We have a 7 hour layover in Dusseldorf on our way to Milan. I'm looking for ideas of what to do. I will be traveling with my husband and 3 kids (ages 15, 13 and 9)
We would like to give the kids to experience a bit of Germany and will need to eat lunch.
Thanks!!
DUS is the second largest airport in Germany. It has a good subway system, but I personally would not go downtown for a 7-hour layover. You don't know how long the security lines will be when you get back, or if there will be any delays. The river bank, TV tower, and the more interesting parts are not right at the HBF, so you need additional travel time (and buying Metro tickets at a machine you are unfamiliar with) for all those people. However, this reservation is a personal opinion. Will your luggage be checked through, or do you each have two air tickets?
I would think you want to visit the Altstadt, but we don't have the time of year or the time of day, or the day of the week. Are you landing at 7:00AM? There are also museums and plenty of restaurants in and near the Altstadt. Do all these kids have good walking legs? (In NYC where I'm from, everyone walks a lot. In NJ where I live now, not so much.) Will they be exhausted from poor sleeping on the plane?
The many Brewery restaurants in the Altstadt have great German food, but it's hard to eat in 59 minutes anywhere in Europe. No, they don't care that your children are underage.
We land at 9:50 am from Atlanta and will be checked through to Milan. We are leaving in just a few days.
We will have luggage but would love to store it if possible.
As for your question about walking legs...probably not so much. Hopefully they will sleep on the plane. Pretty sure there will be lots on exited energy that should help.
Are you traveling on one through ticket so that large luggage is checked to Milan? Assuming that is the case and it is just your carry-ons that need to be checked. There is a luggage storage room in the ground level of the central parking garage. It is like 5 EUR per bag per day up to 60 kg. So seems it would save money to wrap them so the are one piece.
Nearby is the entrance to the S-Bahn station. You can buy a 5-person 24 hour transit pass for 20.70 EUR and ride the S-11 to Duesseldorf Wehrhahn station, the one immediately before Hauptbahnnhof. There take the U72 3 stops to Heinrich Heine Allee, and you are just outside the Altstadt. That journey will take about 16 minutes. Now the S-11 goes every 20 minutes, so keep that in mind. That should give you about 3 hours to walk around the Altstadt and have lunch.
You say you have a 7 hour layover, so that means your flight to Milan is about 16:50, 4:50 pm. This you should head back to the airport at 2 pm. It may take 1/2 hour, since you have to walk back to the U-Bahn station and take the U72 back to Wehrhahn station, and you must consider that you might just miss the S11 and have to wait another 20 minutes for the next one. When you get back to the airport, retrieve your luggage and make your way through security. All in all, 3 hours in the Altstadt is the best you can hope for.
