One day in Düsseldorf
On my second trip to Düsseldorf, I only had one day to see the sights. Luckily my 2-month winter stint acquainted me with the city so I could efficiently plan ‘one day in Düsseldorf ‘ and see as much as possible. Here was how we did it.
We travelled to Düsseldorf by train with the”Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket”.
Initially, I planned to buy the Düsseldorf Card, in order for us to use the public transport, to get a reduced entry to the tower and to use some of the other special offers available. But I decided to ask the tourist info people at the train station if we can use our “Schönes-Wochenende-Ticket for public transport in town. She said yes. But after a very nasty incident with the ticket people on board transport in Düsseldorf the last time that I was there, I wanted to make super sure. I inquired in English, got back to the end of the line and send the dad to ask the same question in German. So, we had double confirmation and I decided that we then don’t need the Düsseldorf card.
As a further surprise, we got discount tickets into the tower because it was early in the day. Therefore, we would anyway not have benefited from buying it. We saved a bunch of Rands that day but lost some time to the weather. You win some. You lose some.
From the station to the Rhine
This trip started at the Hauptbahnhof
Outside the main train station is the Konrad Adenhauer Platz where you will find your next transport. Here you take either the 708 or 709 and get off at the Landtag Kniebrucke stop (just check the schedule at the stop to ensure that you are going in the right direction, you need to be at the stop which shows Landtag Kniebrucke on the schedule because transport goes in two directions. I missed this logical conclusion during my first trip and got lost a bit).
From the stop, you will see the Rhineturm. Walk towards it. You can either go in and up and see some of the sights from above, or you can walk down the river a few hundred meters and see the Flossies and the ‘wobbly’ Gehry Buildings. Then walk back in the direction of the tower. Next door to the tower is the Landtag from where they govern the area. From ground level, it is just a building. From above it is shapely architecture.
We skipped the Flossies and Gehry Buildings because of the rain and got into the Tower early and paid way less than the normal price. The guy saw my surprised face and told me something about before 11. I can not vouch for the exact reason, but my budget was very happy.
Altstadt
After coffee at the top, we walked up the river in the direction of the Altstadt. You can’t miss where it is. It is about a kilometre’s walk and you see the old town from the start.
Next to the old harbour we turned right and entered the old town. On a street paralleling the river, we found the Senf Laden and Lindt across from each other on corners and up the road Killepitch, which is right across from tourist info.
If you go toward the back of the tourist info you will find Hoppeditz, he is their famous, or infamous, character for carnival (which by the way is an awesome experience if you happen to be there in Feb). You can just backtrack back to tourist info and go past the building or just go around to the building back to the front. On the other side of tourist info, you will find the Marktplatz with Jan Wellim on his horse. There is also a peculiar digital meter on a wall which states how long the city has been debt-free. If I remember correctly what the tour guide told us that first freezing Friday.
From here you walk up the street to another tower, the Schlossturm. It was all that was left of the old town after World War 2 and it has been fixed up. Now it is a shipping museum. A little bit to the right is a little river coming from inside the old town, here you will find the Stadterhebungsmonument. See if there is a tour guide nearby from whom you can eavesdrop. There is a specific place to stand and observe this monument and to see hidden dates. They appear almost like in those 3D pictures if you know where to stand and where to look.
After here wander around in a generally westward direction towards Henrich Heine Allee and the Kö. On your way there you will most likely walk on the longest street with bars everywhere. Walk west past Heinrich Heine towards the Kö. So far all the touristy things to see are very well known and you will probably be able to get directions from anyone…..if they are not rude. These were not the warmest and fuzziest people that I have come across.
The Kö or Königsallee is a build canal that is almost a kilometre long with Triton at the one end and a Lion at the other. Halfway there is a very cool tactile map of the area for the blind. I have seen a few of these tactile ‘images’. One was next to the Ulmer Dom, with a map of the whole area around the Dom. The other was next to the Aachener Dom, with a complete model of the church next to it. How cool are those to help the blind experience tourist attractions! The Kö is also surrounded by fancy fashion stores and hotels. But those are too rich for my blood. And I don’t feel like shopping is a touristy thing to do. I would rather go see the sites and eat the food.
Japanese Gardens
When you are done at the Kö, you can go back to Heinrich Heine Allee. From here you can get almost anywhere you want to go. We decided to go to one of the Japanese Gardens. We got on the Steinstrass/Konigstalle U Bahn stop, it is about halfway down or up the Kö depending on where you are. From either of these fore mentioned stops, you can take the U70, U74, U75, U76 or U77 to Belzenplatz, whichever one comes first.
Find bus 834, 836 or 828 that goes to Niederkasseler Kirchweg. Get off at that stop. Walk Northeast on Niederkasseler Kirchweg for about 650 m. then turn left, you won’t see it yet
But after a duck and a dive around some trees and a wall, there it will be. You won’t miss it because the architecture is so very typically un-German, or un-western. You can wander the garden and go inside to see the Japanese house and the temple.
After this, we backtracked to the same bus stop and found our way back to the Hauptbahnhof.
Further afield: Schloss Benrath
The original plan was to go to Schloss Benrath after the Japanese garden, but the parents were done for the day. If you are still game for a little exploring find your way back to Heinrich Heine Allee. Take the U71 and get off at the Schloss Benrath stop. Across the lake, you will see a pink palace. The colour disappointed me a great deal. It was the same when I saw the yellow Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town. In my mind buildings like that should not be the same colour as ice cream.
Anyway, you can walk around the lake to the castle and go in, or walk around the back to where the gardens are. They have pretty gardens in Germany. This one I explored during winter and looked like the abdominal snow women with all the clothes I wore. But explore I did.
When you are done, and you are in front of the castle again, when you go in a western direction, you will find another train station, Benrath Bahnhof, within walking distance. You won’t have to find your way back to the Hauptbahnhof. Just be sure to check beforehand that the train you are looking for stops here as fewer trains leave here that from the main station.
For your ‘one day in Düsseldorf,’ I suggest googeling some attractions that you want to see and then googeling your own map for the trip also noting the Haltestellen, so that you know where your ‘escape routes’ are. On their tourist website, there is a transport map that helped a lot with the planning. I feel that if you don’t get lost, too much anyway, you will have to hurry less and probably see more. Others believe getting lost is the adventure. I am not one of those.
Was also in Dusseldorf.Interesting town but not as nice as Frankfurt.And the cobblestones are tough on old feet.Wear good shoes.
Although tough on the feet, the cobblestones are part of the old town charm.:)