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North Rhine-Westphalia (German Nordrhein-Westfalen ) is the most populous state in Germany , with 17.5 million inhabitants, located in the west of the country. It consists of two historically independent parts: Nordrhein , the urbanized area across the river Rhine in the southwest, and Westfalen in the northeast, which is quite diverse as it includes both the heavily industrialized and densely populated Ruhr Valley and the very green Teutoburg Forest .
The region contains several of the most-often visited cities of Germany, both for business and pleasure. Here you can find numerous headquarters of Germany's large and mid-sized corporations, European outposts of Asian and American multinationals, as well as world-renowned factories. Many of the globally important trade fairs take place in Düsseldorf and Cologne , the latter is also a major cultural centre. The beautiful historic city of Bonn was West Germany's de facto capital until 1990 and still contains many federal institutions, both governmental and cultural.
With the large population accumulated within a small area, as well as equally sizeable tourist traffic, North Rhine-Westphalia possesses the appropriate transportation infrastructure, with three major international airports and a very efficient – if sometimes overcrowded – railway and motorway network. NRW, as it is frequently abbreviated, also contains the first "cycle highway" of Germany which is planned to grow to over 100 km of fully grade separated extra broad cycle route. Accommodation and gastronomic opportunities are aplenty as well. There is always a lot going on and getting between destinations is easy and quick.
The Middle Rhine Valley is traditionally considered to end in Bonn , although the demarcation is anything but dramatic. You may want to continue to explore the valley upstream to Rhineland-Palatinate when in North Rhine-Westphalia .
North Rhine-Westphalia (often abbreviated to NRW) is a German state founded after World War II by British occupation authorities. The state capital is Dusseldorf while Cologne is the most populous city. It consists of, as the name indicates, the province Westphalia in the east and the northern Rhinelands in the west. The hyphen symbolizes the attempt to bind people and regions that are so very different and stands also for the gap between the ethnic groups. This gap runs from the south-east to the north-west for 283 km across the state.
While the Rhineland is famous for its carnival and the "Rheinische Frohnatur" is a cliché throughout Germany, the Westphalians are said to be much more reserved and introverted. All over the state, but especially in its former industrial heart, migration has played a major role since at least the 19th century. Last names give an indication where much of the labour force came from when coal and steel built a nation and the stars of Schalke 04 during its glory days in the 1930s had names like Kuzorra or Szepan. Today the descendants of the earliest immigrants are hard to distinguish from people whose ancestors lived here even earlier, but new migrations of Turks, Italians and Yugoslavs after the war have left their mark on certain neighbourhoods – not least in the ubiquitous (and delicious) döner and pizza restaurants.
The geography is also varied from the Cologne "bight" (Kölner Bucht) that represents the southernmost reaches of the North German Lowlands to the moderately high mountain ranges that surround it, like the Eifel or the Sauerland. In general the north is flatter than the south and the west is more urbanized than the east.
In the middle of all aspects, geographic and ethnic, lies the Ruhr Area (Ruhrgebiet), the name of the river at whose banks the region is situated. It arose during the past 150 years by immigrants from all over Europe but has strong roots in Westphalia and the Rhinelands as well. The region was and still is the heart of heavy industry in Germany, based on coal and steel. Although mining has mostly come to an end, the people strongly derive their identity from heavy industry. And there are still some successful manufacturers of specialist steel or products made from it. Car manufacturers like Opel in Bochum were once thought of as the replacement for heavy industries, but they are in the news more for threatened closures and layoffs than anything else. The City of Essen was named European Capital of Culture in 2010. This gave a boost to the cultural scene in the region, put it on the map for something other than "rust belt" doom and gloom, and helped right many inaccurate stereotypes about the region. Finally, Dortmund is internationally known for its football club Borussia Dortmund, which has managed to carve out one of the most respectable club images in world football.
North Rhine-Westphalia has about 18 million inhabitants, which makes it the most populous state in Germany and the fourth largest in area. The Ruhr is the third or fourth largest urban region in the European Union, after London and Paris and either ahead of or behind Madrid. Also, 34 of the 100 largest companies in Germany and 9 of the 100 largest European companies have their headquarters in North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite this, the region was hit hard by deindustrialization, and while many cities have managed to diversify their economies, others are still struggling to move on.
In most large cities the regular Hochdeutsch is spoken everyday, due to the communities there being mixtures of locals and immigrants from all parts of Germany, Europe and the world. The local dialects are mostly present in the form of unique vocabulary, otherwise you should find local German easy to understand (if you know any, that is).
The area, particularly the economic heartland of the Ruhr , has been a destination for millions of immigrants since the mid-19th century. As a result, immigrant languages can be found spoken by many. However, although someone has, for example, an ethnically Polish last name, they may not speak or think of themselves as Polish — their ancestors may have come to the area before the German Empire was even founded.
In larger cities, English can be spoken by those performing service jobs, and chances are any person you encounter will speak at least basic English too. This is not a rule, and you may still encounter people, mostly seniors, who do not speak communicative English.
Thanks to a history of immigration and the region's geographic location, it can be possible to hear languages such as Arabic, Dutch, French, Italian, Polish, and Turkish in major cities.
The major airports within North Rhine-Westphalia sorted by passenger numbers are:
Additionally, both Bonn, Cologne and Düsseldorf, as well as many other cities in the region, can be reached by a direct high-speed train from Frankfurt Airport .
Several ICE high speed lines go through the state, among them the Frankfurt Cologne mainline with speeds reaching 300 km/h. Regional trains are sometimes cheaper and often take more "scenic" routes that are too curvy for high speed trains . In the immediate border area with Belgium and the Netherlands (the Euregio) special discount tickets for local trains apply making day trips across the border very affordable indeed.
There are a number of inner-German as well as international bus lines with stops in most major cities of the state. As the domestic market only became deregulated in 2012, there is still a lot of change and routes may appear and disappear on relatively short notice.
As this is the most densely populated state of Germany, numerous long distance Autobahnen run through this state and across the border. Due in part to the high population density, they are however also prone to congestion, especially at the first and last weekend of major holidays or during rush hour.
Public transport is very good with a high density. You need only one “NRW Ticket” from the Deutsche Bahn to be able to use all local, regional train RB and regional express trains RE (no high-speed trains, though their top speed is usually 160 km/h (99 mph) ), light rail systems S-Bahn , metro (U-Bahn/Stadtbahn), trams (Straßenbahn) and buses in the whole North Rhine-Westphalia. You don't need to purchase another ticket when you change from local train to bus, light rail and tram.
Example: You purchased a ticket from Aachen to Wuppertal for local, regional and express trains. With this ticket, you can use the monorail (Schwebebahn) and the city buses in Wuppertal.
There is plenty to see and explore in the NRW. The most obvious recommendations are the large cities, with both rich history and bustling contemporary life, full of events, including the famous Carnival of Cologne . But if you want to escape from the hustle and bustle, the Eifel mountains in the south-east are a very different environment, peaceful, quiet and full of great sights. Aachen Cathedral with parts of the building dating back to the 800s is well worth a visit. For more modern history check out the German Mining Museum in Bochum .
The abundance of rivers provides for plentiful river cruising opportunities. Many locals own boats and, as the Rhine is also connected naturally and via canals to many other major rivers and bodies of water, enjoy travelling around Europe's waterways at their whim.
North Rhine-Westphalia is also home to many sports clubs. Borussia Dortmund soccer club has been particularly successful in the 2010s.
There is no particular North Rhine or Westphalian cuisine, but this doesn't mean you are not in for some culinary delights. Due to the abundance of ethnic minorities, there is a variety ethnic restaurants of all shapes and sizes – from the local Döner Kebab stand to exquisite fine dining establishments. Of note is the fact that Düsseldorf has a sizeable Japanese population (1% of the city), which is there mostly due to Japanese companies having their European headquarters there. Therefore, you will find quite a few higher-end Japanese restaurants in the city.
Beer is the drink of choice in the region, with every city being proud of local breweries and the unique kinds and brands of beer that they make - like the Kölsch in Cologne . Head over to the local Bierkeller and mingle with the locals if you speak some German (or just enjoy the atmosphere and people-watch, if you don't). In larger cities you will also find other kinds of busy nightlife, with nightclubs catering to various cultural groups and music tastes.
As the area is densely urban and well-travelled by both business and leisure travellers, the accommodation base is plentiful and offers a wide choice, from exquisite boutique hotels in historic monuments, through efficient and comfortable business-oriented hotels down to small and cosy (and inexpensive) local Pensions .
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With its population of around eighteen million actually exceeding that of the neighbouring Netherlands, North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) is by far Germany’s most populous Land, though it’s by no means the biggest geographically. As the name suggests, it’s an artificial construction, cobbled together by the occupying British after World War II from the Prussian provinces of the Rhineland and Westphalia. Perhaps that explains why, for all its size and economic clout, it lacks the sort of breast-beating regional patriotism found in Bavaria. Instead, loyalties tend to be more local: to the city – particularly in the Land’s great metropolis, Cologne – or to the region, as in the Ruhrgebiet, which straddles the historic boundary between Rhineland and Westphalia.
