Rheine - worth a visit?

Do you have any other interests than crossing an imaginary Line on a map and german food?
And have you checked alternatives to a rental car?
I have never heard if Rheine, but I would probably choose to go to Münster or Aachen instead, since they have a rich history.

Is there a reason why you want to spend the time to get a rental car and check for all the nicks and scratches, drive all the way to Germany and back, when for less money and much less time you can get a sleek bullet train to Cologne / Köln and have loads of things to do including a museum of Roman stuff, one of the most fabulous cathedrals in the world, the Rhine River, an Old Town, and a chocolate museum?

Regarding food, there is no "German" food to speak of. Food in Germany is extremely regional, as Germany is a relatively new country formerly made up of many individual nations. If you are in the northwest don't expect to have Bavarian bratwurst and potato salad or schweinshaxe. The beer is also very regional - Koelsch in Köln, for example.

It is a generally good idea for a trip, just time to adjust expectations.

By the way, I'd never heard of Rheine either. There are literally dozens of reasonable and easy destinations. How about the upside down train in Wuppertal?

The only person I know who has ever visited Rheine did so as a NATO attachment to the huge airbase down the road at Bentlage.

The big problem is the "place that looks a bit different than Amsterdam" because the towns of the north west border region look very like the Netherlands and in some there is even a touch of the accent.

You could consider Münster http://www.stadt-muenster.de/en/tourismus/places-of-interest.html it's about the same driving time and doesn't involve any german autobahns which can be scary for first time visitors. It definately has places worth a visit. In Netherlands use the A1 and A35 motorways and cross the border after Enschede

Or what about Belgium? You could get to Antwerp by rail in a little over an hour, or Ghent in a little over two. Belgium is a great little country: we were surprised how much we ended up enjoying that one. Oh, and we ate well, too.

I won't say the old sections look radically different than Amsterdam, maybe, but we liked Antwerp, Ghent and Bruges better than Amsterdam.

Alsace has gone and back forth in history between Germany and France. It retains a German character and food. Train from Amsterdam to Paris, then high speed train to Strasbourg. Personally I wouldn't give up one minute in Amsterdam though..

Hi,

I have not been to Rheine, only passed through it on the train. Instead of Rheins I would pick a town still of the left bank of the Rhine...Düren. True, once you cross the border between Holland and Germany you can tell right away that you are in the other country, ie different, as you say. From Amsterdam to a place in Germany, how about Oberhausen or Emmerich?

Three other places I have visited as day trips across border from Holland into Germany are: in the direction of Venlo is 3km into Germany...Nettetal and the two larger places, much more significant, Xanten and Kleve. In the lower Rhine area these two are way more worthy of your time.