Where to visit in Germany for the day?

Gadget88 · 23 Jan 2020

I am planning a day trip from Brussels my options are

Dortmund
Essen
Bonn
Wuppertal

I plan to visit them all so any advice is welcome but I am going on the spring so have to pick one first. I believe Dortmund has a direct rail link from Brussels. I done Koln and spent a few hours in Leverkusen was very little there other than a large shopping mall so my worry is the above cities might be worth no longer than a few hours spent there?

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superjohn · 23 Jan 2020

They all have things to see but it rather depends what you are looking for. For more general tourism I would suggest Bonn. It was the de facto capital of West Germany during the divided years and accordingly has plenty of historical interest. You can also take a trip on the Rhine which is very scenic South of Bonn, one way by boat and return by train is a good outing.

For transport interest, Wuppertal has the suspended monorail which is fun. Wuppertal, Essen and Dortmund have a lot of industrial heritage if that’s your thing.

Leverkusen has the aspirin factory and not a great deal else, very much the Milton Keynes of the region! Any of the others would be a better day out.

Struner · 23 Jan 2020

& this year is Beethoven year. Born in Bonn 250 years ago. So plenty plenty plenty...

duesselmartin · 23 Jan 2020

If your into history, Bonn is the place to go. Beethoven was mentioned but it is also the former capital of West Germany with parlianent buildings ect still in place.
It also had a nice historic centre and rhine prominade.

Catracho · 23 Jan 2020

superjohn said:
Leverkusen has the aspirin factory

Hate to be "that guy", but since it's my home region we're talking about I kind of have to.
While the Bayer AG is headquartered in Leverkusen and the company once had their largest facility in the city (it is still there, but has been converted into a chemical/industrial park no longer owned by the company), Aspirin is not produced there. The Aspirin factory for the European market is located in Bitterfeld, East Germany. Having worked for the company for a few years, I seem to remember that Aspirin was indeed never produced in Leverkusen at all, pretty sure the former production site (before the Bitterfeld plant was opened in 1995) was the factory in Wuppertal.

Sorry for being Mr. Smartass

PS: Agree with you on everything else, though. Aside from the industry, not much to see in Leverkusen, at least for the standard tourist.

duesselmartin · 24 Jan 2020

Interesting Insight. Thank you. I believe Wuppertal is where Bayer was founded?

STEVIEBOY1 · 24 Jan 2020

In Wuppertal, is the suspended monorail working again, I think it was closed for a while for renovations etc?

Struner · 24 Jan 2020

since last August I think.

paddington · 24 Jan 2020

It closed for over half a year because of an accident. Yes it was reopened in August. It is less fun than it used to be because they have now replaced all the cars with new ones. There was a very long dwell time at every stop (>2 mins) when I took it in October.

Catracho · 24 Jan 2020

duesselmartin said:
Interesting Insight. Thank you. I believe Wuppertal is where Bayer was founded?

Correct. Founded in 1863 in what was then Barmen, today part of Wuppertal. The original factory is still there, the main railway line through Wuppertal runs right past it.

Gadget88 · 24 Jan 2020

Am I right in thinking places like Hamburg, Munich and Berlin offer more tourism wise? They seem larger cities. Sadly neither can be done in a day visit from Cologne.

30907 · 24 Jan 2020

Yes to both. They are all a good 4 hours from Cologne (let alone Brussels, which I thought was your starting point).

Gadget88 · 24 Jan 2020

30907 said:
Yes to both. They are all a good 4 hours from Cologne (let alone Brussels, which I thought was your starting point).

Yes I’ve not thought much of the smaller places other than Aachen which was fantastic.

Catracho · 25 Jan 2020

As others have already pointed out, it all depends on what you are looking for in a city. If we're talking about classic sightseeing, most of the larger and medium-sized cities in that part of Germany are rather dull, especially for a day trip. They are goldmines for what I would call "specific interests", though and have a lot of character to them. And even for the "traditional tourist" there are a lot of gems in North Rhine-Westphalia to discover, but they are more often than not located off the beaten track and/or virtually unknown to international visitors, who tend to stick to the highlights instead.

duesselmartin · 25 Jan 2020

Brühl, which is located between Bonn and Cologne has a nice world heritage site. The Palace Amalienburg.
Aachen as mentioned is worth visiting. You can admire Charlemagne's throne in the wonderful cathedral. Also Dutch Maastricht is not far.

gordonthemoron · 27 Jan 2020

Wuppertal for the Schwebebahn (there's nothing much else there of note), followed by Dusseldorf or Cologne which are both very scenic and good for their own beer

superjohn · 27 Jan 2020

Dusseldorf can be a remarkably cheap place to stay as well. As long as there isn’t a trade show in progress there can be some real bargains to be had at the many perfectly adequate hotels around the Hauptbahnhof. This makes it a great base to explore the region as it is less touristy itself.

urpert · 27 Jan 2020

Münster is also great (but too far for a day trip).

