Off to Germany for two weeks...

October 1, 2009 5:01 AM

Travel advice for Nordrhein-Westphalia, please!

I'll be in NRW for two weeks starting on Monday for business, and I'll have at least a little bit of time for some tourism. Most of my Germany experiences have been in the south, so I really don't know all that much about North Germany.

I'll be about an hour to the southwest of Düsseldorf, and I'll have a car. I'm marginally aware of the Things To Do in the area (thanks Wikitravel!) but I'd like to hear some recommendations that lean towards a more geeky bent. I do have a few specific questions:

-Wikitravel for Köln mentions some sort of congestion restriction in the city center for autos, so what's the best way to get into the city? Is there a specific town with a train station I should drive into and take public transit from?
-Wuppertal - worth going there for the monorail?
-Has anyone been to Drachenfels and the Schloß nearby? Is it worth seeing? I'd like to visit a castle, so is there a "better" one to go to?

If you've got any other places you visited and were really wowed by, I'd like to know about those, too!

(I'll actually be staying just over the border in Brunssum, so if there's anything to see in that side of the Netherlands/Belgium, let me have it!)

posted by backseatpilot to travel & transportation (8 comments total)

My wife and I went to Nordrhein-Westphalia on vacation about five years ago. We stayed in a small village near Geilenkirchen, but we took day trips to Düsseldorf, Köln, Aachen and Trier in Germany, Sittard and Maastricht in the Netherlands and a few small towns like St. Vith in Belgium. We also did two longer side trips; one was to Amsterdam and the other to Brussels. We didn't have time go to Bonn or Wuppertal, though they were also nearby — in fact, I think the train was called the Wuppertal express.

Most of our travel was by train, which like elsewhere in Europe was ubiquitous, inexpensive and efficient. We did meet up with a friend from college who was working on a NATO base nearby. He had a car and took us for a nice drive through the central German countryside, so I can't confirm any auto restrictions in the cities.

We had a great time, but this was more because everything was pretty good rather than just a few things being incredible. I'd say the Roman ruins in Trier was probably the highlight in Germany, though we also had a great time just walking or stopping in the cafes along Düsseldorf's riverside.
posted by tomwheeler at 7:25 AM on October 1

Oh, I love NRW. I stayed there on a study abroad a few months ago. How nostalgic!

First of all, I don't have much experience with cars in Germany. Once, a friend tried to drive a group of us to see a football match in a Biergarten in one of Dortmund's larger neighborhoods. We drove it circles for thirty minutes, got stuck in a stow, couldn't find parking, and ended up missing the first quarter of the game. I know this is not indicative of all city driving, but if you can afford it, public transport is the way to go.

Here are some recommendations as to things to see:

-I recommend seeing the Dreilaenderpunkt in Aachen. It's basically the border of Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands. You have to hike a little bit to get there--through gorgeous fields and dark, spooky woods--and then you can stand in three countries at once! (I choose to lie down over the border.)
-If you like beer, the Dortmund Brauerei factory tour is really interesting. I saw the tour in English, and our guide was very funny and personable. At the end, we had the opportunity to sample the Brauerei's four beers--and then got to have another glass of the beer we liked. Unfortunately, I hate beer. :) But a beer fan would probably really like it!
-Beware of opening and closing times for things you want to see. I saw the OUTSIDE of Beethoven's house in Bonn.
-One thing I never got to see and really regret missing is the Dortmund Cookbook Museum. It's probably tiny and nondescript, but--! It has the perfect geeky bent for you to check out if you're in the area.
-The Chocolate Museum in Köln is cool, but it's not AMAZING. However, the museum is filled with scientific information about chocolate creation and a GIANT WALL OF KINDER EGGS AND TOYS. So there is that. Plus, you can buy pepper (not chile!) chocolate in the gift shop. Very neat. Maybe stick with the gift shop.
-The Schloß in Muenster is... not that impressive. Maybe I've been spoiled. If you're in the area, go ahead and see it, but don't make a special trip. Drachenfels looked really cool when I saw it from a train window, but I never went there myself.
-The Köln Dom is a monster unto itself. I don't like heights, but I went up the stairs anyway. What I didn't realize was that there are more stairs at the top to take you to an actual vantage point. I didn't go. My vision of the Koeln Dom: a wraparound wall and a certain stairwell. And throbbing, throbbing legs. One funny thing is that they sell postcards up there that proclaim how awesome you are for claiming those freaking stairs. Unfortunately, the vender wasn't there when I went. :(
-It's over the NRW border, but there are two more cool places up north: Hameln and Kassel. The latter has a very neat Brothers Grimm museum. The former is the birthplace of the Pied Piper, and it has rats decorating the city!
-If you have some free time, it's really lovely just pulling out a blanket and eating a picnic lunch by the Rhein. Just beware of rain. Always, always, always pack an umbrella.


