Germany
Düsseldorf & Cologne
Düsseldorf
Where To Stay (Düsseldorf)
If you find yourself in Düsseldorf, definitely stay in Old Town (“Altstadt”). There are tons of great pubs, beer halls, restaurants etc. It is very quaint and right on the Rhine River. Alstadt is about 800 years old and is also known as the “Longest Bar in The World” as there are ~300 bars within a 1/2 mile radius (a lot of which are right next to/connected to each other).
Apartment : I went to Düsseldorf for work and stayed at this Airbnb as all of the hotels were sold out for a conference. Its about a 20-25 minute walk to Old Town and a 5-10 minute walk from the office.
Where to Eat (Düsseldorf)
Brauerei Im Fuchschen ♡* : Great Altbier brewery in Altstadt. They had delicious German food, and of course, great Altbier! For food, I loved the schnitzel and schweinehaxe! Also, one of my favorite things about Altbier (orginating in Dusseldorf) & Kolsch (originating in Cologne) beers is their refill system. Altbier (and Kolsch) are served in 6.8 oz glasses to keep the flavor fresh & temperature cold. The server carries 10-12 glasses on a circular tray around the brewery and doesn’t wait for you to order a refill. They replace an empty glass with a full one, and marks a tick on your coaster. Once you’re done drinking, you place the coaster on top of your glass and pay for the number of beers (tick marks) marked on the coaster.
Perla Porto : I was in Düsseldorf for a work trip and went here for dinner with our German colleagues. This is a great Italian restaurant (just a 5 minute walk from the Uniper Office) right on the Rhine River, about 20 minutes from Altstadt. I got the spicy arrabiata pasta with prawns, it was delicious!
Things to Do (Düsseldorf)
Christmas Market ♡ : If you happen to be in Germany around the holidays, definitely definitley check out the (many!) Christmas Markets. I didn’t realize this but in Germany cities, there isn’t just 1 market you go to, there are several throughout the city and throughout the streets! There are about 7 Main Christmas Markets around Altstadt. The markets start the last week in November (Düsseldorf is one of the earliest to start each year!). The giant ferris wheel along the Rhine River indicates that the Christmas Markets are opening!
Little Angel Market on Heinrich-Heine-Platz ♡♡ (Engelchenmarkt): this one was my absolute favorite! It has a ton of beautiful strung lights throughout (almost looks like crystals) and even had rose gluhwein! This market is a bit more modern & hip and I loved it.
Marktplatz ♡ : This is the main Christmas Market in town and is more your “traditional” Germany Christmas Market. You definitely have to check it out and get their traditional gluhwein. I believe they also had white wine gluhwein :)
Gut & Gerne (Chocolate) ♡: Gut & Gerne is a beautiful chocolate shop in Altstadt with a very quaint hot chocolate cafe on the other side (where you can sit and enjoy amazing, rich, hot chocolate). The chocolate shop itself has amazing chocolates from Germany as well as all over the world/Europe. This is a great place to stop in for gifts as German chocolate is amazing. If you have time to sit in the cafe & get hot chocolate too, I definitely recommend it. It was SO good.
Heinemann Chocolate ♡: I didn’t actually get to go to the chocolate shop while I was in town, however, my German colleagues have bought us this chocolate when they visit. Its AMAZING and my favorite. It don’t have a long shelf life (< 1 month) as it isnt made with preservatives etc. Definitely check it out!
Killepitsch Window (Et Kabuffke) ♡: This Killepitsch window in the middle of Altdstadt is one of my favorite things about Düsseldorf. Killepitsch is basically the Düsseldorf version of jagermeister (but better). Et Kabuffke basically just looks like a wall of old windows. If you peek in or knock on one of the windows, they’ll hand you a shot of Killepitsch to enjoy on the sidewalk. It’s a fun thing to after dinner or while bar hopping!
“Longest Bar in the World” / Bolkerstraße Street : Düsseldorfs Old Town (Altstadt) is know as the “Longest Bar in The World” as there are ~300 bars within a 1/2 mile radius (a lot of which are right next to/connected to each other). Even in the winter, they have a ton of outdoor seating with heat lamps & high tables which make it easy for bar hopping!
Brauerei Kurzer : Off this main strip where all of the bars are is Brauerei Kurzer, which is a great local brewery for Altbier. See my notes above in “Brauerei Im Fuchschen” about Altbier!
