Day 3. Düsseldorf – what to see

On By Little Miss TravellerIn Düsseldorf, Germany, Northern Europe

Our final day in Düsseldorf began with a leisurely buffet breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express, then after packing up our belongings we took the U Bahn along to Graf-Adolf-Platz to enjoy a morning stroll around MedienHafen (Media Harbour) near the Rhine Tower we had visited the previous morning.

Graf-Adolf-Platz U Bahn station, Dusseldorf
Graf-Adolf-Platz U Bahn station, Dusseldorf

This former abandoned city docks located south of the river has been transformed into a business and leisure district and is now home to more than 700 companies along with high end apartments and numerous restaurants and bars.  The sun managed to put in a short appearance for us to highlight the gleaming, cutting edge buildings lining the harbour.

MedienHafen, Dusseldorf
MedienHafen, Dusseldorf

The Californian architect Frank Gehry who previously designed the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao created a three part landmark building without a single straight line in its side-by-side buildings which is known as Neuer Zolhof.  It’s apparently one of the most photographed buildings in the city and can be seen in the photo below.

MedienHafen, Dusseldorf
Medien Harbour, Dusseldorf

After popping back to our hotel to collect our luggage and have a quick cup of tea, we decided to explore the city’s Japanese quarter which was about a 20 minute walk from where we were staying.  This Asian enclave runs from Berliner Allee along to the Hauptbahnhof (Central Railway Station) and is centred along Immermannstrasse.

The Japanese Quarter Dusseldorf
The Japanese Quarter Dusseldorf

As soon as we had reached this neighbourhood which is commonly referred to as Little Tokyo, we almost felt as if we’d been transported over to Japan as the streets are lined with Japanese food shops, hotels, restaurants, bakeries, chemists, bookstores and travel agencies.  The majority of the residents are Japanese or Germans with Japanese heritage giving Düsseldorf the third largest Japanese population in Europe after Paris and London.

Waraku Japanese Restaurant, Dusseldorf
Waraku Japanese Restaurant, Dusseldorf

There was no way that we were leaving this district without sampling some authentic Japanese cuisine so we popped into Waraku and ordered bowls of Chicken Ramen which were served with caramelised vegetables in a mouth watering broth – delicious wasn’t even good enough to describe it.  The restaurant is only tiny, but if you’re in the vicinity I’d highly recommend popping in for lunch and at around €10 (£8.30) excellent value.

Waraku Japanese Restaurant, Dusseldorf
Preparing our lunch at Warako, Dusseldorf
Chicken Ramen at Waraku Japanese Restaurant, Dusseldorf
My delicious Chicken Ramen at Waraku, Dusseldorf

As our flight wasn’t scheduled to depart until 18.25 we still had a couple of hours left to explore before returning to the airport so we jumped back on the U Bahn for a short ride across the river to take a look at the affluent Oberkassel neighbourhood.  We’d enjoyed views across there from the Altstadt (old town) facing it, so now we could enjoy the views looking back.

Oberkassel, Dusseldorf
Oberkassel, Dusseldorf

Although 90% of Düsseldorf’s housing was damaged or destroyed during the Second World War there was very little damage to Oberkassel on the western bank of the Rhine.  As we strolled alongside the riverside footpath we admired beautiful art-deco houses that have been so well preserved and looked across to the old town where we had spent much of our time.

Views across to Altstadt, Dusseldorf's old town
Views across to Altstadt, Dusseldorf’s old town

The rain clouds were gathering and as the wind was strengthening we made our way back to the U Bahn station for a service to the Hauptbahnhof.

Taking the U Bahn back to Düsseldorf station
Taking the U Bahn back to the Hauptbanhhof

It was the first time we had seen Düsseldorf’s central railway station so we had a short walk through the concourse before taking a train back to the airport.  The journey only takes seven minutes making Düsseldorf ideal for a short stopover to break up lengthy flights.  Surprisingly, there is no aircraft noise over the city despite the airport being close by.  Back at the airport we discovered that our flight had been delayed an hour so we enjoyed a beer after security before heading to our gate.

Eurowings Dusseldorf Airport
Our flight was delayed then subsequently cancelled

We hadn’t been sitting at the gate very long when we heard that the flight had been delayed further and then subsequently cancelled.  I’d nothing but praise for Eurowings who handled the situation efficiently, re-booking us onto the next flight at 06.45 the following morning and promptly arranging hotel accommodation for us.

Room at the Mercure Dusseldorf Zentrum
Our room at the Mercure Dusseldorf Zentrum

Our unplanned stay was at the Mercure Düsseldorf Zentrum and included breakfast except that we needed to leave before it was served.  The hotel was located south of the airport towards the city centre in an area we weren’t familiar with but we soon found a cosy pub for a tasty meal and a glass of beer.

