Must-see attractions in Cologne & Northern Rhineland

  • Interior Of Cologne Cathedral

    Kölner Dom

    Cologne

    Cologne’s geographical and spiritual heart – and its single-biggest tourist draw – is the magnificent Kölner Dom. With its soaring twin spires, this is…

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    Aachener Dom

    Aachen

    It’s impossible to overestimate the significance of Aachen’s magnificent cathedral. The burial place of Charlemagne, it’s where more than 30 German kings…

  • Maria Laach Abbey, the west end with the paradisium, a narthex enclosing a garden. Maria Laach Abbey (iAbtei Maria Laach) is a Benedictine abbey situated on the southwestern shore of the Laacher See (Lake Laach), near Andernach, in the Eifel region of the Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany in July 2020.

    Abteikirche Maria Laach

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    Serenely tucked within beautiful Eifel countryside, Abteikirche Maria Laach is one of the finest examples of a Romanesque church in Germany. Part of a 900…

  • Archäologischer Park

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    The Roman Colonia Ulpia Traiana has been reborn as an archaeological park, an open-air museum that features faithfully reconstructed buildings to help…

  • Felix Nussbaum Haus

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    Osnabrück-born Jewish painter Felix Nussbaum (1904–44), who emigrated to Belgium and was murdered at Auschwitz, hauntingly documented life, exile,…

  • Römisch-Germanisches Museum

    Cologne

    Sculptures and ruins displayed outside the entrance are merely the overture to a full symphony of Roman artefacts found along the Rhine. Highlights…

  • K21 Ständehaus

    Düsseldorf

    A stately 19th-century parliament building forms a fabulously dichotomous setting for the cutting-edge art of the K21 – a collection only showcasing works…

  • Domschatzkammer

    Aachen

    Aachen's cathedral treasury is a veritable mother lode of gold, silver and jewels. Of particular importance are the silver-and-gold bust of Charlemagne…

  • K20 Grabbeplatz

    Düsseldorf

    A collection that spans the arc of 20th-century artistic vision gives the K20 an enviable edge in the art world. It encompasses major works by Picasso,…

  • LWL-Museum für Kunst und Kultur

    Münster

    After a harmonious fusion of the 1908 neo-Renaissance original with an airy postmodern wing, Münster's main museum for art and culture now has the proper…

  • Schloss Augustusburg

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    The favourite palace of archbishop and prince-elector Clemens August, Schloss Augustusburg is a precious rococo symphony designed by François Cuvilliés…

  • The house of birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in Bonn, Germany.

    Beethoven-Haus Bonn

    Bonn

    Star composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in 1770 in this rather humble townhouse, where today original scores, letters, paintings and instruments,…

  • Parts of the Berlin Wall and a Traband car can be seen during the reopening of the permanent exhibition at the 'Haus der Geschichte' (lit. 'House of History' in Bonn, Germany, 11 December 2017. Photo: Henning Kaiser/dpa (Photo by Henning Kaiser/picture alliance via Getty Images)

    Haus der Geschichte

    Bonn

    The Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland presents a smart, fun romp through recent German history, starting from the end of WWII. Walk…

  • RömerMuseum

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    For a deeper understanding of the Roman presence in the region and the ruins in the adjacent Archaeological Park, the engaging RömerMuseum is a must. In a…

  • St Nikolaikirche

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    Dating from the 13th century, St Nikolaikirche is famous for its nine masterful altars chiselled by members of the Kalkar woodcarving school. Top billing…

  • Deutsches Fussball Museum

    Dortmund

    This vast shrine to the nation's passion and obsession is a place of pilgrimage not only for German football fans. Inside a futuristic building next to…

  • Museum am Ostwall

    Dortmund

    The 4th and 5th floors of the Dortmunder U creative complex are home to the Museum am Ostwall, an art-world star thanks to its far-reaching collection of…

  • Burg Vischering

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    The quintessential medieval moated castle, Burg Vischering is Westphalia’s oldest (1271), and the kind that conjures romantic images of knights and…

  • Europe, Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia, Duesseldorf, Benrath, Schloss Benrath

    Schloss Benrath

    Düsseldorf

    About 10km south of the city centre, Schloss Benrath is a park-and-palace ensemble where elector Carl Theodor, a man of deep pockets and good taste, came…

  • Dokumentationsstätte Regierungsbunker

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    During the Cold War, there was no vast top-secret bunker complex bored into the Ahr Valley hillside – at least not officially. Now, however, you can see…