That's all I can think of right now. I hope that helps! God, I miss NRW. ;'(
posted by ElectricBlue at 7:50 AM on October 1

Wuppertal - worth going there for the monorail?

Absolutely!

Köln -- what's the best way to get into the city? Is there a specific town with a train station I should drive into and take public transit from?

Best way, via some S-Bahn train, and almost every trown has a train station. Park that car, American, and see Deutschland the European way!
posted by Rash at 8:42 AM on October 1

The train station at Cologne is right next to the cathedral - it couldn't be more central if it tried so I'd head straight there by train. You'll find travel by RE train easy and cheap between Cologne/Dusseldorf/Bonn. It is not as immediately obvious where to find the rest of the town when you get off the train in Dusseldorf - head for Heinrich-Heine Allee on the UBahn to be in walking distance of most of the shops bars and restaurants that you'll want to see.

I'm wracking my brains to come up with specific suggestions (I worked in Dusseldorf on and off for a year & spent some time in Cologne as part of a school exchange) and can only come up with something a bit strange: if you or anyone you might be buying presents for is a perfumes person then the Parfümerie Schnitzler in the Sevens arcade in Koenigsallee has a better perfume selection than most London department stores. In fact generally Dusseldorf is a shopper's town - again, the Koenigsallee is where all the expensive shops are. Otherwise, drink Alt in Dusseldorf and Kölsch in Cologne and always tell the denizens of the one town their beer is better than the other's. Dusseldorf is livelier than its reputation (or livelier than its UK reputation anyway) and is fun on a Friday night.
posted by calico at 9:04 AM on October 1

I used to live in Bonn, but I've never been to Drachenfels or Schloss Drachenburg because it's just a touristy spot. The castle is just a little over 100 years old, which is nothing compared to the many castles along the Upper Middle Rhine Valley. If you want to see a real castle and have the time, I recommend visiting the Marksburg in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley (UNESCO World Heritage Site) between Koblenz and Mainz or Burg Eltz (Wikipedia entry) near the Moselle. Both areas are very scenic and worth visiting even without the castles, especially at this time of the year because the grape harvest is under way. Try the very young wine called Federweißer!

Definitely take a train into Cologne instead of your car. (There are several Park and Ride car parks on the outskirts, marked P+R from the Autobahn.) Besides the cathedral (I really recommend climbing the tower, by the way, the view is great) there's the Römisch-Germanisches Museum right next to the cathedral which is worth a visit. Cologne has many other sights and museums and is also great for shopping.

In Bonn you can visit the Beethoven-Haus. If you are interested in German history, go to the Haus der Geschichte (no entrance fee!). Bonn has several other good museums: Deutsches Museum Bonn (not as famous and impressive as the one in Munich, though), Museum Koenig, Kunst- und Ausstellungshalle.

I wouldn't go to Wuppertal just to ride the Schwebebahn. The excitement of riding a train over the river Wupper wears off in about two seconds, and as far as I know there's not much else to see there.

I don't know Düsseldorf well, but think that the architecture in the area called Medienhafen is quite interesting. Check out the photos on Flickr to get an idea of what it looks like.

If you are staying in Brunssum you are quilte close to Aachen. I've never been there, but the cathedral and the city hall are famous.

Let me know if you have more specific questions concerning Cologne, Bonn or the Rhine and Moselle valleys, I'll try to answer any questions you might have. I moved to the Upper Middle Rhine Valley three years ago and know the area quite well.
posted by amf at 10:33 AM on October 1

By the way, these previous questions - or rather, their answers - might be of interest:

What's doing in Köln?

Where to stay in Bonn (general information on Bonn included)

What to do in Germany next week (includes information on Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne)
posted by amf at 10:51 AM on October 1

I'm living in NRW and here's a few recommendations from the top of my head:

Köln: Dom (!), Altstadt (the old part of the city), the Früh brewery has a system of underground caves where people come to drink after work - depending on the day of the week it can be pretty packed or just pretty impressive (as it is quite a bit of space for a bar).

Düsseldorf: Altstadt again

Essen: Zeche Zollverein (an impressive world heritage site that used to be an old coal mine), Villa Hügel (which belonged to a steel magnate --> Krupp, impressive). At the moment the paintings from the very renown "Folkwang Museum" are exhibited there as the museum is undergoing a major renovation).

Bochum: Coal mining museum . An impressive insight into the history of the Ruhrgebiet including a very realistic walkthrough of a coal mine that was rebuilt 20m under the museum. Also try: Currywurst and a beer at one of the Ruhrgebiet's many small shops/vendors which are called "Buden"/"Trinkhallen"
posted by mathiu at 12:35 PM on October 1

Surprisingly, Düsseldorf has a big Japanese community, and if you're interested in such things you could visit a small branch of the Mitsukoshi department store located there.
posted by Rash at 4:08 PM on October 1