The lower rhine, the sauerland, the siebengebirge.
Occupied at various times by the French and British and with Charlemagne’s capital, Aachen , at its western tip, North Rhine-Westphalia is an outward-looking, European-minded place. Several of its cities have played a decisive role in European history: in the north, the handsome cathedral city of Münster was the scene for the signing of the Treaty of Westphalia which ended the Thirty Years’ War, while in the south the university city of Bonn – birthplace of Beethoven – strutted the world stage more recently as capital of West Germany during the Cold War. Though it lacks the alpine drama of Germany’s south, North Rhine-Westphalia has its share of scenic beauty, along the mighty Rhine, in the charming Siebengebirge and in the wooded, peaceful Sauerland .
Urban attractions are nevertheless to the fore, particularly in thriving, multicultural Cologne and chi-chi Düsseldorf , its near-neighbour, rival and the Land’s capital. The increasingly postindustrial cities of the Ruhr conurbation – such as Duisburg , Essen and Dortmund – also have their charms, not least in their inventive reworking of their rich industrial heritage. Further afield, the ham-and-pumpernickel wholesomeness of the smaller Westphalian towns like Soest , Paderborn , Detmold and Lemgo couldn’t be less like the Ruhr, while along the Lower Rhine – around Kalkar and Xanten – the proximity of the Netherlands makes itself felt in place names, architecture and landscape.
Getting into and around the region is easy. Three major airports – at Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf and Dortmund – are well-connected internationally, while there’s a dense web of public transport links, with the core of the region well-served by rail, U-Bahn and bus. This is also one of the easiest parts of Germany to explore by bicycle, with well-equipped Radstations at many train stations and well-signposted cycle paths along which to explore the countryside.
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A self drive exploration of UNESCO Sites in Southern Germany
Explore UNESCO World Heritage Sites across different German states. This self drive trip allows you to design your own days with recommendations stated for each day.
Explore Berlin and Potsdam in depth
The German capital Berlin has plenty to offer: from historical sites to world-class museums and a vibrant nightlife. Enjoy this private tour to explore a wide range of activities in Berlin and Potsdam, including several UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Explore Northern Germany on Your Own
From Bremen to Stralsund - Northern Germany offers plenty of gems to explore. With well-developed public transportation links, this itinerary is suited for everyone wanting to explore on their own - getting lost on the cobble-stoned streets of many UNESCO World Heritage Highlights.
Capitals of Europe - Berlin, Prague, Vienna and more
This trip is ideal for all city & culture lovers: the Reichstag in Berlin, the castle in Prague, historical Cesky Krumlov, St Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, the fortress above Salzburg and Schloss Neuschwanstein near Munich - these are just some of the highlights of this incredible roundup trip.
Castles across Austria and Czechia
Austria and Czechia are home to some of the world's most beautiful architecture and culture gems, such as Schloss Schönbrunn in Vienna, Prague castle, the fortress above Salzburg and many more. Finish your tour with a visit to Schloss Neuschwanstein before flying out of Munich.
Best of Germany
Germany has a lot to offer to visitors: history buffs will enjoy guided tours in Berlin and Dresden, children (and those at heart) will marvel at Schloss Neuschwanstein, scenery lovers will appreciate Rothenburg and the Black Forest. This trip truly has something for everybody!
Few places can claim such proudly European credentials as AACHEN (known as Aix-la-Chapelle in French, Aken to the Dutch). Its hot thermal springs were known to the Celts and Romans, but it wasn’t until Charlemagne took up residence in 768 AD that the city briefly took centre stage as the capital of his vast Frankish empire. At its height, this encompassed much of what would form – more than a millennium later – the original core of the European Union. But it didn’t long survive his death, and nor did Aachen’s political importance, though for six centuries afterwards the city remained the place where German emperors were crowned. Charlemagne’s chief legacy is the magnificent domed court chapel – now the city’s cathedral and a UNESCO World Heritage Site – that is still the most splendid thing in the city.
During World War II, Aachen was the first German city in the west to fall to Allied invasion, after a six-week battle in the autumn of 1944 that laid waste to much of it. However, the cathedral escaped destruction and the heart of the city, at least, retains a pleasing sense of history. These days, Germany’s most westerly city is a lively, medium-sized place, its municipal boundary forming the international frontier at the point where Belgium and the Netherlands meet, creating an easy-going and cosmopolitan feel, with the student population supporting a vibrant nightlife scene and the spa bringing in a steady stream of more genteel visitors.
Though its slightly eccentric exterior hints at the building’s unique riches, the dark, Byzantine interior of Aachen’s Dom nevertheless comes as a surprise. As you enter the cathedral through the massive, twelve-hundred-year-old bronze doors you’re immediately presented with its great glory, the octagonal palace chapel built for Charlemagne and inspired by the churches of San Vitale in Ravenna and Little Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. It was the first domed church north of the Alps and though it was the work of Otto von Metz, Charlemagne himself contributed his own ideas to the design. If you can, take the guided tour as much of the interior is off limits for casual visitors and you’ll only gain the most superficial impressions without it. In particular, it’s only on the tour that you’ll see the modest marble Imperial Throne in the upper gallery which was used for coronations for six centuries, from Otto I in 936 to Ferdinand I in 1531. At the time of writing, ongoing restoration work meant parts of the octagon were obscured from view.
The vast twelfth-century gilded Barbarossa chandelier , which hangs low in the centre of the octagon, catches the eye, along with the nineteenth-century mosaics inside the dome high above; but the octagon’s marble pillars are altogether more ancient, having been brought to Aachen from Rome and Ravenna with the permission of Pope Hadrian I. So prized are they that French troops hauled 28 of them off to Paris in 1815, where four can still be seen in the Louvre. As the burial place of Charlemagne and a place of pilgrimage, the cathedral was embellished over the centuries with various chapels, and in the fourteenth century a soaring, light-filled Gothic choir – the so-called “Glass House of Aachen” – was added to ease the crush of visiting pilgrims. It houses the gilded thirteenth-century shrine that contains Charlemagne’s remains. The choir’s original stained glass was destroyed by hail in 1729; the present windows are post-1945, and replaced glass destroyed during World War II.
The placid university town of BONN was “provisional” capital of West Germany for fifty years, from 1949 until the Bundestag and many government departments began relocating to Berlin in 1999. Bonn was dubbed “Federal Capital Village” for the sheer improbability of its choice as capital; likelier candidates included Frankfurt, which even built a parliament building to fulfil its anticipated role. But Bonn prevailed, and it was changed by the experience, so that by the time the federal government moved to Berlin it was no longer quite the “small town in Germany” of John Le Carré’s Cold War spy story. The two houses of the German parliament may no longer reside here, but several ministries do, along with the United Nations and the headquarters of Deutsche Telekom, T Mobile and Deutsche Post.
Bonn’s pleasant, traffic-free Altstadt benefits from its associations with Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born here, while the setting – at the beginning of a particularly scenic stretch of the Rhine – is a delight, and easily explored on foot, but the modern city stretches far along the Rhine. Sandwiched between the city proper and its spa-town suburb of Bad Godesberg is the old government quarter, the Bundesviertel , and its strip of modern museums along the so-called Museumsmeile , planned before the Berlin Wall fell but which, in the event, proved to be a generous goodbye present to the city. Facing Bonn across the Rhine are the inviting, wooded hills of the Siebengebirge – a hugely popular destination for walkers and day-trippers alike, right on Bonn’s doorstep.
From the Hofgarten, a boulevard named for three of Germany’s political giants leads south through the Bundesviertel or former government district. It begins as Adenauer Allee, continues as Willy-Brandt-Allee and then becomes Friedrich-Ebert-Allee, named after the Weimar-era socialist who was Germany’s first democratic president.
The western side of this avenue constitutes the Museumsmeile , an impressive strip of museums that ensures Bonn’s heavy-hitter status among Germany’s cultural centres.
The first museum on Museumsmeille is the Museum Koenig , a stately sandstone pile that was the venue for the first elected postwar national assembly on September 1, 1948. The museum’s zoological exhibits have been given a child-friendly makeover, though the lack of English labelling limits its rainy-day appeal slightly – pick up the English-language leaflet at the entrance. Displays are grouped by habitat and include African savanna, rainforest and the Arctic; the Vivarium in the basement has live lizards, snakes and fish, as well as the Zwergmaus – a particularly tiny rodent.
