is a very subjective feeling.

dutchflyer · 6 Dec 2019

It can often change in a few monthes-like f.e. the old Bucuresti Nord or Budapest Keleti, really grumpy and full of rather undesirables later in the evening years ago. In Germany Köln is much used, other main and much poorer cities like esp. Duisburg, Wuppertal have a far larger % of non-passenger and also ´I´d rather not come too close with them´ people. In fact BHFsvorplats=stations square is often much more unsafe-stations do get patrolled effectively in Germany by normal police.
But then the number of apparent homeless people in UK-stations seems to me much, much larger as anywhere on the continent. Which as such does not mean that is threatening, more that we´ŕe not used to such amounts. Or that was that English bobby in Doncaster of all places some years ago when I was using an Interrail who thought such a ticket without specifying from A to B and from the continent must be extremely suspicious. He claimed it was a routine search for law-breakers, so I wished him a Polish non-english speaker as next target.

61653 HTAFC · 6 Dec 2019

Frankfurt-Main Hbf seems to have much more severe beggar problem than Köln in my opinion.

Funnily enough before heading to Barcelona last year I was warned of pickpockets whenever I mentioned where I was heading... but Paris was far worse even though I was only passing through!

YorkshireBear · 7 Dec 2019

Never ever felt unsafe in Köln been there three times in last few years. Beggers and homeless yes, same as every UK city. Never unsafe.

Paris did not feel great, just made sure all ym stuff wasn't pickabkle.

WestCoast · 7 Dec 2019

I have experience living in the country so my take is that the big German stations including Cologne HBF can attract a lively crowd with their bars & all night shops but I can't say I ever felt them to be sketchy. They seem largely well patrolled with DB security staff and police. Anyone causing trouble seems to get kicked out - and I've seen beggars be very discrete/cautious.

The stuff that happens at places like Rome Termini & other Italian stations with the "helpers" at the ticket machines preying on the unsuspecting, now that grinds my gears. Not sure why the local authorities put up with that just seems blatant.

WestCoast · 7 Dec 2019

Bletchleyite said:
Gare du Midi/Zuidstation is a bit of a pickpocket's den as are many European stations, so just be aware. But that aside it's OK. I'd say Brussels has a slightly rough edge in a way 1990s Manchester did, though for some reason pickpocketing never seems to have been as much of an issue in the UK as elsewhere.

Agreed, Midi and Nord in Brussels don't seem to be the most pleasant for hanging around, although in my experience Central is alright (and where I'd recommend people deposit luggage etc).

As my hometown, Manchester still has a rough edge to it if you ask me at least in parts. The amount of complaints I get from my Glaswegian colleagues heading to our other company office near Piccadilly Gardens is outstanding and these are guys that can carry themselves. Outside the developing world, I've never come across more aggressive beggars than in Manchester, some of them are highly persistent and a minority downright threatening. If I am in Manchester, I try to completely avoid Picc. Gardens and the Northern Quarter.

WestCoast · 7 Dec 2019

TRAX said:
I agree about Paris. And it’s getting worse day by day.
I don’t know much about Belgium but from what I’ve seen it’s not that brilliant either. Can’t be as bad as Paris, though.

France and Belgium are the same if you ask me, the capitals are the sketchiest cities. In Belgium, I'd much rather spend time in Antwerp, Gent or Bruges all great cities, likewise in France I'd head for Bordeaux, Toulouse or Montpelier over Paris any day.

peteb · 8 Dec 2019

I was in Koln about a year ago, stayed at the art'otel on the river and walked about the city at night with my family, didn't feel at all unsafe. In fact felt so safe compared to Birmingham Manchester Newcastle we walked to the main hbf in the morning rather than get a taxi. The area in front of the station has th cathedral and numerous shops eateries, none felt unsafe. And the station itself was crawling with staff unlike some major uk station so we felt perfectly safe.

peteb · 8 Dec 2019

But then I don't equate people begging as representing a threat, and there were some around the cathedral and in front of the station, but not in an inimidatory way. Certainly Koln city centre in general feels safer than many uk cities, but then again so does somewhere like Lyon.

Bletchleyite · 8 Dec 2019

WestCoast said:
As my hometown, Manchester still has a rough edge to it if you ask me at least in parts. The amount of complaints I get from my Glaswegian colleagues heading to our other company office near Piccadilly Gardens is outstanding and these are guys that can carry themselves. Outside the developing world, I've never come across more aggressive beggars than in Manchester, some of them are highly persistent and a minority downright threatening. If I am in Manchester, I try to completely avoid Picc. Gardens and the Northern Quarter.

I'd agree that Piccadilly Gardens is a big issue, but most of the rest of the city isn't rough in the way it used to be.

duesselmartin · 8 Dec 2019

I think you may find more homeless now in winter to stay warm.

Polrail · 9 Dec 2019

My complaint about Köln Hbf. is the lack of seating/benches. There's no main waiting room (that I've found) and there is only limited seating here and there spread through the commercial passages.

Spoorslag '70 · 9 Dec 2019

Polrail said:
My complaint about Köln Hbf. is the lack of seating/benches. There's no main waiting room (that I've found) and there is only limited seating here and there spread through the commercial passages.

Well, there are seats on the platforms (be it far too few). The concept of a waiting room is no longer commonly known in Germany, as it would make a welcome place for the kind of people that make various stations feel rough.

I would also say that begging is a much bigger issue at German stations, but in my experience, walking past or ignoring them works eventually. I am yet to be robbed or hurt for doing so.

ricohallo · 9 Dec 2019

There actually is a waiting room, the entrance of it can be found on platform 1.

Railman10 · 12 Dec 2019

I was in Cologne last weekend and stayed at the IBIS Hotel which is part of the main station. The city generally and station particularly were very busy with a mix of local people, German visitors to the wonderful Christmas Markets and not a few visitors from other countries. There was a very good atmosphere and at no time did one feel unsafe. There were beggars but they were not aggressive and bothersome. Railway and Civil police were always in evidence but not too obtrusive. Like anywhere else, as long as you keep your wits about you, you should be fine. I feel less comfortable around the Paris stations and on the RER/Metro, which really ought to have a more visible staff presence, if only to cut down on fare dodgers and the use of passageways as urinals!

riceuten · 13 Dec 2019

I've been begged off a lot at Koeln Hbf, but it's specific areas - by the cash machines (quelle surprise) and where the automatic left luggage machine is - people are paying cash there (heaven forfend you can pay with a card) and so this attracts beggars. Where the food and shops are is fine. Very good bookshop - including a plethora of railway books - at one end of the station. You have to pay to use the toilets, which keeps a certain element of the transitory population out). The beggars are mainly German and mainly "fixers" (drug addicts), though other nationalities exist.

Cologne station safe?

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