260 bars in half a square kilometre
The tourist board counts around 260 pubs, restaurants and bars in the Altstadt, all inside half a square kilometre. On a Friday evening it is one continuous room with the roof taken off. By the river the Rheinturm stands over it all, and down its shaft runs the Lichtzeitpegel, a light sculpture that tells the time and is called the largest digital clock in the world. I read it from the car park: hours at the top, then minutes, then seconds.
Per started hour, and €42 by the river
The Rheinufer garage bills per started hour. Drive out after 61 minutes and you pay for two — €10 on a weekday, €12 on a Saturday. That is the price of the location, and there are better ones nearby.
The second trap is the sticker. Düsseldorf's Umweltzone covers about 80 km² of the city, and every car needs the green Feinstaubplakette — an electric car too, which is filed in the same group. Driving in without one is €100 plus fees.
Altbier from the brewery that brews it
Düsseldorf drinks Altbier, dark and top-fermented, poured in the house where it is brewed. Uerige and Füchschen are in the Altstadt; Schumacher, founded in 1838, is considered the oldest brewery in the city. I start at Schumacher when I have parked at the Hauptbahnhof, and walk towards the river.
Read the machine, because the guides disagree
Düsseldorf's parking ordinance is not easy to reach online, and the guides that summarise it do not agree on every detail. What they do agree on: zone 1a, the Altstadt, is €4.50 an hour until 22:00; zone 2 around the centre €3 until 20:00; zone 3 further out €2 until 18:00; charging runs Monday to Saturday. On Sunday most streets are free, but at least one guide lists a charged historic core seven days a week. The machine and the sign are the rule; I read them every time.
Paying by phone works through PayByPhone, which covers around 7,600 public spaces.
The clock on the tower, the museum on the square, the palace in the south
Rheinturm — €12.50, open daily 10:00–24:00, to a viewing deck at 168 metres. Opened in 1981.
K20 — Tuesday to Sunday 11:00–18:00; on the first Wednesday of the month it stays open until 22:00, free from 18:00. The garage is under the square.
Schloss Benrath — built from 1755 for the Elector Carl Theodor by Nicolas de Pigage and finished in 1771. The park is free; the palace is by tour, about 75 minutes, with its own ticket.
Heinrich Heine's birthplace — the poet was born here in 1797. Today it is a bookshop, Müller & Böhm.
Ramen on Oststraße since 1986
The tourist board calls Düsseldorf the number one city in Germany for Japanese people, and you can taste it. Naniwa has served ramen on Oststraße since 1986, and the queue outside is part of the experience. I go early.
Then back to beer. Zum Schiffchen is on Hafenstraße, and Uerige is where the Köbes, the waiter, treats even the most famous guests exactly like everyone else.
Boats in January, a marathon in April, a fair in July
boot, the boat show, fills the Messe on 23–31 January 2027. Rosenmontag falls on 8 February 2027, the carnival parade day. The marathon is on 18 April 2027. In July comes the Rheinkirmes on the Oberkassel bank; in 2026 it ran 17–26 July, with the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring closed to cars. Those are the weeks I come in on the U-Bahn.
What's on
| When | What |
|---|---|
| 23–31 January 2027 | boot, the boat show, at the Messe |
| 8 February 2027 | Rosenmontag — the carnival parade |
| 18 April 2027 | Düsseldorf Marathon |
| July (17–26 July in 2026) | Rheinkirmes on the Oberkassel bank; the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Ring closed to cars |