Suggestions for Swiftie trip

For wine tasting, castles and cute villages Mosel or Rhine river valleys. with a car, you can do the same things as you do on a river cruise. There also are day cruises of the middle Rhine and I did see some day cruising on the Mosel. For wine tasting, cute villages and half timbered buildings, Alsace, France.

If you’re spending time in Munich - flight destination, there’s city bike tours that we enjoyed - exposure to history and architecture in a fun way. My daughter & I liked cooking classes and a 3-hr food tour. I wouldn’t pass up the chance to go to a nice art museum for some exposure for an hour.

Gelsenkirchen is in the Ruhr, the old industrial center of Germany. I suspect this concert is at the VELTINS-Arena.

You could fly into Amsterdam and spend a few days there before taking a train to Gelsenkirchen.

Or you could fly to Frankfurt, and take a Rhine cruise through the famous Rhine Gorge area on the way north, Cologne is a nice town for a couple of days with its famous Cathedral. Then a short train ride to Gelsenkirchen.

Or you could fly into one and out the other and combine them.

I would second focusing on the Rhine and Mosel Valleys, plus you have Cologne and Dusseldorf near the concert venue.

You can look at day cruises here, https://www.k-d.com/en/ though at the moment, there is no Summer schedule, but you can take the train up to Bingen and take the boat at least down to Koblenz, you could continue to Cologne, but the best part is that first section. You can do the same on the Mosel, it is shorter, but the Mosel is smaller and less developed, so in some ways nicer.

Koblenz would make a good base for these cruises, if you want to focus on the Rhine, a smaller town, like St Goar would also work.

Also outside Koblenz, in Bad Ems, is Emser Therme https://www.emser-therme.de/en/ a modern spa/sauna/baths, have not been there, but been to others similar, always a great half or whole day for relaxing.

Cologne is a good mix of old and new, the city center is decent shopping, Lindt has a chocolate museum among other sights like the Cathedral and a decent history museum. Same with Dusseldorf, an old town center with a modern shopping district nearby.

I see there are 3 shows at Gelsenkirchen, Wed July 17, Thu July 18, and Fri July 19. Which night do you have tickets? How much time are you allotting to this trip?

We have tickets for the 18th. We will spend a week total in Europe, with probably 48 hours in Gelsenkirchen.

I would stay in Düsseldorf prior and/or after the concert for a night.

https://www.duesseldorf.de/int/tourism

https://www.visitduesseldorf.de/en

Recommend Media Harbour , the Shopping mile Königsallee and Little Toyko

Check if you get back to the hotel after the concert by public transport www.bahn.de
There are trains going but you have to check short before concert cause timetable will change
Why I write this?
I go to the Veltins Arena on a fortnightly basis for soccer and to Düsseldorf

I don't know that Gelsenkirchen would be more than a 24 hour stop, unless your daughter has an interest in the nearby Zollverein coal mine museum. Somehow I think not. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zollverein_Coal_Mine_Industrial_Complex

I would plan on spending just one night there, coming into town early afternoon, check into a hotel, get a a bite to eat then go to the concert, returning to your hotel afterward, then departing the next morning. The stadium is served by a tram line from the center of town and the main train station.

I am also taking my daughter to the same concert and am worried about how to get back afterwards. The concert ends at 11:30 but public transportation stops at 12:30? Is that correct? Is Essen too far away? I was not planning on renting a car and thought we would take a taxi or train, but if the stadium holds more than 60,000 people, I cannot imagine it will be easy to get a taxi. Any recommendations? Hotels in town are nearly $800 so way too expensive. I appreciate any feedback! Is there another nearby town you recommend to stay in?

We are staying about 90 minutes away but will have a rental car. Send me a private message and maybe we can coordinate!

We are taking 2 college aged girls to the same concert. We are going the night of the 17th. We are flying into Frankfurt, staying there a few days, then will stay in Bochum the night before and night of the concert. It was the closest hotel we could find that wasn't astronomically expensive. We will have a rental car, so think we will drive to the concert if the trains won't be running afterwards. I'm hoping we can take the train though, it would be so much easier. When we saw her in Seattle it took 2+ hours to get out of the parking lot.
Afterwards, we are going to do a road trip through Germany ending up in Italy, where one of the girls lives. We have hotels in Rothenburg and Unterammergau, and will stop at whatever strikes our fancy along the way.
Any suggestions for things to do with teenage girls, especially during our few days in Frankfurt would be welcome!