A little way to the south of Museum Koenig, the Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland charts the history of the Federal Republic of Germany in a lively and entertaining way; as you leave the U-Bahn the first thing you see is the luxurious railway carriage used by chancellors Konrad Adenauer and Ludwig Erhard but originally built for Nazi bigwig, Hermann Göring. Rubble marks the start of the story in 1945, with grim footage of concentration camps and of destroyed German cities; it continues through the beginnings of democratic politics and of artistic rebirth to the 1950s Wirtschaftswunder – the “economic miracle” – the Cold War and division of Germany, and moves finally to the period post-1989.
A recent revamp to the exhibition has put the years of division in stronger focus, with an examination of the way both halves of Germany were bound into opposing ideological camps. Along with the political developments post-1989, recent German history is also examined in the light of globalization, the life of migrant groups and the increasing deployment of German forces overseas. It’s not all dry politics by any means: along the way, fun exhibits like the 1950s-style ice -cream parlour lighten the mood. Labelling is now in English as well as German.
The most architecturally refined of the area’s museums is the Kunstmuseum Bonn , whose starkly beautiful modernist interior provides a fitting home for its collection of works by August Macke and the Rhine Expressionists. Macke, who was born in 1887 and killed in action in France in 1914, grew up in Bonn but was no mere “regional” artist, as his gorgeous, colour-filled canvases demonstrate: poignantly, the most confident are the 1914 Tightrope Walker and Turkish Café . The museum has a substantial collection of post-1945 German art, with works by heavyweights including Gerhard Richter, Georg Baselitz and Joseph Beuys; a recent re-hang has given stronger emphasis to photography, video installation and film.
The Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle der Bundesrepublik Deutschland next door to the Kunstmuseum provides a venue for large-scale touring art exhibitions and is big enough to host several simultaneously. Don’t miss the striking roof garden, dominated by three ceramic-clad light spires.
The Deutsches Museum Bonn is a resolutely contemporary museum of science and technology whose themed displays allow you to find out how a car airbag works, learn about medical research and see various Nobel Prize-winning discoveries. There’s also a Transrapid hoverrail train.
The industrial southern fringes of Cologne seem an unlikely setting for an outburst of fantasy, frivolity and surrealism, yet all are on display in copious quantities in the otherwise unassuming commuter-belt town of BRÜHL , home to one of Germany’s most magnificent palaces and one of Europe’s best theme-parks, as well as a museum devoted to the Dadaist artist, Max Ernst.
It was in 1725 that the elector and archbishop of Cologne, Clemens August, first commissioned a new palace on the ruins of a medieval moated palace, but the results – by Westphalian builder Johann Conrad Schlaun – were judged insufficiently fabulous for a member of the Wittelsbach dynasty, and so the Bavarian court architect François de Cuvilliés was commissioned to vamp things up. The result is Schloss Augustusburg , a Rococo Xanadu of extraordinary panache that is one of Germany’s most magnificent palaces and, since 1984, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The moment you see the breathtakingly lavish, ceremonial Treppenhaus (staircase) by Balthasar Neumann with its frothy rocailles and vivid stucco marble effects, you’ll understand why this was Clemens August’s favourite residence, for as you ascend the staircase the sheer exuberance of the design becomes apparent, even as you try to decide precisely how far over the top it all is. Napoleon, who visited in 1804, is said to have remarked that it was a pity the Schloss wasn’t on wheels so he could take it with him. The dizzying reception rooms at the top of the staircase continue in a similar vein.
The gardens , with their parterres and fountains, offer an outdoor equivalent to the indoor excess. An avenue leads across the park to the little lodge of Jagdschloss Falkenlust (same hours as Schloss) which, though smaller in scale, is similar in spirit, and for which you don’t have to join a tour. Clemens August used it for entertaining and for trysts with his mistresses.
High above DETMOLD on the forested ridge of the Teutoburger Wald 35km north of Paderborn stands a remarkable monument to one of the founding legends of the German nation-state, the Hermannsdenkmal – a solitary, wing-helmeted warrior raising his sword high over the canopy of trees.
The Hermannsdenkmal was the vision of one dogged obsessive, the sculptor Joseph Ernst von Bandel, a bust of whom stands outside the hut he occupied while struggling to complete the 53.46-metre-high monument, begun in 1838 and finally completed with financial support from the Prussian state in 1875. The copper-green warrior commemorates Arminius (or “Hermann”), chieftain of the Cherusci, who united local tribes in 9 AD to annihilate three Roman legions at the battle of Teutoburger Wald and thus struck an early blow for German unity. Though the impetus for Hermann’s construction was blatantly nationalistic, these days he cuts a romantic figure, and there’s no denying the beauty of the views from the platform at his feet.
Perched at the Ruhr’s eastern extremity, DORTMUND is a former free imperial city and Hanseatic League member that grew rich in the Middle Ages from its position on the Hellweg, a major trading route, before declining after the Thirty Years’ War. In the nineteenth century it re-emerged from provincial obscurity thanks to coal, steel and beer: at one point only Milwaukee brewed more. All three industries declined in the late twentieth century and there’s now just one major brewer, the Dortmunder Actien-Brauerei. Information and biotechnology are the economic motors of the “new” Dortmund, which seems to have mastered the transition from heavy industry relatively well; the old Union brewery with its giant illuminated “U” still looms over the city, but nowadays it houses art, not beer, and shares the skyline with a scattering of funky modern office towers. Nevertheless, the surviving medieval street pattern and a scattering of worthwhile sights ensure that Dortmund preserves a sense of its long history.
Straddling the Rhine at the point where the Ruhr empties into it, DUISBURG is the Ruhrgebiet’s westernmost city and, with a population of half a million, its third largest. Surviving medieval defences point to a long history, but it was the Ruhr’s nineteenth-century industrialization that transformed it into a major city, the largest inland port in Europe and a centre for steel, coal and engineering. From the mid-1960s onwards the heavy industries declined, but Duisburg has faced its challenges with imagination, hiring British architect Norman Foster to oversee its physical transformation, and though it’s no great beauty the city’s engrossing galleries, reworked industrial landscapes and funky, revitalized docks ensure it’s worth at least a brief stopover.
In the north of the city is Duisburg’s most original attraction, the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord , until 1985 a giant steelworks belonging to the Thyssen group. Since its decommissioning, nature has reclaimed large parts of the two-square-kilometre site, with rose gardens planted in former ore hoppers and trees growing up and through rusty blast furnaces, one of which can be climbed for a vertigo-inducing – though perfectly safe – closer look. The atmosphere is eerie, almost post-apocalyptic, yet it works, both as a park and as an awe-inspiring piece of industrial archeology. It’s also a clubbing venue and activity centre, with alpine climbing gardens and Europe’s largest artificial diving centre housed in a flooded gasometer. At weekends a stunning light installation turns it into pure science-fiction after dark.
A tough working-class cop with a complex personal history and a fondness for drink sounds like an unlikely rescuer for a depressed industrial region. Yet when Duisburg Kriminalhauptkommissar Horst Schimanski burst into German homes in the television series Tatort in 1981, initial outrage at his unorthodox methods quickly turned not just into adulation, but also to a resurgence of interest in the Ruhr’s history and identity. Played by Götz George as a soft-centred macho with a combat jacket and huge moustache, Schimi’s rise to cult status was greatly aided by the show’s use of gritty Ruhr locations, and is credited with having rallied the region’s morale, badly battered by the decline of its coal and steel industries from the 1960s onwards. Gradually the idea arose that the Ruhrgebiet – or Ruhrpott as it’s affectionately known by its inhabitants – could be cool too.
Germany’s largest urban area, the Ruhrgebiet consists of a string of interlinked towns and cities stretching east of the Rhine along the often surprisingly green valley of the Ruhr. It straddles the historic boundary between Rhineland and Westphalia and the confessional divide – Dortmund was traditionally Protestant, Essen Catholic. The Ruhr’s cities nevertheless have a shared history of sleepy provincialism abruptly transformed by coal and steel in the nineteenth century. It is an important footballing region , with teams like Gelsenkirchen’s Schalke and Borussia Dortmund numbered among the nation’s most successful. In recent years the Ruhr has also burnished its cultural credentials. Rather than demolish and forget its redundant steelworks and mines, the Ruhr reinvented them as design centres, art galleries or museums, in the process creating some of the most strikingly original visitor attractions in Europe and providing a memorable setting for the region’s stint as European Capital of Culture in 2010.
The Ruhr’s image became a touch trendier still when it took over as the host for the Love Parade after Berlin tired of hosting the annual techno-fest in 2007; the following year in Dortmund, 1.6 million dance-music fans partied on the Bundesstrasse 1 highway, shattering all previous attendance records. Alas, disaster struck at the 2010 parade in Duisburg, when the crush of visitors at the entrance to the festival site resulted in 21 deaths and the end – after more than twenty years – of the Love Parade itself.
First-time visitors expecting vistas of belching chimneys are likely to be surprised by Essen , for the Ruhr’s “secret capital” is a modern, unashamedly commercial city with a modest forest of office towers and a vast central shopping zone. Though it contests with Dortmund the status of biggest city in the Ruhr, Essen is the one with the unmistakable big-city feel, and it’s this, as much as its central position in the region, that gives it an edge over its rival. It’s an enjoyable place to spend a day or two, with plenty of high culture, a smattering of interesting sights including one UNESCO World Heritage Site, and a lively nightlife scene.
