Discover places worth seeing — from historic sites to mountain trails.
Palaces
Jüchen
Schloss Dyck near Jüchen is one of the most important moated castles in the Rhineland, set in a 53-hectare English landscape garden. The yellow main castle with its outer courtyards sits on four islands in a small stream and mirrors itself…
Palaces
Bedburg-Hau
Moyland Castle near Bedburg-Hau on the Lower Rhine is a neo-Gothic moated castle that doubles as one of the region's most important museums of modern art. It holds the world's largest collection of works by Joseph Beuys, and its historic p…
Palaces
Münster
Münster Palace (Schloss Münster) is the former residence of the prince-bishops of Münster and today the main building of the University of Münster. Designed by the Westphalian Baroque architect Johann Conrad Schlaun, its red-brick and sand…
Palaces
Nordkirchen
Nordkirchen Castle (Schloss Nordkirchen) in Germany's Münsterland region is a Baroque moated palace so grand that it is nicknamed the "Westphalian Versailles." It stands on an island surrounded by water, avenues and formal gardens, and the…
Palaces
Raesfeld
Raesfeld Castle (Schloss Raesfeld) in the Münsterland region is a Renaissance moated castle with the tallest tower of any castle in Westphalia. It sits between moats and parkland, and an old deer park invites long walks. You can admire the…
Palaces
Mönchengladbach
Schloss Rheydt (Rheydt Castle) in Mönchengladbach is a Renaissance moated castle on the Lower Rhine and now a city museum. Surrounded by water-filled moats, the complex of gatehouse, outer court and manor house is a rewarding stop in North…
Churches & monasteries
Höxter
Corvey Abbey near Höxter on the Weser River is one of Germany's most important monastic sites and a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014. Its centerpiece is the Carolingian westwork, built in the 9th century and the oldest surviving struc…
Churches & monasteries
Münster
St. Paul's Cathedral in Münster (St.-Paulus-Dom) is the seat of the Diocese of Münster and, together with the historic town hall, the defining landmark of this university city in Westphalia. Its twin Romanesque towers, Gothic interior and…
Palaces
Isselburg
Anholt Castle (Wasserburg Anholt) in Isselburg, near the Dutch border on the Lower Rhine, is one of the largest and most beautiful moated castles in the Münsterland region. The princes of Salm-Salm have owned it since 1647 and still live h…
Industrial heritage
Wuppertal
The Wuppertal Schwebebahn is the world's oldest electric suspended monorail still in regular service and the symbol of the city of Wuppertal in western Germany. Since 1901 its cars have hung from a steel frame, gliding mostly above the Wup…
Zoos
Duisburg
Duisburg Zoo, on the edge of the city forest in Germany's Ruhr region, is famous for animals you will not find anywhere else in North Rhine-Westphalia: koalas, wombats, Tasmanian devils and dolphins. The zoo says it keeps more than 5,100 a…
Zoos
Gelsenkirchen
ZOOM Erlebniswelt in Gelsenkirchen is a themed zoo that takes you around the world in a day. Across more than 30 hectares in the heart of Germany's Ruhr region, you walk through recreated landscapes of Alaska, Africa and Asia, with almost…