Last Updated on 21st February 2019 by Sarah and Justin
We flew from Bangkok to Germany because (1) we wanted to go home for the holidays, (2) we wanted to enjoy the German Christmas Market season for longer than we had in the past, and (3) we found an an award flight that let us do both. (For those of you who don’t know, Justin is pretty good at finding tricky routings.) So to kick off December, we flew from Bangkok to Frankfurt and then took the train to Düsseldorf. And our friends met us there!
Düsseldorf is a great German city. Even though it’s on the smaller side, there’s a lot to do and see in Düsseldorf – especially during winter when the Christmas Markets are open!
Here are 10 things to do in Düsseldorf
1. Go to Christmas Markets
You of course need to visit during Christmas Market season to do this. Düsseldorf has several Christmas Markets, and we quite like all of them. The main ones are located in the Altstadt (Old Town) and are walking distance from each other so you can easily taste all the different varieties of Glühwein (the best winter drink hands-down) on offer.
2. Taste and buy mustard at the Düsseldorfer Löwensenf Museum
This is one of our favorite shops in all of Germany. We once visited Düsseldorf just for a couple hours solely to visit this place and stock up on our favorite, garlic flavored Senf (mustard). It’s a small shop in the middle of the Altstadt where you can sample all of their flavors as well as pictures and stories of its history.
Happily, our friends liked the Senf Museum too! Chris took this shot of the storefront.
For those of you who love mustard as much as we do, you can get a Löwensenf costume for Halloween!
3. Watch hockey
Düsseldorf is a great base for watching ice hockey because there are a few teams pretty close to each other. During our four days there, Justin and our friends saw three hockey games in three different cities: Düsseldorf, Köln, and Krefeld.
Chris took this photo of Düsseldorf EG vs. Augsburger Panther.
4. Drink Altbier
Düsseldorf’s local brew is called Altbier. What Kölsch is to Köln, Altbier is to Düsseldorf. Unlike Kölsch, Altbier is dark in color and a bit heavier and sweeter. But it’s consumed the same way, in small, 0.2L glasses which get replaced without you asking until you surrender and top your glass with your coaster. We thoroughly enjoyed the Altbier-drinking experience at a local Kneipe (pub) near our hotel called Auf’m Hennekamp.
Thanks to Chris for getting a shot of our favorite Kneipe in Düsseldorf.
5. See modern art
For those of us who go to modern art museums in every city we visit no matter how many times we see works by Picasso and Klee and Kandinsky and Matisse and so on and so on (read: Sarah), Düsseldorf is a great city to visit. Their Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is actually two museums right next to each other, K20 and K21. In addition to nice collections, the buildings are quite cool and interesting spaces.
6. Walk along water
The Rhine River cuts right through the city. The smaller Düssel meandered close to where we were staying. Then there’s the Königsallee canal, which is in the middle of one of the greatest shopping streets in Europe (the Kö). Even in the winter, it’s lovely to walk along the water.
7. Eat Döner Kebab
To our utter dismay, our favorite Döner Kebab spot in Düsseldorf (and one of our top two in Germany) is no longer. This was a place we had gone to multiple times – once even for breakfast! But this sad fact let us give a second chance to a famous spot we had previously visited but not loved, Yede Gör. Around the corner from the train station, it’s been consistently ranked as the top Döner spot in the city. We’re happy we had a chance to give it another try. Their simple and traditional Döners greatly exceeded our expectations.
8. Wander
Düsseldorf is a relatively small, easily walkable city. Take a wrong turn in the Altstadt and explore the small streets. You won’t get too far without finding your way back to where you meant to go.
The rest of the city is pretty neat too. We found this cool exhibit called Zeitfeld at the entrance to the Volksgarten while walking around our neighborhood. We imagine the Volksgarten itself is a great place to wander around too – but it was too cold to do so when we were there.
And we stumbled onto this thing…
9. Eat at a traditional Brauerei
Eat heavy, delicious food and drink lots of Altbier. We can recommend Zum Schiffchen, Zum Schlussel, and Uerige, although there are many all over the city.
Though Brauerei food like Rotkohl and Schweinebraten are absolutely delicious, they’re not that photogenic. Trust us, we ate more than this Spätzle.
10. Buy fresh baked goods at Hinkel
We are bread people. And when traveling in Europe, we eat it often. So we can confidently say that Germany has the best bread. And this shop Hinkel wowed us. Buy any of their fresh breads and Brezeln and Krapfen (amazing donut-like things). There will most likely be a line, but it moves quick. And it’s worth it. It’s all delicious, especially when eaten with salami bought at a butcher and Düsseldorfer Senf!
Thanks to Chris for making and taking the photo of the above spread and the Hinkel storefront.
Special thanks to the Chimenti clan for joining us in Düsseldorf!
Great list!
Thank you! Glad you like it!
