You can visit the shop and purchase without a tour, but the history of the place makes it much more interesting. On the tour, one also gets to smell some of the ingredients used and see parts of the building not otherwise open to the public. At the end of the tour, you are given a very small bottle of perfume (valued at about the same cost as the tour).

We had an english tour with Luisa who was a very passionate and informative tour guide. I would recommend doing a guided tour if you're in Cologne.

My experience was not so good of the shop, plenty to buy and see. I was slightly disappointed in that I could not see the museum on this visit as being christmas, there was no availability. If I had known that I could have booked online before getting to Cologne I would have done so, maybe on our next visit. We did buy some eau de cologne soap, and perfume. I also bought some zodiac perfume, very nicely wrapped up. If I do return to Cologne, I will make sure that I visit the shop to book a tour or reserve online.

The lady helping me pick a scent was very patient and understanding. They can increase the number of English guided tours.

Perfect place to discover the history and to experience the scent of the famously Eau de Cologne. Brings you back to the past

Oh, the fear of Covid was over-the-top in this shop (when all other localities were wide open). Nevertheless, I did enjoy the historical information/museum/fragrance samples, but the sterile & stoic feel of the employees in the store really did not compell me to spend money there.

Duftmuseum im Farina-Haus is quite an informative museum. It is dedicated John Maria Farina and the wonders produced by him.

This is only 5 Euro and 1 hour... not much to lose here and it was actually very informative. You learn the history behind the first cologne and the maker Farina. If you have an hour to spare I do not think you will be disappointed. You sign up in their website.

At the Castle Augustusburg Palace in Bruhl a short 15 min train ride from Koln. I personally prefer Eau de Cologne 4711. But the history of this scent is non the less very interesting.

This museum is dedicated John Maria Farina, his development of Cologne and the oldest fragrance factory still in use in the world. The tour has lots of information about the production of cologne from the guide and via exhibits. An interesting tour. The museum is also part shop were you can try and by the original Eau de Cologne or some other fragrance. I smelt Cologne in Cologne!

If you never associated the city of Cologne with the fragrances called Cologne, then you can join me. This is the original museum dedicated to the family that invented Eau de Cologne. The museum/shop is located in the Old Historic area and is an easy walk south of the Cathedral. It is 5 euro to enter, 2.50 euro for children. It is open daily from 10 to 7, 11 to 5 on Sunday. You are free to roam the ground floor but must take a guided tour to go upstairs to learn about the culture and history of the family that started it all. Unfortunately when we were there, the English tours were all booked up so a strong recommendation, book the tour online in advance. The ground floor is wheelchair accessible, but stairs to get upstairs.

I took the tour that was informative regarding the history of eau de cologne, how and why it started. The ladies in the shop were not very friendly though

Visited here in August 2019 with my mum. We were advised to pre-book as the museum is only available on a guided tour. Tours are only available in languages at certain times of the day. I booked a couple of days in advance and the only available slot in English was 11am. The tour takes you through the history of the farina family, the building, the first “eau de cologne” and even gives you the opportunity to smell some ingredients. Our guide Tim was really knowledgable, friendly and happy to answer any questions. You even get a small sample of the first ever cologne to take home. The tour lasts around 1 hour and I paid €5 per person which is VERY good value. I would 100% recommend you visit when in Cologne. Thank you Tim, we really enjoyed!

I learned a lot on this trip. I have never seen ambergris before. The tour guide was very informative. Yes, there are many ways to buy their cologne but there was not a heavy sell. I did buy because they didn't push. Napoleon used a bottle of their cologne a day. I bought my son (a big Napoleon fan) a bottle. Also, it smelled good on me so I bought some too. You need to book tickets in advance!!!

We enjoyed very much our guided visit to the museum. We did the English tour last Saturday. Our guide was very good and made the whole visit very interesting. The museum itself is very very small and doesn't have that many things but the narrative and stories were very well picked, thought and delivered. I'm sorry I don't know his name, I should have asked. He did a fantastic job!