Basic orientation is straightforward: the city centre is immediately north of the Hauptbahnhof, with the main cultural zone to the south; further south still is some of the most enticing eating, drinking and sightseeing, while the gritty north preserves reminders of the city’s industrial greatness.
For many Germans, Essen ’s best-known son is Heinz Rühmann (1902–94), Germany’s greatest screen comic, whose extraordinary film career spanned the Weimar Republic, Third Reich, Cold War and post-reunification eras and whose best-loved film – the school comedy Die Feuerzangenbowle – still enjoys Rocky Horror -style cult status more than sixty years after it was first shown. For the rest of the world, however, the city’s name is synonymous with that of the Krupp family, the powerful steel-to-armaments dynasty whose rise mirrored the city’s own ascent to industrial greatness during the nineteenth century, and whose commercial genius and questionable political judgement accurately reflect the experience of Germany in the first half of the twentieth century.
The superb Museum Folkwang is reason enough for a visit to Essen. David Chipperfield’s coolly understated modernist extension – which opened in 2010 – has created a series of spacious galleries grouped around serene internal gardens; the new building seamlessly incorporates the old, with separate areas devoted to nineteenth-and twentieth-century art, contemporary art, graphic art and temporary exhibitions.
The collection’s undoubted highlight is the nineteenth- and twentieth-century section, kicking off with the Romantic period and works by Caspar David Friedrich and Karl Friedrich Schinkel before romping through a treasure-trove of French Impressionists and post-Impressionists: paintings include some wonderful late Van Goghs, Cézanne’s Le Carré de Bibémus and Signac’s pointilliste Le Pont des Arts . German Expressionist works include Schmidt-Rottluff’s spiky Leipziger Strasse with Electric Tram from 1914 and the near-abstract Forms at Play by Franz Marc, painted the same year. The roll call of modernist greats continues with works by Braque, Léger, Picasso, Beckmann and Kandinsky; post-1945 highlights include work by Mark Rothko, Yves Klein and Gerhard Richter.
LEMGO , 11km north of Detmold, preserves a beguiling small-town atmosphere that harks back to its Hanseatic League prime, its streets a photogenic blend of Weser Renaissance pomp and picturesque half-timbering. Not everything in the town’s history is as charming as its architecture, however. Converting to Protestantism after the Reformation, from 1583 to 1681 Lemgo was gripped by an anti-witchcraft frenzy that was cynically exploited by politicians – most notoriously by Hermann Cothmann (1629–83), the so-called Hexenbürgermeister or “witch mayor”, who presided over the last, bloodiest, wave of trials. The last woman prosecuted for witchcraft, Maria Rampendahl, survived, but 254 men and women were not so fortunate.
Bicycles rule in studenty MÜNSTER , which, with twice as many bikes as people, is Germany’s most cycle-friendly city. Its history is intertwined with that of its bishopric, the name Münster deriving from the monastery founded at Charlemagne’s behest in 793 AD, while in the twentieth century, Bishop Clemens August von Galen was one of the few prominent clerics to defy Nazi rule. In the Middle Ages Münster was a Hanseatic city; during the Reformation it experienced a brief, bloody tyranny under an extreme Anabaptist sect, but soon returned to the Catholic fold. In 1648, it was the venue for the signature of the Peace of Westphalia; later, during the Napoleonic wars, the city was briefly the capital of the French département of Lippe, before in 1816 becoming capital of Prussian Westphalia.
Built – or rather rebuilt – on a human scale, Münster is easy to explore on foot: defined by the continuous green Promenadenring along the line of the old defences, the Altstadt contains the main sights. Beyond it, you’ll find fresh air and space to picnic around the Aasee lake southwest of the centre, and cool bars and restaurants on the Stadthafen ’s waterside strip. Watch your step though, for those cyclists are not to be messed with.
The Ruhr has experienced the same structural difficulties faced by similar “rust belt” regions elsewhere, but it has risen to the challenge of re-using its redundant industrial sites in a very different way. Instead of bulldozing them, many have been preserved in acknowledgement of the historical significance and tourist potential of these so-called “cathedrals of industry”. Today, a 400km road route and a well-signposted 700km cycle trail form the Route der Industriekultur (Industrial Heritage Trail; route-industriekultur.de) link former steelworks, coal mines and slagheaps to offer a fascinating insight into the technology of heavy industry, with a healthy injection of contemporary culture. Some of the most significant attractions are dealt with in the individual city sections here, but others are listed here. You can rent bikes for €1 per hour from one of the 300 cycle stations scattered across the region – you just have to register free first (metropolradruhr.de).
Religion and power meet at PADERBORN , where Charlemagne discussed his coronation as emperor with Pope Leo III in 799 AD. Its bishopric blossomed in the Middle Ages into a prince-bishopric and in 1929 into an archbishopric. The compact cathedral city remains a strongly religious place, with a theology faculty that traces its roots back to the Jesuit university founded by Prince-Bishop Dietrich von Fürstenberg in 1614. Its religious monuments, combined with its unique geographical location at the source of Germany’s shortest river, make it an engrossing place for a short visit.
Paderborn’s cathedral is dedicated to St Liborius, an early Christian bishop from Le Mans whose remains were transferred to the town in 836 AD. The obscure Gallo-Roman cleric is the focal point of the annual nine-day Libori festival in late July, when the golden shrine containing his reliquary is paraded through the streets and the city centre becomes a riotous mix of nuns and beer, attracting a million visitors.
Set in rich farming country fifty minutes by train east of Dortmund, idyllic SOEST was another medieval Hanseatic League member on the Hellweg, with trade links reaching as far as Russia. Cologne’s archbishops founded a Pfalz or residence here around 960–965 AD, and were for centuries the town’s overlords; Soest’s fifteenth-century struggle to be rid of them triggered its decline and by 1500 its glory days were over, leaving an enchanting townscape of half-timbered houses and striking, sage-green sandstone churches whose charm even wartime bombs couldn’t erase. Most of what’s worth seeing is within the surviving medieval defences , a circuit of which makes a pleasant way to spend an hour or two.
North of Duisburg the Rhineland’s heavy industry gives way to a peaceful, agricultural region dotted with small towns, the place names and flat terrain reflecting the proximity of the Dutch border. Under the Holy Roman Empire the Duchy of Cleve counted for something – famously supplying the English king Henry VIII with one of his wives – but these days the region is mainly of interest as an excursion from the Ruhr, with hourly trains from Duisburg making historic Xanten a magnet for day-trippers. Beyond it, placid Kalkar preserves a more low-key charm.
Modest by Alpine standards, the swathe of unspoilt wooded hills known as the Sauerland nevertheless represents a precious taste of the great outdoors for the millions who live in North Rhine-Westphalia’s major cities, as well as attracting holiday-makers from further afield. The region, which strays across the Land boundary into western Hesse, is above all popular for activities, from hiking , mountain biking or Nordic walking in the summer to skiing in the winter, while its artificial lakes – the target of the famous RAF “Dambuster” air raids during World War II – offer a focus for all kinds of water-based activities, from canoeing and fishing to swimming, sailing and windsurfing. If that’s too energetic, you can take a sedate coffee-and-cake excursion aboard a comfortable cruise boat on the Möhnesee ( moehneseeschifffahrt.de ).
Five natural parks together comprise almost three-quarters of the region’s territory, crisscrossed by a number of themed hiking-trails such as the Sauerland-Höhenflug – a high-altitude route that takes in four 800m peaks – and the 240km Waldroute , which links the towns of Iserlohn, Arnsberg and Marsberg to provide a close-up view of the region’s forests and fauna. For mountain-bikers, the 1700km Bike Arena Sauerland is the draw, supported by cyclist-friendly hotels and guesthouses. With so much fresh air and wholesome exercise, it’s perhaps no surprise the Sauerland was the location for the first ever youth hostel – at Altena, southeast of Dortmund. Möhnesee is the closest of the Sauerland lakes to Soest; a bus service – the #R49 – takes around 25 minutes to connect Soest Bahnhof with the lakeside town of Körbecke . For more information, visit the helpful web portal sauerland.com, which is in English as well as German.
Facing Bonn and Bad Godesberg across the Rhine, the extinct volcanic domes of the Siebengebirge are perfect mountains in miniature. None rise higher than 500m, yet the hills are steep-sided and thickly wooded enough to create a plausible impression of alpine ruggedness. Much mythologized and immortalized in song, the Siebengebirge were rescued from destruction by quarrying in the nineteenth century and now comprise one of Germany’s oldest nature reserves. There are in fact many more hills – 42 in all – than the name (which means seven mountains) would suggest, and several are topped by ruined fortresses, which merely adds to their mystique. The entire range is crisscrossed by hiking trails, including the 320km Rheinsteig long-distance path which passes through on its way from Bonn to Wiesbaden. Given their picturesque charm and very close proximity to the Rhineland’s big cities, the Siebengebirge are, not surprisingly, highly popular. Of all the hills, the most visited is the 320m Drachenfels (or “dragon rock”), which rises above the riverfront resort of Königswinter.