433N · 27 Jan 2020

I concur that Bonn is a good all-rounder.

If you are at all interested in industrial archaeology, wanting something a bit different and prepared to make a bit more effort to get to them, I'd throw into the mix the listings here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Route_of_Industrial_Heritage

The only one in that region that I have visited is North Duisburg Landscape Park where you get to clamber all over the old Krupps steelworks (hopefully still allowed by health and safety) which is a remarkable experience (I've also visited the Voelklingen Iron Works which I'd thoroughly recommend too but is too far for you). I've looked at visiting the Essen and Dortmund collieries which look fantastic but not managed it yet. The idea of turning old behemoths of industrial production into social, arts and leisure centres is typically German and why I love the country.

Unfortunately, Essen and Dortmund themselves (which I have visited) aren't very pretty (sorry if that offends) largely due to RAF sorties 70 years ago.

duesselmartin · 27 Jan 2020

gordonthemoron said:
Wuppertal for the Schwebebahn (there's nothing much else there of note), followed by Dusseldorf or Cologne which are both very scenic and good for their own beer

Disagree. Engelsmuseum, Barmer Anlagen, Ölberg or the cycleway Nordbahn. All worth visiting in Wuppertal.

Essen: cokery Zollverein is a UNESCO world heritage site.
Also the Baldeney lake is worth visiting.
At nearby Bochum Dahlhausen there is a nice railway museum. Check opening days online before you go.

delticdave · 27 Jan 2020

Catracho said:
As others have already pointed out, it all depends on what you are looking for in a city. If we're talking about classic sightseeing, most of the larger and medium-sized cities in that part of Germany are rather dull, especially for a day trip. They are goldmines for what I would call "specific interests", though and have a lot of character to them. And even for the "traditional tourist" there are a lot of gems in North Rhine-Westphalia to discover, but they are more often than not located off the beaten track and/or virtually unknown to international visitors, who tend to stick to the highlights instead.

We stayed in Heinsberg (NRW) for 8 days last summer, (really nice apartment) & I'm wonderin what we might have missed.
We did buy a Euroregio ticket to take the Aachen-Maastricht-Luik-Aachen round-trip, used trains & trams to get to the scenic parts
the Rhine. My wife isn't too keen on a whole day on trains, so we used our car as well, 'cos local transport to / from railway stations
was infrequent

TeaLovingDave · 29 Jan 2020

I can fully recommend a visit to Aachen too

iainbhx · 29 Jan 2020

Gadget88 said:
Am I right in thinking places like Hamburg, Munich and Berlin offer more tourism wise? They seem larger cities. Sadly neither can be done in a day visit from Cologne.

Koblenz is very nice and has a branch of the DB-Museum.

duesselmartin · 30 Jan 2020

iainbhx said:
Koblenz is very nice and has a branch of the DB-Museum.

yes, and closer to Bonn and Cologne is also the nice historic town of Remagen.
There is a famous (ruins of) a bridge (Ludendorff Bridge) that was centre stage at crossing the Rhine during WWII.
Less famous than Arnhem but more successful.
Some of you might have seen the film "The bridge at Remagen" dating back to 1969.

Martin

Gadget88 · 3 Feb 2020

Where is the German football museum in Dortmund in terms of location to the city centre?

duesselmartin · 4 Feb 2020

Gadget88 said:
Where is the German football museum in Dortmund in terms of location to the city centre?

Almost opposite the railway station.

sprunt · 4 Feb 2020

If you're interested in football, it's well worth a visit. Nice exhibit on the 1966 World Cup final - you'd think that with all the German team's success since then they'd be over it by now but it still seems to linger...

brandenburger · 16 Feb 2020

Wuppertal has a nice zoo as well, it is quite hilly and you can combine a visit with a Schwebebahn trip.

In Solingen there are the biggest trolley bus network in Germany and the highest rail bridge together with a landscape that invites you to walk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Müngsten_Bridge

LNW-GW Joint · 16 Feb 2020

Luxembourg isn't Germany but it makes an interesting trip from Brussels (through the Ardennes).
Plenty of old-world charm in the old town amid all the bank and finance houses' HQs.

Where to visit in Germany for the day?

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