Rhine River: There is a nice walking path along the Rhine River if you have time. If you’re coming from the Uniper Office, its a great path to get to Altstadt with nice views. You also pass the Rhine Tower (Rheinturm) along the way. I believe there are also Rhine RIver tours however, I didn’t do one while in town.
Rheinturm (Rhine Tower) : The Rhine Tower is definitely the most prominent structure in Düsseldorf (kind of like the Space Needle in Seattle). You can go to the top where there is a bar and restaurant. I unfortunately didn’t have time but views are supposed to be great!
Cologne
Where To Stay (Cologne)
Hotel Mondial am Dom Cologne ♡ : This hotel is a perfect location in Cologne for seeing the sites. This hotel is just a 3-5 minute walk from the the Cologne Cathedral, the main train station and the Rhine River. I also enjoyed the Latin Quarter and would be a fun neighborhood to stay in (about a 30 minute walk to the sites)
Getting There: Cologne is only about a 20-30 minute trade ride from Dusseldorf and the train lets you out right downtown. You can easily get to other nearby cities in a few hours (Brussels & Amsterdam are about 2-3 hours away)
Where to Eat (Cologne)
Funkhaus : I had brunch here after climbing the Cologne Cathedral. Great breakfast food and nice atmosphere.
Bei Oma Kleinmann : This is supposed to be the best Schnitzel in Cologne - old school, traditional German food. We went to get late night food but the kitchen closes at 9:00 or so. We still stopped in for a drink and it had a nice atmosphere.
Zülpicher Döner : Since we couldn’t eat at Oma Kleinmann’s (above), we opted for some late night döner in the Latin Quarter after checking out some bars in the Latin Quarter. This place is open until 3:00AM and the food is delicious.
Kolsch ♡♡ : One of my favorite things about Kölsch Beer (originating in Cologne) and Altbier beers (originating in Dusseldorf) is their refill system. Kölsch & Altbier are served in 6.8 oz glasses to keep the flavor fresh & temperature cold. The server carries 10-12 glasses on a circular tray around the brewery and doesn’t wait for you to order a refill. They replace an empty glass with a full one, and marks a tick on your coaster. Once you’re done drinking, you place the coaster on top of your glass and pay for the number of beers (tick marks) marked on the coaster. There are tons of local breweries and pubs that serve/brew Kölsch in the Innenstadt neighborhood (a lot were very busy and couldn’t get in) We did stop at Keule (bar/restaurant) for some Kolsch as soon as we arrived in Cologne.
Currywurst: Definitely try some Currywurst while in Cologne, its delicious. It is a German sausage, typically cut into bite-sized chunks and seasoned with curry ketchup. We went to a little stand downtown but don’t remember the name of it.
Things to Do (Cologne)
Köln Cathedral (Cologne Cathedral) ♡♡ : Definitely visit the Cologne Cathedral. I know visiting churches/cathedrals in Europe gets old quick but this one was really amazing. I recommend climbing the tower as well (and was probably my favorite part). I got to the bell tower just as the bells were going off, it was pretty magical! The views from up in the tower overlook the city and river, really beautiful! Worth the hike up (and is fairly inexpensive).
Chocolate Museum ♡ : The Chocolate Museum is really cool and also in a really beautiful location. From the downtown area, you can take the river walk which is really beautiful and scenic. Along the walk, you pass the famous/historic J M Martinswinkel building (apparently they have great food there as well!). Tip when you enter the museum: Don’t tour the museum immediately as you enter. Go straight to the end of the museum first and put in your order for the customizable chocolate bars. They take about 45 minutes to an hour to make your custom chocolates (which is about how long it takes to tour the entire museum). I wish I knew it would take so long because I had to wait around (they do let you leave & come back into the museum though if you want). The chocolate bars makes awesome gifts to bring home (you get to choose the type of chocolate and what toppings you want on it, my family loved them for the holidays!)
Walk the Rhine River & Bridges : As mentioned above, definitely walk the Rhine River and over the bridge, it’s really beautiful and scenic.
Christmas Markets : The Christmas markets in Cologne open the first week in December (the weekend after I was there), so we didn’t get to do them in Cologne unfortunately. They were all set up and ready to open in a few days and they all looked awesome! If you’re ever in Germany around the holidays, definitely check some out!
Latin Quarter: This is a cool/funky part of Dusseldorf. There are some cool restaurants and bars around here worth stopping in at.
En Vogue (Hookah) : If you’re into loungy hookah bars, this is a good spot for drinks & hookah. Its nice/loungy upstairs and a fun spot to stop in while out!
* ♡ = a favorite
♡♡ = a must do