Only in Cologne: A Guide to Unique Locations, Hidden Corners and Unusual Objects (The Only In Guides) Paperback – September 15, 2020

We travel a lot, and have found that most guidebooks are superficial and focused too much on shopping and eating. We travel in order to learn about the place we are visiting. Only in Cologne was one of the best guidebooks we’ve ever used. We were in Cologne for 4 weeks, so had plenty of time to explore and find places that the author had chosen to write about. It is not a guidebook for someone spending only a day or two in Cologne. But if you are there for a longer visit, order it! You won’t regret it. Maps are good, and so are the photos.

I own the previous version of this book - and this edition is even better, if that's possible. Duncan Smith's writing style is very interesting and informative. Also, his photos are very appealing.

This guide was a huge disappointment. First, too many locations. There's a reason why people walk by many of these locations without noticing them: they are unremarkable. Second, horrible maps. The maps kind of give you a general idea of where things are. The title of the book refers to "hidden" corners. If they are hidden, that means people need help finding them. This book does a terrible job of that. In fact, we stopped in a shop and asked the manager (who has lived in Cologne her whole life), to point out where we were on the map. She said, you are in this general area, but without street names on the map, I can't tell you exactly where you are.This book would benefit from having fewer locations and using those pages to provide better maps for the locations that remain.After a day and half, we gave up on the book and rented bikes and explored on our own. Much better way to see the city.We ended up leaving the book in the hotel room for some other guest.