Around 40km northeast of Cologne in the hilly Bergisches Land, WUPPERTAL is not so much a city as an amalgam of towns strung out along the narrow, wooded valley of the River Wupper; they united in 1929 and shortly afterwards adopted the name Wuppertal. Known internationally for its unique suspended-monorail system, the Schwebebahn , and for the Tanztheater Pina Bausch – one of the world’s most renowned modern dance troupes – it’s also the place where aspirin was invented, and was a major centre of the German textile industry. Despite some down-at-heel stretches Wuppertal is redeemed by its hilly, leafy site and by the survival of a large number of buildings from its nineteenth-century heyday, particularly in Elberfeld , which is the larger and more attractive of the two main centres, the other being Barmen , a little to the east.
The Schwebebahn system – suspended from massive girders above the course of the River Wupper – was an ingenious solution to the problem of providing a rapid-transit system in an extremely narrow valley where space was at a premium. The idea of Cologne engineer Eugen Langen, it was built in the 1890s. Kaiser Wilhelm II took the inaugural ride in 1900 and the system opened to the public a few months afterwards. It takes some getting used to, as the trains are noisy and sway from side to side in slightly disconcerting fashion, but the Schwebebahn has a good safety record, and on weekend afternoons you can take a “ Kaffeefahrt ” on one of the original 1900 trains, departing from Vohwinkel station.
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For Culture Enthusiasts: Follow this route along to see the six Unesco World Heritage Sites in North Rhine-Westphalia e.g. Cologne Cathedral and Abbey Corvey.
Relaxed, scenic driving excursions that take you into the heart of the country are the features of the Nature and Wildlife route through North Rhine-Westphalia. Head towards the Schwalm-Nette nature park, for this is where your wildlife adventure begins.
Follow the route along big metropolises in North Rhine-Westphalia. Explore the Düsseldorf, Cologne, Münster, Bonn, Aachen and the Ruhr Area.
This traintrip connects the four European Championship host cities Cologne, Düsseldorf, Gelsenkirchen and Dortmund and their highlights - including mining, world heritage, city beaches and chocolate.
The Beer route through North Rhine-Westphalia takes you through a variety of location and taste-based beer destinations.
Follow the route along historical cities in North Rhine-Westphalia from Freudenberg to Monschau. Experience the particular charme of these places.
Besides nature experience trips a lot of culinary and unique spots can be discovered in North Rhine-Westphalia.
No matter if it’s about pastries, drinks, or perfumes: many different products to be eaten, drunk, and enjoyed are at home in North Rhine-Westphalia and popular around the world.
River cruises in NRW: No more than an hour’s drive from the respective harbour in onn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, and Xanten, or less than that in the Ruhr Area, you will find impressive spots.
North Rhine-Westphalia
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Cycling Highlight ( Segment )
Get on your bike at the Jahrhunderthalle in Bochum, cycle on the Erzbahn route to the Zoom Erlebniswelt in Gelsenkirchen and then continue on the tour through the Emscherbruch up … read more
Hiking Highlight
The Drachenfels viewing plateau is the attraction of Königswinter. For hikers, the plateau is interesting and accessible via the village of Röhndorf. Once at the top you have a breathtaking … read more
Get recommendations on the best single tracks, peaks, & plenty of other exciting outdoor places.
One of the highlights on the Hermannsweg through the Teutoburg Forest is definitely the imposing Externsteine. They are among the most important natural and cultural monuments in the entire Teutoburg … read more
You can do it, the view is great, but it is natural, and not surprisingly crowded, if you go to the weekend in the summer. If you do not like … read more
Cycling Highlight
From the south bank of Lake Baldeney you have a beautiful view of Villa Hügel on the north bank and the sailing boats on the lake. The paths are very wide, but it can get quite crowded on the weekend.
A spectacular entry into the Erzbahntrasse. Architecturally interesting, but above all beautiful to look at and quite practical for cyclists and pedestrians. Actually, the route could also be called the … read more
The Ruhr reservoir lies between Bochum and Witten, so to speak, at the foot of the Ruhruni Bochum. It is a popular destination for the residents of Bochum and the … read more
When the weather is good, you have a fantastic all-round view, especially from the Asten Tower, but when the weather is bad, you can't see your hand in front of … read more
When driving along the river, a ferry is a great way to take a break! There are not many of them in the Ruhr, this one is a highlight. It … read more
Hiking in North Rhine-Westphalia
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Germany’s industrious west once powered the country’s 20th-century post-war rebirth, until the decline of coal saw it shift gears. Now its cities are turning industrial decay into art…
As destinations go, North Rhine-Westphalia is a rather unconventional one. This is not the Black Forest or Bavaria , with their castles, cobblestones and half-timbered villages. Instead, its heartland is a densely populated and scenically underwhelming region of factory chimneys, blast furnaces and slag heaps, known as the Ruhrgebiet. This is a region whose combination of bountiful coal seams and a generous waterway (the river Rhine) created the perfect conditions for Germany’s wirtschaftswunder, the economic miracle that followed the Second World War, as steel works, chemical plants and car factories sprouted up across the region. So why does it feature in a travel magazine? The answer lies in a world-leading regeneration.
Over the last couple of decades, all the coal mines have closed, as have some of the heavy industries, but instead of leaving their sites to dereliction, creative thinking has set about repurposing what were once the afterthoughts of industry. This has included the conversion of a coal mine (Essen’s Zeche Zollverein) into what is now a UNESCO World Heritage site, and a blast furnace (Duisburg’s Landscape Park) into a mecca for film directors and scuba divers. The industrial city of Essen was even declared European Capital of Culture back in 2010, and visitor numbers have increased ever since. To a new generation of traveller, these converted mines and mills are as interesting as any castle or church.
Duisburg Nord, a former steelworks, was turned into a public park in the early 1990s (Alamy)
Altbier is a Düsseldorf delicacy (Alamy)
The key entry points to the region are still Cologne and Düsseldorf. The former offers an intersection with more traditional tourism, thanks to its famous cathedral as well as river cruises down the vineyard-lined Rhine. Düsseldorf is better known as the Ruhr’s writing desk, filled with company headquarters; a place where workers relax and industrialists can spend their salaries. All that cash pays for some eye-catching architecture from names like Daniel Libeskind and Frank Gehry, and it patronises a succession of big public galleries. It is what makes Düsseldorf (according to many listicles on the subject) the second most liveable city in Germany, after Munich.
Venture out from Düsseldorf to the likes of Essen and Duisburg and you enter the sort of industrial landscapes that have long since disappeared from the UK’s shores. There have, of course, been serious consequences to the environment, particularly subsidence from the mineworkings. If it wasn’t for dikes and pumps, much of the Ruhr would be a giant lake. But the many industrial scars are relieved by sculptural installations on slag heaps, such as Duisburg’s ‘Tiger and Turtle’, or art galleries in gasometers, such as at Oberhausen.
Art in the region has always been cutting edge, so much so that it is not always recognised as art. Back in the 1980s, Düsseldorf artist Joseph Beuys placed five kilograms of butter in an exhibition in the art academy and called it ‘Fat Corner’. Eventually a gallery cleaner mistakenly cleared it away. Ever since then, there has been a popular German saying: Ist das Kunst oder kann das weg? (Is it art, or can I throw it away?)
The illuminated gangway to the Ruhr Museum at Zeche Zollverein turns its industrial setting into a light show (Alamy)
Start with Cologne’s iconic Dom, reputedly Germany’s most visited cathedral. Stand amid the street artists to admire its ornamental exterior, then walk to the river. The route is filled with installations telling the story of 2,000 years of city history. You’ll finish on a riverside strip of the Altstadt (Old Town) that’s lined with eateries. It’s the place to be when the sun goes down.
It’s a short train ride to the commercial capital of the Ruhr. Walking its mostly pedestrianised centre shows what a model city this is. Seek out Daniel Libeskind’s curvaceous Kö-Bogen building, which sprouts with greenery, and the nearby Kö-Bogen II, a shopping centre disguised under beech hedges. Have dinner in Japantown, along Immermanstrasse, where the popular noodle bars attract lengthy queues.
It’s a culture day! Düsseldorf’s academy has set many a modern artist – Richter, Beuys – on their way, and their work has ended up in a clutch of the city’s well-funded art museums, including the K20, K21 and NRW-Forum. Afterwards, stroll across into the adjacent Altstadt (Old Town) for less spiritual refreshment on Bolkerstrasse, Düsseldorf’s famous street of bars.
