Duftmuseum im Farina Haus — Attraction in Cologne

As this is a must do visit in the city, as this was the place where the first Farina ancestor invented the famous eau di cologne, we decided to visited the place and museum. It is required to book and pay your tour in advance online. They offer the tour in several laungages, no spanish or italian. When you arrive it is offered a guardrobe to leave your staff. Then, the receptionist welcomes you with a quick Farina eau di cologne spray and show you the tour meeting point upstairs. The guide of the tour was professional, but we noticed he was always in a rush, controlling his watch all the time. We visited 3 rooms of the museum with him, without being offered a minute to look around by ourselves all pieces exposed. He explained the history in a general way ( we had done the free walking tour of the city the day before and the guide had told us much more information about Faena and the eau di cologne than the Faena tour guide). We enjoyed the final part of the tour where it was organized a kind of quiz where we were offered 3 different fragances that we had to smell and guess the main ingredient. At the end of the tour a sample of the eau the parfum is given to each participant, and then you have plenty of time in the shop to try and buy the one/s you want. We do not offered a 5 star to the tour as it does not offer just a few minutes for participants to look all important items around. I strongly reccommend to do the free walking tour of the city before going to visit...

Such a fun and fascinating experience! We had an amazing time on this tour — it’s not just about perfume, it’s about history, storytelling, and scent all wrapped into one. The guide was incredibly knowledgeable and clearly loves what he does, which made everything so engaging.

We learned about Farina 1709, the world’s oldest fragrance house, and its famous Eau de Cologne that’s been used by some pretty iconic people — like Napoleon, Goethe, Queen Victoria, Princess Diana, Marlene Dietrich, and even Bill Clinton. The guide shared some great stories about a few of them, which really brought the history to life.

The bit about the rivalry with 4711 was especially interesting — lots of drama with names being borrowed and legal battles between the two brands. It was fascinating to hear how differently they developed and how much history is behind something as simple as a bottle of cologne.

At the end, we got to smell different perfume ingredients and try to recognise them — which was really fun (and surprisingly tricky!). While we were sniffing, the guide explained how synthetic and natural ingredients are used in modern perfumery, which gave it all a deeper layer without being too technical.

All in all, it was super engaging, fun, and really informative. Definitely worth doing if you’re in Cologne and curious about perfume or just want to try something a...

Excellent tour! We visited as a group of five in June 2015. You must book an appointment beforehand and put away your bags in lockers but it is definitely worth the trouble. They sprayed cologne on our wrists as admission. We attended the last 'historical tour' of the day and our guide, acting the part of the founder, was dressed in 18th century fashion, wig and all. The tour was very engaging, and we had the chance to smell samples of different perfume 'bases' in the original setting of the cologne factory. At the end of the tour they gave every visitor each a sample of the cologne in a round glass container. Staff were all very friendly and helpful. Since it was the last tour of the day, we even got to have a little chat with our guide! About the Eau de Cologne itself, it has since become one of my personal favourites. The scent is unisex and subtle, which is very comfortable to wear. It reminds me of breezy European afternoons. It is none of that imposing and overbearingly 'loud' scents you catch from busy streets. Admission fee of 5 euros was completely worth it. We were so impressed with our visit and little gift that we felt like WE ripped...