Typical Düsseldorf pub / beer hall
The cosy pub where we enjoyed an unexpected bonus evening in Dusseldorf

After returning to the airport the next morning we enjoyed breakfast in Hausmann’s before eventually arriving back in Manchester at 9.00 a.m.

Breakfast in Düsseldorf airport
Our hearty breakfast to keep us going until we arrived back in Manchester

Spending the weekend in Düsseldorf had been so much fun and with such a variety of activities and attractions to keep us busy, we’d loved every minute of our trip.  Dorf translated into English means village and although Düsseldorf has now grown to become Germany’s seventh largest city it retains a compact feel and we found it to be a very pleasant and safe city for a weekend break.  Along with Eurowings, additional carriers operate from across the country making it easily accessible for a short break.

Düsseldorf Altstadt
Dusseldorf Altstadt

During our stay we were guests of Visit Düsseldorf and as always all views and opinions are entirely my own.

If you have enjoyed reading this series of posts on Dusseldorf you may also be interested in the following:

Stuttgart – a short break

Frankfurt– a short break

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35 thoughts on “Day 3. Düsseldorf – what to see”

  1. jasonlikestotravel

    Haha, I saw your photo which suggested Eurowings was your airline and I was thinking I’ll ask how they were as an airline. In the next couple of sentences you then said they’d rescheduled your flight and put you up in a hotel so I guess no cause for complaints haha. That pub looks so cosy too!

    Another great series. I’m glad you enjoyed your time in Dusseldorf.

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      1. jasonlikestotravel

        I wish I’d seen more of the city, it’s cheap and close to travel to though so I’m sure I’ll go back at some point.

        I’m doing alright, the weather certainly helps. I’ve been trying to go out for a short walk at least once a day. Have a good weekend too!

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  2. As others commented, the chicken ramen looked delicious. I am happy to read that Eurowings treated you well, but I did have a little giggle. You were at the Hauptbanhof the evening before. You could probably have caught a train home to England (via Cologne, Brussels and London?) and been there before the revised flight!
    At least you got a bonus night out of it. x

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        1. Hopefully most of them will survive as when restrictions are lifted, people will want to travel more than ever to make up for lost time. I enjoy rail travel too but Eurostar isn’t particularly helpful from where I live but I’ve used it several times. Hope your Easter isn’t going too badly!

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          1. Very quiet Easter, but that’s okay. I like my quiet time. Yes – I know rail travel has become out of date. One time I returned to England and bought a train ticket (before they were sold on the internet). When the fellow told me the price, I said, ‘I didn’t want a return ticket!’ Another time, it was cheaper for me to go Birchington-Birmingham-Lancaster, than Birchington-Lancaster-Birmingham. Haha. Privatisation did some screwy things to the system.
            You have so many more airline players in England/Europe. Domestically we have a very few. One was formerly government owned (Qantas) and has a low cost “other” – Jetstar. My bets are on Jetstar folding and the government buying back Qantas. But if they don’t give consideration to Virgin, then Qantas will have a monopoly and the Gov won’t want that.
            Finally! So many times I was forced to study Economics, and finally I get some useful practice.

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            1. Sounds perfectly plausible to me. I remember using Ansett Airlines on domestic flights in our earlier visits to Australia and they were good, too! A long time since they disappeared! Quite cool here this morning but still hopeful we can sit outside later.

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              1. Yep. Ansett went under around 2010. Fellow blogger, Lord Beari of Bow (rip) used to work for them and wrote many entertaining stories of his time there. Another rival, TAA Airlines, was merged with Qantas in the 90s.
                They come, they go. Lots of capital investment, long time to break even. What was the name of that Greek airline – or was it English and the owner was Greek? Flamboyant chappie. Very topical at the time 🙂

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    1. I’m so pleased you enjoyed reading these posts on Düsseldorf Andy. Although we are unable to travel at present I think we all need nice things to read about and places to look forward visiting, so I’ll be continuing to post as usual. Stay safe and thank you for your much appreciated thoughts. Marion

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  5. We must be able to get out of the safe zone. It must not depend on people, and do it by yourself. My own first trip taught that. This is really a very valuable challenge for me, I don’t know anyone and only believe in doing it. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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    1. Thanks for taking the time to comment, it’s much appreciated and it’s good to read that you enjoyed this series of posts on Düsseldorf. Another reader also told me that Aachen was very nice so I’ll definitely add that to my list of places to visit and get there hopefully before too long.

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  8. Thank you for this post about Dusseldorf. When I lived in Luxembourg I visited almost all the German Landers and I find it unfair that so few foreigners come to visit them. Most of them are former sovereign and competing states whose capitals competed to attract the best artists.

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    1. Thank you for taking the time to comment on my series of posts featuring Düsseldorf. It was a wonderful weekend and I’d highly recommend a visit. I would like to return to Luxembourg sometime as I only visited briefly many years ago on a school trip.

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