Strike out into the Ruhr’s hinterland. At Duisburg station hop on tram 903 out to the Landscape Park, a converted blast furnace beloved by film directors, then swing south on the 903 to the Tiger & Turtle, a walkable rollercoaster of a sculpture sat on a former slag heap.
Take a train to Essen, then hop on tram 107 to reach Zeche Zollverein, a UNESCO-listed former coal mine. If you’ve got time, take the tram 107 to cross back through town to explore Margarthenhöhe, a garden city created by the Krupps, a family of wealthy industrialists.
“The Altbier we have in Düsseldorf is much darker than most German beers. The colour comes from the roasting of the malt, which also gives it its more chocolatey or coffee-like flavour. It is unpasteurised, so best drunk fresh at traditional taverns like Füchschen or Schlüssel in Düsseldorf’s old town, where they brew on site. You are served by specialist waiters, usually middle-aged men (Köbes) wearing blue aprons who will continue to bring more, recording your tally with marks on your beer mat until you cover your glass. Beware of asking them for anything else, as it makes their lives more complicated. There’s a reason why one of the most traditional taverns is called Uerige, which means ‘grumpy old guy’.
– Karen-Svenja Busse,
Düsseldorf’s Rhine promenade (Shutterstock)
Düsseldorf’s Rhine promenade
The city sits right on the Rhine, with fully laden barges lumbering laboriously around its giant bend. Sheep graze on the floodplain on the far bank, while the near bank is lined with a long promenade that is hugely popular among locals when the weather is kind. There are bars here, but the most dramatic view is from the top of the 240m-high Rheinturm looking down on the river and the parliament building.
Rent a bike, Essen
Zeche Zollverein has a bike rental station. Staff will point you to a route that heads out along a former freight railway and through a landscape much affected by subsidence from the labyrinth of mine workings below ground. Turn back at the Emscher river – formerly much polluted, but now coming back from the brink.
Rent a bike, Duisburg
As with Zeche Zollverein, the Duisburg Landscape Park has bike rental and a cyclepath to the waterside. This one ends up in the Duisburg Inner Harbour, whose warehouses have been converted into restaurants and bars according to plans laid out by the British architect Sir Norman Foster.
The former mining site of Zeche Zollverein is one of many industrial sites given a new lease of life (Alamy)
The Dom, Cologne
There’s a majesty and a mystery to Cologne’s much-loved cathedral. The majesty is in the loftiness of the interior (the tallest twin-spired church in the world tops a mighty 157 metres) and the generous welcome that it extends. The mystery is how it managed to escape the complete obliteration of the city by Allied bombers in the Second World War.
Zeche Zollverein, Essen
This former coal mine is the place to dig deep into the Ruhr’s industrial heritage and admire the artistry of its brickwork. There are two sections: the mine and the coal-washing plant, which contain key museums, and the coking plant, which has a seasonal ice rink and swimming pool among the girders. zollverein.de
Uerige, Dusseldorf
One of the most traditional of the brewery bars of Düsseldorf serves up plenty of beer and food in a warren of wood-panelled rooms decorated with cartoons of celebrated clients. Its menu features local black pudding (always a treat), and waiters come around with trays of fresh frikaddelle – meat patties – to keep you thirsty. uerige.de/en/
Duisburg’s Tiger & Turtle (Alamy Stock Photo)
Watch the film RUHR 360º in the Portal of Industrial Heritage in Zeche Zollverein . A mix of music and great imagery recreates the whole dance of industry that has been the lifeblood of the Ruhr. Then climb the steps to its rooftop for a full panoramic view of the city.
Walk the Rheinauhafen, a regeneration of a former commercial port on a finger of land right by Cologne’s city centre. Some of the old warehouses have been colonised by the likes of the Chocolate Museum, but the eye-catching sights are still the cantilevered new office buildings, now home to cutting-edge tenants such as Microsoft.
Taste Kölsch beer in Cologne, then try a glass of Altbier in Düsseldorf. The former is pale in colour, delicate in flavour and served in a 200ml glass called a stange. Altbier is more like a British ale and is brewed in just a few key locations in the heart of Düsseldorf’s Altstadt.
Climb Duisburg’s Tiger & Turtle , one of a handful of giant artworks placed atop mining spoil heaps. This metal walkway looks like a rollercoaster and is thus named because it swoops like a tiger, but you should only walk it at the speed of a turtle. It is very popular with visitors at sunset, when you can scan the industrial landscape in the fading light.
The Altstadt of Düsseldorf (Alamy)
The Rheinauhafen after sunset (Alamy)
Art’otel, Cologne This new-build hotel is filled with paintings – as its name suggests – but its main appeal is its location, which overlooks the regenerated Rheinauhafen, while also being within walking distance of the restaurant-rich riverside Altstadt. artotelcologne.com
Breidenbacher Hof, Düsseldorf A traditional luxury property nestled right by the city’s famous Kö shopping street. Interiors of hardwood, marble and chrome make a plush setting for its wealthy clientele, typically celebs and high-rollers from the Middle East. It’s a glitzy crowd. breidenbacherhof.com
Meandall Hotel, Düsseldorf This hip and innovative hotel sits in the heart of Düsseldorf’s Japantown, midway between the city centre and the railway station. It’s particularly good value, with great breakfasts up on the 11th floor, plus there’s free bikes for guests if you prefer to explore the city on two wheels. meandallhotels.com
Friends Hotel, Essen An industrial-chic new-build set within the coal mining complex of Zeche Zollverein. It is popular with corporate groups, but can be a bit isolated from other destinations if you don’t have your own transport. hotelfriends.de
Mintrops Stadt Hotel, Essen The handsome art nouveau exterior catches the eye, as does its location on a peaceful market square in Margarethenhöhe, a leafy garden suburb in the south of Essen. The interiors aren’t as exciting as the outside but it’s a great setting. mintrops-stadthotel.de
International direct dialling : +49
Currency: Euro (€), currently €1.14 to the UK £1
Getting there: Düsseldorf International Airport is served by Eurowings flights from London Heathrow, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh, costing from around £100 one way. British Airways also flies to Düsseldorf from Heathrow and London City. Cologne/Bonn airport is served by Eurowings flights from London Heathrow and Edinburgh, and Ryanair (from Manchester and London Stansted. Both routes take 1.5 hours. Cologne is also the gateway city for trains from Brussels (2 hours), where you can connect with the Eurostar.
Public transport: The clogged roads mean this is a destination well suited to trains and trams, which are frequent and efficient. Invest in a 24hr, 48hr or 72hr Ruhr WelcomeCard which removes the hassle of buying a ticket for every journey.
Further information: Germany.travel
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North Rhine-Westphalia offers many exciting attractions. Undeniably, it’s a remarkable destination in Germany, with its numerous interesting activities attracting many tourists. Located in the western part of the country, North Rhine-Westphalia is filled with fascination. These are the best things to do in North Rhine-Westphalia.
The city has stunning landmarks and a spectacular tourist attraction , making it a lovely spot to explore. The list of the best things to do below will be your guide and a travel planning tour of Germany, advising you on which spot is the best to visit and what to anticipate in western Germany .
Phantasialand.
Address: Berggeiststraße 31-41, 50321 Brühl, Germany
Looking for the best thing to do in Rhine-Westphalia? Phantasialand has got your back! It is a beautiful theme park located in the charming town of Brühl, Germany, that offers unforgettable travel experiences , rides, fascinating shows, and other dreamlike holiday pleasures.
It is an adventure-filled destination; whether it’s outdoor or indoor, various exciting things await. By Gottlieb Löffelhardt and Richard Schmidt, the theme park opened in 1967 and continuously welcomed thousands to millions of visitors.
Phantasialand provides over 40 one-of-a-kind attractions for the whole family. There are fun, delightful adventures, exciting, and blood-pumping adrenaline activities for everyone. There are seven world records of remarkable and thrill rides to experience.
At Phantasialand, discovering exotic jungles, marveling at Chinese Pagodas, and exploring more of its six incredible theme worlds were among the ideal things to look forward to when visiting the park .
It is not just a theme park to visit because Phantasialand also offers accommodations, spectacular dinners with shows that provide an incredible dining experience, and various restaurants that cook and serve delicious delicacies.
See Related : Things to Do in Munster
Address: Gelsenkirchener Str. 181, 45309 Essen, Germany
Want to travel to Essen, Germany? Don’t forget to add UNESCO-Welterbe Zollverein to your itinerary. It is a beautiful historical site to see in town.
This incredible tourist destination is the former industrial site of the Zollverein Coal Mine in the city. On the 14th of December in 2001, it was acknowledged as a part of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
UNESCO-Welterbe Zollverein is a historical site like no other. It is among the European Industrial Heritage’s remarkable anchor points. It is a must-see destination not to miss. It is also among Essen’s popular tourist destinations for its beauty, significance, and other exciting things to do while on site.