  • Museum Ludwig

    Cologne

    A mecca of modern art, Museum Ludwig presents a tantalising mix of works from all major genres. Fans of German expressionism (Beckmann, Dix, Kirchner)…

  • Max Ernst Museum

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    A short stroll from the palaces is the Max Ernst Museum, where nine rooms trace all creative phases of the Brühl-born Dadaist and surrealist (1891–1976)…

  • Domschatzkammer

    Cologne

    Reliquaries, robes, sculptures and liturgical objects are handsomely presented in medieval vaulted rooms below the main floor of the Dom. Standouts…

  • Kunstmuseum Bonn

    Bonn

    Beyond its dramatic foyer, the Kunstmuseum Bonn presents 20th-century works, especially by August Macke and other Rhenish expressionists, as well as such…

  • Art Museum in Bonn, Germany; Shutterstock ID 34902595

    Bundeskunsthalle

    Bonn

    Adjoining the Kunstmuseum Bonn, the Bundeskunsthalle (Federal Art Hall) is another striking space that brings in blockbuster exhibits from around the…

  • Deutsches Museum Bonn

    Bonn

    Did you know that the airbag and MP3 technology were invented in Germany? You will, after visiting the Deutsches Museum Bonn. This pint-size subsidiary of…

  • The Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf is a Romanesque church in Bonn, Germany. The church was once part of a Benedictine nunnery located at Schwarzrheindorf, now part of Bonn.

    Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf

    Bonn

    The 12th-century Doppelkirche Schwarzrheindorf is a magnificent ‘double church’ where the nobility would sit on the upper level and peek down on the…

  • GERMANY, BONN - JUNE 14: Bonn at the Rhine river, the former federal capital and since the move of the federal government to Berlin, federal city. Interior view Museum Alexander Koenig, Zoological Research Museum and Natural History Museum. (Photo by Ulrich Baumgarten via Getty Images)

    Museum Koenig

    Bonn

    The Museum Koenig is a natural history museum but it’s hardly your usual dead-animal zoo. The ‘Savannah’ exhibit re-creates an entire habitat with…

  • The garden of the August Macke Haus is seperated from the street via a glass wall in Bonn, Germany, 30 November 2017. The former residence and studio of painter August Macke reopens after a reconstruction on 3 December 2017. Photo: Henning Kaiser/dpa (Photo by Henning Kaiser/picture alliance via Getty Images)

    August Macke-Haus

    Bonn

    The expressionist painter August Macke (1887–1914) lived and worked in this house in the three years before his untimely death on the battlefields in WWI…

  • St-Paulus-Dom

    Münster

    The two massive towers of Münster’s cathedral match the proportions of this 110m-long structure and the vast square it overlooks. It’s a three-nave…

  • Vogelsang International Place

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    In the middle of the serene Eifel National Park looms a hulking modern castle with a dark history. Ordensburg Vogelsang was built by the Nazis as a party…

  • Varusschlacht Museum & Park Kalkriese

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    You don't need to be a history buff (or even a fan of Russell Crowe in Gladiator) to come to this museum and park, although by the time you leave you'll…

  • Eifel National Park

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    Wild cats, beavers, kingfishers, bats and owls are just some of the critters you might spot in Eifel National Park, about 20km east of the border with…

  • Kolumba

    Cologne

    Art, history, architecture and spirituality form a harmonious tapestry in this spectacular collection of the Archdiocese of Cologne's religious treasures…

  • Dom St Viktor

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    The crown jewel of Xanten’s Altstadt is the Dom St Viktor, which has Romanesque roots but is now largely Gothic. It is framed by a walled close, called an…

  • Medienhafen

    Düsseldorf

    Where sweat once dripped off dockland workers’ foreheads, creative minds now forge ad campaigns and newspaper headlines. The Medienhafen (Media Harbour)…

  • Schloss Moyland

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    With its Rapunzel towers and Romeo-and-Juliet balcony, neo-Gothic Schloss Moyland is an unexpected sight amid the dull expanses of the Lower Rhine…

  • Friedensmuseum Brücke von Remagen

    Cologne & Northern Rhineland

    At the end of WWII, as the Allies raced across France and Belgium to rid Germany of Nazism, the Wehrmacht tried frantically to stave off defeat by…

  • Schokoladenmuseum

    Cologne

    This boat-shaped, high-tech temple to the art of chocolate making has plenty of engaging exhibits on the 5000-year cultural history of the ‘elixir of the…