I have a couple days planned in Cologne next year, and I think Dusseldorf may be a good idea for a day trip! I’ll have to look into it more.
Düsseldorf is a super easy day-trip from Cologne. It’s under a half hour between cities by regular train. Or, you can take the S-Bahn, which costs less but is about 40 minutes. That said, there’s a lot to see in Cologne, so if you only have a couple days, I’m not sure what I would do! I love both cities!
I am just dying to go to German Christmas markets. We went to the Rhine Valley, Munich and Nuremberg over the summer and I absolutely fell in love with Germany. My husband would love all that mustard! LOL!
Germany is a great country to visit anytime of year! Christmas Market season is our favorite, though 🙂
I have only visited Dusseldorf once and frustratingly, it was on a work trip, so I didn’t have time to explore. I really want to see more. The mustard museum particularly appeals — I love food-based museums! The river front also looks like a must see, your sunset view is gorgeous. And of course I must try all the local specialities!
This is a great guide to Düsseldorf. I think I’ll be adding it to my Germany list. Thanks for sharing and will bookmark for a future trip!
I’d never considered visiting Dusseldorf, but it looks great!! (and my boyfriend would LOVE all that mustard!) Thanks for sharing these tips!
Wooow this truly looks amazing!! I’ve been to Germany so many times but never really got to explore Dusseldorf. Never knew the city had so many things to offer (modern art?!) it seems like an amazing place and it will go straight on my bucketlist for the upcoming Xmas markets!! Great read!
It is a great city with a lot to offer. And it’s a great place for Christmas Market hopping since things are pretty compact.
Oh I’ve always wanted to go to the Christmas market in Germany! All the pictures look so festive!
You had me at “Christmas Market” and the food at Hinkel looks amazing!
I had no idea the mustard museum was in Dusseldorf! I would love to get some fancier versions like the one you mentioned with garlic. I live in Germany and know the deliciousness that is doner kebab! I stopped eating meat earlier this year, but I still get veggie doner because the sauces are so good!
I loooooove Butterbrezel! I was in Düsseldorf a few years ago and really liked it.
Love this post! I have a good friend in Dusseldorf that has been trying to get me to visit. The Christmas markets look great – this definitely makes me want to visit.
I’ve never been to Düsseldorf before, but from reading your post I would love to go one day! Looks like there’s lots of yummy food to try there! And the Christmas market looks great 🙂
Wow! Düsseldorf looks amazing! I can’t wait to visit the German Christmas markets one day, maybe I’ll have to go here!
I’m a big foodie so the Glühwein Christmas drinks sounds very interesting and I’d love to try! Also, the traditional Brauerei looks very tasty and the fresh goods at Hinkel. Your post really made me hungry!
I love Germany and would love to go to Dusseldorf next year! Fingers crossed I get to visit this beautiful city. Christmas markets are the best and after looking at your suggestions, I wish I could hop on the next flight. 🙂
Thank you for this list! Very helpful and now it makes me crave all the goodies I tried back when I was in your beautiful country. (Drooling now at the food above!).
I visited Düsseldorf at the start of December last year and loved the Christmas Markets! I didn’t have much time in the city beyond that, but I truly wish I had visited the modern art museums and tried the altbier. I will have to next time! Thanks for sharing this awesome list of sites and attractions!
I’ve only spent a handful of hours in Dusseldorf, which makes me feel quite sad! Big fan of German Christmas markets and mustard too, haha. Would defo make a beeline for that shop if I returned.
It’s ok – there’s only so much time and too many places to explore! But if you do find yourself back, hopefully it’s during Christmas Market season! They do it well there.
As someone who was actually born in Düsseldorf, but doesn’t have many memories of living there except for kindergarten, this was a cool thing to read! It’s funny how the things right in front of our faces often don’t really occur to us as worth visiting until someone comes from further away and sees the interesting things that we don’t see. I’ll make sure to visit the Kunstsammlung next time I’m around. Thanks much for sharing and safe travels to you guys!
These are the best types of comments! I’m glad we opened your eyes to your birthplace a little bit more. It really is a super city. 😉
I love that this place has a mustard museum! Never heard of such a thing (or flavored mustard either for that matter)! That would really be a unique experience, and a great souvenirs to bring back to friends and family!
My parents visited last year and have been raving about Düsseldorf. I have yet to travel to Germany (!!) but when I do, I’ll definitely visit Düsseldorf and have some of that tasty Glühwein and mustard! 🙂
I bet it must be nice to go home for the holidays! I know I look forward to it every year. I just met a couple from Germany when I was visiting Laos, they were from Dusseldorf. Looks like I need to make a trip out there with all of the tasty things to try!
I missed Dusseldorf when I was in Germany a few months ago! After reading this I can’t wait for when I go back to Germany 🙂
Living in Hamburg now, I keep telling the German boyfriend that we need to visit Düsseldorf as it has been receiving so much positive press recently! 🙂