Visitors can enjoy excellent accommodation, hit-up bars, and delicious German food at the UNESCO-Welterbe Zollverein. To those who like to take memories aside from photos and buy souvenirs, there are also shops to check out.
The excellence of this world heritage site in Essen is also incredible scenery to see from afar, but seeing every detail and exploring why it has become world-class a visit is a must.
See Related : Best Museums in Munich
Address: Rennbahnstraße 60, 40629 Düsseldorf, Germany
Visiting Düsseldorf, Germany?
Wildpark Grafenberger Wald is among the best places not to miss when planning a trip. It is a beautiful Wildlife park and green oasis that is a popular destination for families. This wonderful park is a haven for those eager to experience an exciting and delightful adventure in Düsseldorf.
In addition to the beauty of nature, Wildpark Grafenberger Wald features a variety of native animals protected in a natural-looking enclosure and environment.
The park is known to be among the oldest wildlife parks in Germany . All the native animals that the park has lived in a 40-hectare area enclosure.
Wildpark Grafenberger Wald enclosure is among the park’s main highlights, providing a massive area for animals to grow and wonder. This makes the park unlike the zoo because, in this wildlife park, animals decide whether to show themselves or not.
Some native species in the Wildpark Grafenberger Wald were fallow deer, fox, wild boar, raccoon, mouflon, and wildcats. Are you looking for other spots to visit? Check out these best museums in Dusseldorf to make the most of your trip.
See Related : Best Ziplines in Germany
To tour and explore the Eifel National Park is one of the best things to do in Rhine-Westphalia. The national park is a conservation that borders Belgium and the Rur Lake reservoir. It was founded in 2004 and holds an area of 110 sq. km in North Rhine-Westphalia. It’s a green oasis to visit, especially for travelers wanting to experience an incredible outdoor experience in Germany.
The lush forest of Eifel National Park is home to red deer, owls, wildcats, and other exciting wildlife. Within its extensive forests and open landscapes, an adventure to the wilderness awaits. Eifel National Park offers a variety of fun things to do on its land, including guided tours ideal for families and groups of tourists.
For those who want to hike and tour on their own, the park also allows it. Taking the park’s wilderness trails was among the exciting things to enjoy. This makes this national park an ideal and popular place for families.
See Related : Best Hotels in Dusseldorf
Address: Domkloster 4, 50667 Köln, Germany
Beholding and witnessing the beauty of the Cologne Cathedral is among the incredible things to do in Rhine-Westphalia. It is a majestic Church known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter.
This wonderful Cologne tourist attraction and iconic site to explore is in the town of Cologne in Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia. Due to its beauty and cultural significance, it was proclaimed a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
Cologne Cathedral is 157 m high, making it the longest twin-spired church globally and one of the most visited monuments in Germany .
The construction of the Cologne Church began in 1248 but was halted around 1560. Nevertheless, it is still Northern Germany’s biggest Gothic church. After it was left uncompleted in the 60s, it was continued and finished by 1880.
The Cathedral is close to some of Cologne’s outstanding tourist attractions , which are easy to reach and access before, during, or after visiting other spots in town.
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Address: Am Schokoladenmuseum 1a, 50676 Köln, Germany
Love sweets? Then don’t forget to check out the pleasant Cologne Chocolate Museum. The ideal place for those looking for exciting things to do is Rhine-Westphalia.
It is a captivating museum that displays chocolate in different and creative forms. On October 31, 1993, Hans Imhoff established the peculiar and fascinating chocolate museum.
Located in the Altstadt-Süd of Cologne area in Germany, various chocolate displays await. Displays inside the gallery illustrate the history and narrative of how and where chocolate originated. Cologne Chocolate Museum is among the most famous museums in Germany for the number of visitors and guided tours.
The museum offers fun and exciting activities and displays for all visitors to enjoy. In its 10-meter-square tropicarium, a live demonstration shows how chocolate is made.
As well as a shop to buy and taste different products of chocolate. Some of the highlights to enjoy in the museums are the 3-meter chocolate fountain and life-size statues made from chocolate.
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Address: Emscherstraße 71, 47137 Duisburg, Germany
Looking for a lovely park to visit in Duisburg ? Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is among the best parks to hit in town. In 1991, Latz + Partner (Peter Latz) designed this public park. It is created to appreciate and recognize the fantastic contribution of the past industrial period rather than reject it.
Landschaftspark is strongly correlated with the site wherein the mid-nineteenth century was once a former steel and coal production facility and an agricultural area.
The site is divided into two based on the site and its structure’s condition. A part of the park is turning into a green haven with all the plants growing on its side.
On the other hand, the park is equipped with pre-existing industrial fragments such as railways and roads due to its unique feature: a variety of fun and excellent recreation to enjoy. Among them were trails, enjoying waterways, rock climbing, scuba diving pools, and more.
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Address: Dornberger Str. 149A, 33619 Bielefeld, Germany
Heimat-Tierpark Olderdissen is a beautiful escape to seek while in Bielefeld, Germany. It is a park and a zoo that houses various animals in the region.
The park is accessible to the public and among the popular family holiday or mini getaway destinations . This fascinating animal park provides a great green space, a sanctuary for animals, and a spot for the community to enjoy leisure and see wildlife.
The Heimat-Tierpark Olderdissen is home to more than 450 animals, including 90 different species. Some of the animals you can see and encounter in the park’s 16 hectares of land are buffalo, bears, and eagles.
The park’s main highlights and attractions were the animals living in the enclosure’s spacious and natural habitat. But there are also other activities to enjoy aside from checking out each animal they have. These were fun outdoor activities like hiking and biking on Heimat-Tierpark Olderdissen wilderness trails.
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Address: Warner-Allee 1, 46244 Bottrop, Germany
A spellbinding adventure awaits at Movie Park Germany, a spectacular park in Bottrop. As the name suggests, Movie Park Germany is a 40-hectare movie theme park. This park provides the opportunity to have a wonderful escapade in the western part of Germany.
The amusement park field is divided into seven areas based on popular movies and TV shows: Federation Plaza, The Hollywood Street Set, and Streets of New York. There’s also The Hollywood Studio Set, Old West, Auckland, and Santa Monica Pier. Seven areas are definitely to explore.
Movie Park Germany is a popular destination for families, movie fans, and vacationers searching for a great outdoor adventure experience. Kids can enjoy and play at the park’s PAW Patrol Adventure Bay, a paradise where they can see and interact with the show’s characters.
The park’s adventures include witnessing performances, spotting attractions, experiencing thrilling rides, and even availing of the PAW Patrol birthday bundle.
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Address: An der Buschmühle 3, 44139 Dortmund , Germany
Dortmund is among the cities that offer countless opportunities to have fun. The town has various recreation spots, and Westfalenpark is among the best. It is a charming public park that has an area of 70 hectares.
Due to its vast land, it is recognized among Europe’s largest inner-city parks. Westfalenpark is a popular destination for locals and tourists to enjoy excursions and recreation. Visiting and enjoying different entertainment in the park is among the best things to do in the Rhine-Westphalia northern area.
Aside from enjoying the recreation of jogging, biking, and strolling on trails, Westfalenpark offers a variety of activities to enjoy and bask in the beauty of nature. A fascinating highlight in the part makes it an excellent spot in town.
It has a Deutsches Rosarium and a garden of roses with 3,000 rose varieties. A trip to this park would also be unsatisfactory without a ride on the chairlift, an excellent way to see the scenic view of the park and the town.
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Address: Drachenfelsstraße 118, 53639 Königswinter, Germany
Schloss Drachenburg is a beautiful palace to tour while in Königswinter, Germany. The castle is among the most visited and popular tourist attractions in town.
It is a private palace with a villa-style design, but visitors are encouraged to see and explore some of its rooms and charming gardens. The castle on Drachenfels Hill was built only two years ago, in the late nineteenth century.
It’s a delightful tourist destination; it has an intriguing interior and exterior layout and is extensively cultivated greenery and nature’s beauty. After parts of the fortress are torn down and reconstructed, Schloss Drachenburg becomes a well-known summer retreat for royals.
The castle has been redeveloped, with an eatery in its basement and filled with great rooms and furnishings.
Aside from its beauty, visitors can experience life living in a palace with the rooms, suites, or apartments it offers. Weddings can also be held in the castle’s halls or garden, supplying a romantic and royal setting.
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Address: 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
The enthralling Hofgarten is located in the heart of Düsseldorf. It’s a park that offers green areas for the public and is a site for leisure activities and similar activities. Many chairs are dispersed throughout Hofgarten’s premises, including a play area, sports courts, fields, walking paths, and picnic areas.
It is an excellent place for all to enjoy different activities and leisure. The park also has a pavilion that serves as an event and concert stage for every festivities held in Hofgarten.
During a pleasant stroll through the garden, Hofgarten never runs out of refreshments—food and drinks to enjoy through the cafes nearby.