I agree that the Rhine valley--not by cruise, but by car--is a great option. You can do a Sommerrodelbahn along the way. There are great lakes with beaches if you want to do German style! The Auesee lake in nearby Wesel has a beach (and the local lifeguards keep a log book of "Dumb ways to die" where they write down what stupid people do on said beach) if you want a day of chilling on a beach. Cologne with its chocolate museum and bone chapel might also be fun. Gelsenkirchen is only two hours from Burg Eltz, which is one of my favourite castles. Aachen is also not far. There are so many options that are super fun.

We are also going to Gelsenkirchen. My daughter-in-law and her daughter (10) are going to the concert on July 18. Her son and I will be waiting behind. We arrive in Gelsenkirchen July 18 from Amsterdam.

Anyone taking a train from hotel to concert?

Would also love tips for getting from Essen to the T Swift concert. A little nervous about how we will get there. Any ideas?

Depends on your location in Essen, but from the Essen Hbf, take the RE 42 to Gelsenkirchen Hbf, then the 302 tram to the stadium.

Thank you very much

Hello, we are coming from Essen also to go to Veltins Arena.
Is there anyone that wants to return in a group to Essen from the concert on Wednesday, July 17? I was hoping it would not be too late for the train. Do you know where you are staying in Essen, yet?

Hi. Mom and teenage daughter here! We just got tickets for July 19th and we are absolutely stumped on where to stay and how to safely get back from the arena. Does anyone have any recommendations for us? Neither of us speak German either - coming from Southern US!

Gelsenkirchen is only two hours from Burg Eltz, which is one of my favourite castles. Aachen is also not far.

I love Burg Eltz, and I think your daughter would as well. It's really the quintessential gorgeous castle that sits high in a forest with incredible views. It's definitely worth a visit as is the town of Aachen, which has a beautiful cathedral, lots of history (Charlemagne's remains are located in the cathedral) and the very nice vibe to it.

And here's another vote for the Rhine. There's nothing so cool as to take one of the river boats upstream and see all the incredible castles on both sides. I stayed in Boppard when I was there, but there are other good locations as well.

Here's a suggestion for all the people going to the concert. You might want to PM each other and set up some group chats on GroupMe or WhatsApp or something. I would think it would be helpful to have names and contact info of others who will also be in the middle of that chaotic madhouse.

Also look to see if The Hoff is playing anywhere near where you are staying.

I’d welcome a WhatsApp group. Anyone who’s interested, DM me here and I’ll set it up.

We are staying at Schloss Arenfels, a castle which appears to be about an hour and a half from Gelsenkirchen, and we are renting a car. My daughter wants to “Tay-gate,” so we’re planning to arrive at the Arena mid-afternoon, park, and hopefully meet some other Swifties.

We are staying at Schloss Arenfels, a castle which appears to be about an hour and a half from Gelsenkirchen

Are you talking about Schloss Arenfels north of Koblenz? Then I would expect a journey time of 2:30 to 3:00 (google maps currently says 2:26) due to a large number of roadworks, especially for the return journey, as it will take a while before you can leave the area around the arena. And as the route takes you through the middle of the Ruhrgebiet, there will be a lot of traffic also at night, so your night after the concert will be pretty short. Perhaps you could look for an alternative that is no more than a 30-minute drive away. For example, Haltern am See (to the north) or Wesel (to the west, mentioned above); there are similar hotels in both places. But there are of course many other options.

Oh, dear. Can you suggest similar hotels in the towns you mention? I’d be grateful.

My last experience with a hotel in this region was unfortunately a few years ago, so I can't give a current recommendation. Unless someone with recent experience comes forward, I'd study the map on booking.com within a maximum radius of 50 km from Gelsenkirchen and then book on the basis of more recent reviews. For example, from the large hotel above the Rhine promenade in Wesel, where I stayed a few years ago, it's 46 km to the stadium in Gelsenkirchen and according to google maps currently a 37-minute drive. Even if you need about an hour to get on the autobahn after the concert, you would still be back to the hotel at an acceptable time.