Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Industrial heritage
Oberhausen
The Gasometer Oberhausen is a former gas holder turned into Europe's tallest exhibition hall, and one of the top things to do in Germany's Ruhr region. Standing 383 feet (117.5 m) high beside the Rhine-Herne Canal, it hosts large-scale nat…
Museums
Bonn
The Haus der Geschichte (House of History) in Bonn is Germany's national museum of contemporary history, telling the story of the country from the end of World War II to today. Located in the former government quarter of the West German ca…
Mountains & peaks
Winterberg
The Kahler Asten near Winterberg is the best-known mountain in the Sauerland, the hilly, forested region east of Germany's Ruhr cities. At 2,762 feet (841.9 m), it is the second-highest peak in North Rhine-Westphalia, crowned by the stone…
Fortresses
Düsseldorf
The Kaiserpfalz Kaiserswerth (Imperial Palace of Kaiserswerth) is the ruin of a mighty medieval stronghold on the banks of the Rhine in northern Düsseldorf. Emperor Frederick Barbarossa turned an older royal palace into a near-impregnable…
Churches & monasteries
Kamp-Lintfort
Kamp Abbey (Kloster Kamp) in Kamp-Lintfort, in Germany's Lower Rhine region, was founded in 1123 as the first Cistercian monastery in the German-speaking world. Today it is best known for its spectacular Baroque terraced garden, which step…
Churches & monasteries
Dormagen
Knechtsteden Abbey near Dormagen, between Cologne and Düsseldorf, is a former Premonstratensian monastery founded in the 12th century and one of the finest Romanesque complexes in the Lower Rhine region. Its basilica, with tall towers and…
Industrial heritage
Köln
The Cologne Cable Car (Kölner Seilbahn) has been carrying passengers across the Rhine in small four-seat gondolas since 1957, linking a station next to Cologne Zoo with the Rheinpark on the opposite bank. The six-minute ride is one of the…
Museums
Köln
Kolumba is the art museum of the Archdiocese of Cologne, built by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor on top of the ruins of a late Gothic church in the heart of Cologne's old town. If you are visiting Cologne and want something quieter than the…
Landmarks
Düsseldorf
The Königsallee in Düsseldorf, known locally as the "Kö," is Germany's most famous luxury shopping boulevard and one of the most elegant city streets in the country. A tree-lined canal runs down the middle, framed by stone bridges and foun…
Museums
Düsseldorf
The Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen in Düsseldorf is one of Germany's leading museums of 20th- and 21st-century art, spread across two buildings: K20 on Grabbeplatz in the Old Town, home to modern classics from Paul Klee to Jackson Pollo…
Industrial heritage
Duisburg
Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord is a former steelworks in Duisburg that has been transformed into a public park, one of the most striking examples of industrial heritage in Europe. Across some 445 acres (180 ha), rusting blast furnaces stand…
Historic sites & memorials
Xanten
The LVR Archaeological Park Xanten on the Lower Rhine is an open-air museum built on the site of the Roman city of Colonia Ulpia Traiana. You can walk Roman streets, climb into a rebuilt amphitheater, admire a reconstructed harbor temple a…
Industrial heritage
Dortmund
Zollern Colliery (Zeche Zollern) in Dortmund is often called the "Palace of Work," and with good reason. Its brick buildings with gables and turrets, two winding towers and an Art Nouveau machine hall make it one of the most beautiful form…
Theme parks
Bottrop
Movie Park Germany in Bottrop-Kirchhellen is a movie-themed amusement park on the northern edge of Germany's Ruhr region, about an hour's drive from Cologne and Düsseldorf. Spread over roughly 45 hectares (110 acres), it mixes roller coast…
Industrial heritage
Solingen
The Müngsten Bridge between Solingen and Remscheid is the tallest railway bridge in Germany, rising 107 meters above the Wupper valley. The delicate steel arch, finished in 1897, is a landmark of the Bergisches Land and a popular day trip…
Museums
Düsseldorf
Museum Kunstpalast in Düsseldorf is the city's big art museum, set in the brick Ehrenhof complex on the banks of the Rhine, a short walk north of the Old Town. Under one roof it brings together Flemish Baroque painting including Rubens, th…
National parks
Schleiden
Eifel National Park near Schleiden in western Germany is North Rhine-Westphalia's only national park and an easy nature escape from Cologne, Bonn and Aachen. Its beech forests, winding reservoirs and open uplands sit close to the Belgian b…
Old towns & squares
Münster
The Prinzipalmarkt in Münster is one of the most photogenic old-town streets in northern Germany: a curving row of tall sandstone gabled houses above a continuous arcade, framed by the Gothic tower of St. Lambert's Church. It is also a key…
Gardens & parks
Köln
Rheinpark is the large park on the east bank of the Rhine in Cologne's Deutz district, and it offers some of the best views of the cathedral and old town. Lawns, flower gardens with waterfalls, an open-air stage and the cable car station s…
Viewpoints
Düsseldorf
The Rheinturm in Düsseldorf is the city's tallest structure at 240.5 m (789 ft) and its best-known landmark. This telecommunications tower rises right on the Rhine between the state parliament and the MedienHafen, and its observation deck…
Palaces
Brühl
Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, between Cologne and Bonn, is one of Europe's finest Rococo palaces and, together with the nearby Falkenlust hunting lodge, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1984. Its grand staircase by Balthasar Neumann is a…
Palaces
Düsseldorf
Benrath Palace (Schloss Benrath) in southern Düsseldorf is a pink late-baroque pleasure palace built between 1755 and 1771 for Elector Palatine Karl Theodor by his court architect Nicolas de Pigage. Together with its wings, a long reflecti…
Castles
Solingen
Schloss Burg (Burg Castle) in Solingen rises above the Wupper River as the ancestral seat of the Counts and Dukes of Berg and the landmark of the Bergisches Land region. Behind its gates, curtain wall and keep you will find a museum devote…
Palaces
Königswinter
Schloss Drachenburg in Königswinter looks like a castle straight out of a fairy tale: perched halfway up the Drachenfels hill, it bristles with towers, turrets and lavish halls high above the Rhine. Built in the 1880s, it is one of Germany…