Address: Virchowstraße 167, 45147 Essen, Germany
In the middle of one of the former centers of Essen, Germany’s coal and steel industry city, the Botanischer Garten Grugapark is a green oasis.
This is a charming park and botanical garden, also known as Botanical Garden Grugapark or Grugapark Essen. Among the exciting things to do in North Rhine-Westphalia’s northern area is to explore the park.
The park is the city’s heart and provides a green space for the town’s community and visitors. Various spectacular plants and flower varieties are great things to behold in Botanischer Garten Grugapark. Chinese Spice Rind, Cucumber Magnolia, Lavender star bloom, and rose variety were some of the pretty flowers in the park.
Checking out the park and its botanical garden opens an opportunity to discover a variety of fun activities and see captivating scenery. Botanischer Garten Grugapark’s 60 hectares of land make many excellent recreation and leisure activities accessible. Visitors can enjoy the park’s trails, barbecues, picnic areas, and special gardens.
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Address: Marktpl., 40213 Düsseldorf, Germany
Düsseldorf is a historical town in Germany with several historical sites and monuments. One of the exciting monuments is the Stadterhebungsmonument. It is a fascinating sculpture made in bronze to commemorate Dusseldorf’s city rights in the 13th century. The memorial was a relief made by Bert Gerresheim, a sculptor.
The monument is situated at Joseph-Wimmer-Gasse and Ecke Müller-Schlösser-Gasse in Düsseldorf. In 1988, Stadterhebungsmonument was built for the 700th anniversary celebration—a festivity and commemoration for the battle of Worringen.
Stadterhebungsmonument is an iconic and popular attraction in town. It is 2.4 meters high and 5 meters long, and the bronze weight is 5.5 tons.
The sculpture captures Count Adolf and the Duke of Brabant’s war against the Archbishop of Cologne. Based on their win, the 5th of June 1288 from the Battle of Worringen led to urban development.
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Address: Kaiserswerther Str. 365, 40474 Düsseldorf, Germany
Nord Park is an exceptional spot in Düsseldorf, Germany, that you should not overlook. It’s a great space and haven that gives a never-ceasing beauty of rolling greens, landscape sceneries, and opportunities to achieve fun adventures in town.
Nord Park opened in 1937, is an ideal meeting place, recreation site, and oasis. As a popular community and family destination, it offers ample space for everyone to enjoy leisure activities, from after-work picnics to afternoon strolling, jogging, and sports.
Nord Park extends from Kaiserswerther Straße’s west to east lands—areas with different theme gardens, trails, and fountains.
A feature of fascinating symmetrical flower beds, gardens, and Elongated water basins welcomes every visitor to the Park. Nord Park also has a Japanese garden and a charming water lily garden where you can take photos and admire them.
Aside from the plants and flower species, there is also a spectacular museum near the Park, Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum, featuring about 500 animal species and various unique contemporary sculptures by international sculptors.
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North Rhine-Westphalia is an ideal destination for active holidaymakers. Around 14,000 kilometres of cycle paths pass through vast parks and wetlands and take in castles, palaces and impressive industrial monuments along the way. A whole host of certified routes awaits hikers, who may have heard of the picturesque Rothaarsteig trail across the ...
Top Attractions in North Rhine-Westphalia. See all. These rankings are informed by Tripadvisor data—we consider traveler reviews, ratings, number of page views, and user location. 2024. 1. Cologne Cathedral. 22,338. Points of Interest & Landmarks. Gothic cathedral with a challenging tower climb, intricate stained glass, and twin spires, set ...
5. Eifel National Park. Eifel National Park borders Belgium and is one of the most beautiful places in North Rhine-Westphalia. This wilderness area was shaped by volcanic activity hundreds of years ago, which made the landscapes very dramatic. There are crater lakes, extinct volcanoes, quarries, domes, rubble hills, waterfalls and geysers ...
Visit Cologne Cathedral. Cologne Cathedral might be the most impressive landmark in the entire state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The masterpiece of Gothic architecture miraculously survived World War II, which turned much of the city to rubble, and was added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1996. The twin spirals soar into the sky ...
Cologne & Northern Rhineland. Germany, Europe. Cologne's iconic Dom has twin towers that might as well be exclamation marks after the word 'welcome'. Flowing behind the cathedral, the Rhine provides a vital link for some of the region's highlights - Düsseldorf, with its great nightlife, architecture and shopping; and Bonn, the former capital ...
Nowadays there are six Heritage Sites among the attractions in North Rhine-Westphalia. Augustusburg Palace was built from 1725 by the then Archbishop of Cologne and Elector Clemens August I of Bavaria as a summer residence. A few years later, Falkenlust Palace was added as a hunting lodge. The magnificent palace garden connects the two ...
North Rhine-Westphalia (German Nordrhein-Westfalen) is the most populous state in Germany, with 17.5 million inhabitants, located in the west of the country.It consists of two historically independent parts: Nordrhein, the urbanized area across the river Rhine in the southwest, and Westfalen in the northeast, which is quite diverse as it includes both the heavily industrialized and densely ...
638. North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The most populous (with 18 million people) and westernmost (bordering Belgium and the Netherlands) of Germany's federal states, North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Europe's most highly industrialized areas, with an impressive 30 cities of more than 100,000. Cologne is the district's biggest city, and the ...
Though it lacks the alpine drama of Germany's south, North Rhine-Westphalia has its share of scenic beauty, along the mighty Rhine, in the charming Siebengebirgeand in the wooded, peaceful Sauerland. Urban attractions are nevertheless to the fore, particularly in thriving, multicultural Cologneand chi-chi Düsseldorf, its near-neighbour ...
Top Attractions in North Rhine-Westphalia. See all. These rankings are informed by Tripadvisor data—we consider traveller reviews, ratings, number of page views, and user location. 2024. 1. Cologne Cathedral. 22,338. Points of Interest & Landmarks.
North Rhine-Westpahlia is a real paradise for fans of architecture and photographers alike. Well-known architects such as Frank Gehry, Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or Balthasar Neumann have all left their traces here, and enriched the cities in the federal state with their sometimes ex ...
Things to Do in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: See Tripadvisor's 1,229,061 traveler reviews and photos of North Rhine-Westphalia tourist attractions. Find what to do today or anytime in August. We have reviews of the best places to see in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions.
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The most populous (with 18 million people) and westernmost (bordering Belgium and the Netherlands) of Germany's federal states, North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Europe's most highly industrialized areas, with an impressive 30 cities of more than 100,000. Cologne is the district's biggest city, and the capital is ...
River cruises in NRW: No more than an hour's drive from the respective harbour in onn, Cologne, Düsseldorf, Duisburg, and Xanten, or less than that in the Ruhr Area, you will find impressive spots. Read more. Very different itineraries take you to historic town centres, pop music excursions, breweries or NRW's wilderness.
There are plenty of places to see and visit in North Rhine-Westphalia. Whether you love hiking or cycling, North Rhine-Westphalia is a region where 20 hidden gems are waiting to be explored and visited. Check the top places to visit in the region and plan your next adventure today.
Things to Do in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: See Tripadvisor's 1,231,426 traveller reviews and photos of North Rhine-Westphalia tourist attractions. Find what to do today, this weekend or in September. We have reviews of the best places to see in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions.
Link copied! As destinations go, North Rhine-Westphalia is a rather unconventional one. This is not the Black Forest or Bavaria, with their castles, cobblestones and half-timbered villages. Instead, its heartland is a densely populated and scenically underwhelming region of factory chimneys, blast furnaces and slag heaps, known as the Ruhrgebiet.
Best Time To Visit North Rhine-Westphalia. The best time to visit North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany is during the spring and summer months, from April to September.During this time, the weather is generally mild and pleasant, with average temperatures ranging from 15°C to 25°C (59°F to 77°F). This makes it ideal for exploring the region's beautiful landscapes, historic cities, and cultural ...
Cologne Cathedral. Kyle Kroeger / ViaTravelers. Address: Domkloster 4, 50667 Köln, Germany. Beholding and witnessing the beauty of the Cologne Cathedral is among the incredible things to do in Rhine-Westphalia. It is a majestic Church known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter.
Things to Do in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: See Tripadvisor's 1,231,426 traveller reviews and photos of North Rhine-Westphalia tourist attractions. Find what to do today, this weekend or in September. We have reviews of the best places to see in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions.
Things to Do in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany: See Tripadvisor's 1,231,570 traveler reviews and photos of North Rhine-Westphalia tourist attractions. Find what to do today or anytime in September. We have reviews of the best places to see in North Rhine-Westphalia. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions.
5. KölnTriangle. 2,064. Observation Decks & Towers. This skyscraper offers commanding views of the Cologne Cathedral and invites visitors to look at exhibitions, eat at its Mongolian barbecue restaurant and take in views of the surrounding area from…. See ways to experience (3) 2024. 6.