RheinEnergie Stadion and the Kölner Dom in Cologne. (Ulmer/Icon SMI, AP Photo/Hermann J. Knippertz)

Germany's fourth-largest city has all the right credentials to be a perfect World Cup host.

Not only does it have a long-standing love of football, with top local club 1. FC Cologne being one of the best supported clubs in the country, the Rhineland conurbation is also known as party central, a youthful, vibrant locality boasting a large student population and an atmosphere that is almost Mediterranean.

If you believe the stereotype of Germans as button-downed, excessively serious people, then a visit to the Cologne Carnival held every year in late February or early March would soon rid you of those pre-conceptions. From businessmen to road sweepers, grandparents to young punks, literally everyone dons fancy dress and for three crazy days, dancing in the streets, outrageous pranks and of course drinking are the only things that matter.

The mood is sure to be similarly upbeat in Cologne's myriad bars and clubs during the World Cup. Each of the city's quarters has its own distinctive nightlife flavour. The Old Town (Altstadt) features classic beer halls and pubs; in the south-western part of the city, the "Kwartier Lateng" (Cologne dialect for Latin or student quarter) or Zulpicher Quarter has a vast array of watering holes and is the place to meet the friendly locals; the Sudstadt or St Severin quarter has the most trendy and most busy popular bars; while the more laid-back Belgian Quarter just west of the centre is a little more relaxed.

Highly-recommended bars include All Bar One and the huge Jameson's Irish Pub, both on Friesenstrasse in the Latin Quarter. The Biermuseum on Buttermarkt in the Old Town and Hallmackenreuther, a restaurant/bar in the Belgian Quarter (Brusseler Platz) are also good spots. If you are looking for nightclubs, try the Triple A on Rudolfplatz in the Latin Quarter and the multi-functional Stadtgarten on Venloer Strasse, a combination of disco, music venue, restaurant and beer garden set in a park in the Belgian Quarter.

Certainly no visit to Cologne would be complete without spending some time in one of the traditional beer halls almost on the doorstep of the city's best-known landmark, the twin-spired cathedral or Dom. As well as doling out lakes of 'Kolsch', the city's light, slightly bitter beer, which comes in slim 0.2 litre glasses called 'Stangen', these Cologne institutions also serve reasonably priced hearty dishes such as pork knuckle with dumplings and Rhineland marinated beef. Try a sip of Alt-Koln, Brauhaus Sion, Fruh am Dom or Brauerei zum Pfaffen. You won't be disappointed but watch out for the waiters, who do tend to swap your empty glass for a full one without asking!

An ethnically-diverse place, Cologne boasts many good Italian, Turkish and Japanese restaurants, while Thalil on Englebertstrasse in the Latin Quarter is an above-average curry house. Another claim to fame is the number of high-quality fast-food stands (Imbiss) around town. Besides the ubiquitous pizza, kebabs, and fries, you might want to plump for potato cakes (Reibekuchen), stuffed peppers, Frikadelle (a hamburger-like sandwich) or the old German staple of Currywurst, bite-size pieces of sausage smothered in curry sauce. Excellent ice cream parlours also abound in the city centre.

A host of outstanding chain and department stores are to be found on the pedestrianised Hohe Strasse that runs south from the Dom and then forks into Schildergase and In der Hohle, ending up at Neumarkt.

For specialist shopping and boutiques head for Breite Strasse or Ehrenstrasse. The Neumarkt Galerie is the city's largest shopping mall. You can't miss it; there is a giant ice cream cone melting on its roof. The Galeria Kaufhof department store on Hohe Strasse has a superb food hall in its basement, while there is an open-air market every Friday in the Alter Markt.

You will not need to travel too far to take in the major sights on offer in Cologne. The Dom and the city's main museums are sited within a stone's throw of one another. The architecture is highly impressive, art treasures are to be discovered at every turn and amazing views of the city are to be had if you have the energy to climb the 509 steps which lead to the base of the steeple (open 9am to 6pm: cost £1.50 adults and half-price for kids). Close at hand are the much-acclaimed art collection of the Wallraf-Richartz/Ludwig Museum and the archaeological exhibits of the Romisch-Germanisches Museum. The two million visitors to Cologne each season certainly seem to enjoy the sights on offer.

Conveniently, Cologne's railway station is right next to the Dom, with the bus station adjacent. The Cologne-Bonn airport is about nine miles from the city centre and is easily reached by either bus or S Bahn train. Bus number 170 runs between the airport and bus station every 15 minutes, taking 20 minutes and costing £3.50 one-way. The train leaves an underground platform between Terminals 1 and 2 and gets to the city's railway station 20 minutes later (£1.50 for a single ticket).

Cologne has a reliable, comfortable and fully-integrated public transport set-up consisting of buses, trams, U Bahn and S Bahn. A single trip ticket to take you anywhere in the city will cost you £1.50; a day pass will set you back £4. Tickets can be bought from machines in stations and in trams. They must be date/time stamped on boarding.

Transformed from an oval bowl which was fraying at the edges into a sensational English style arena made up of four rectangular double-decker stands, the Koln World Cup Stadium -- also known as the RheinEnergie Stadion because of its sponsors -- is located on Aachener Strasse in the western suburb of Mungersdorf. From the railway station take S Bahn line 16, 17, 18 or 19 to Neumarkt. Then change to S Bahn line 1 for the RheinEnergie Stadion.

Why not follow the lead of Cologne fans on matchdays? Get off the S Bahn one stop before the stadium and have a drink and a bite to eat at the Pfannkuchenhaus Stadtwaldgarten or Mungersdorfer Garden Restaurant, both on Aachener Strasse.

You can't really go wrong in Cologne.

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