Hello fellow travellers,
I will be visiting cousins who live in Dusseldorf in early Octobre. We hope to do some day trips via public transport if possible. We enjoy châteaux, old churches, gardens and history. There will be up to 8 of us, so driving is difficult as we would need to rent a van. We have been to Koln before.
I just received Rick’s Germany book; Dusseldorf is not mentioned.
Thanks.
Direct regional-express trains leave every hour leave Düsseldorf's main train station (Hbf, short for "Hauptbahnhof") for the city of Münster. The trip takes 90 minutes. I have spent half a day there myself but wished I had spent longer.
Münster has what you are looking for. Rick's materials for Germany are somewhat limited to places that already have strong name-recognition for his mostly-North-American audience; Münster is one of many "back-door" options that have been left out, so you will need additional resources for planning. As usual, the local tourist office website has very complete information:
https://www.stadt-muenster.de/en/tourismus/service-and-information
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187382-Activities-oa0-Muenster_North_Rhine_Westphalia.html
The cost per person for the round trip, when done by day pass - 2 day passes with 4 persons on each pass, in your case - comes to roughly €14. Just buy this day pass at the station prior to boarding.
SchönerTagTicket NRW 5 Personen
Train schedules:
Ask the cousins about Fishmarket day. October is not ideal for gardens, but Dusseldorf has a big botanical garden, a bit out of the way. Dusseldorf is important for contemporary art, especially the Kunstakademie Dusseldorf, which I managed to sneak into. There is also one (?) museum of "dead" artists in the city, which is quite good.
https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/germany/munster-dusseldorf
Maastricht and Aachen come to mind. It is convenient to get to Brussels, but rather a long train trip for a same-day runout.
I think both Rough Guide and Lonely Planet mention Dusseldorf. Perhaps check to see if your library has either of those guides?
Something on my bucket list is to visit Wuppertal and ride the monorail system that is suspended above the river connecting the various communities in the valley, It came into service in 1901, and is still the key transit mode in Wuppertal, with modern carriages now.
https://schwebebahn.de/en
Düsseldorf has an extensive public transport system starting in its central station.
2 interesting and small places reachable from Düsseldorf Hbf are Neuss and Kaiserswerth on the S - U Bahn, both .well worth your time.
Numerous places can be accessed by regional train and the S-U- Bahn from the Hbf...all depends on your interests, WW 2 memorials and sites, exploring the Lower Rhine area? I've done numerous day trips from the Hbf, a major hub there.
