For Thanksgiving in 2019, my sister and I decided to forego the traditional family get together and instead spend some time together in Europe. I arrived a few days early to spend some time in Germany. I flew into Frankfurt, and spent some time in Cologne before taking the quick half hour train ride over to Düsseldorf.
I booked the Courtyard Marriott Hafen, and grabbed a taxi once I arrived at the train station. The hotel was a bit too far to walk, and it also happened to be dark and rainy when I arrived.
Since it was raining, I decided to grab dinner in the hotel at Julian’s Bar & Grill before heading to bed early to ensure I could make the most out of my one day in the city.
Day 2:
The Courtyard is a bit of a walk to the main city center, but happened to be right next door to my first destination, the Rhine Tower. I always love finding towers in cities that I can travel to the top of to get incredible views and understand more of the landscape of the city I’m visiting.
At the top of the tower is the Bar & Lounge M 168 (it’s at 168 meters high). I decided to grab coffee at the top and sit and take in the view for a bit before heading back out for the rest of the day.
From the top of the tower, you can also see the crazy architecture of the building beneath it.
On my walk towards the city, I could not help but marvel at the incredible architecture all over the city. Some of the buildings were just absolutely insane!
The streets themselves were also incredibly beautiful. The intricate tree lined stonework along the river made for the perfect morning walk.
I arrived in the Burgplatz and walked around a little bit to take in the Christmas Market stalls and decorations. The amount of detail that goes into so many of these markets is absolutely mind blowing. And the smells! This is what Christmas is supposed to sound and smell like for sure.
After a quick walk, I stopped at Uerige to sample some of the Altbier famous to the region around Düsseldorf. I stood outside to enjoy the beer to the sounds of the Christmas festivals all around, and the outdoor patio is fantastic for people watching.
After a few beers, I went in search of some food. The Christmas Market was set up in the Marktplatz, and I snagged an incredible currywurst. I hadn’t known much about the Christmas Markets before planning my visit, and had an amazing time exploring so many of them during my time in Germany as well as in Belgium. I enjoyed them so much, that I started planning to come back to Germany in 2020 to spend time traveling to as many markets as I could. Given that COVID happened shortly into 2020, I’ve had to postpone that trip until 2021.
After filling up, I walked over to the Königsallee, which is a long street filled with incredible luxury shopping. There is a beautiful canal in the middle, and the streets are tree lined and gorgeous. I spent some time wandering the boutiques, and almost considered buying myself a Burberry umbrella for the rain (I’d say I talked myself out of it, but really they just didn’t have any left).
Next, I checked out the Markt am Carlsplatz, which is a beautiful outdoor market filled with everything from gifts and flowers to meat and vegetable stalls, to small restaurants. It had just started to drizzle a bit, and luckily the aisles between the stalls are all covered with a plastic tarp, so it was easy to explore without getting wet.
After so much walking and shopping, I headed back to the main plaza to check out Et Kabüffke, and try the famous Killepitsch, an herbal liquor from Düsseldorf. It was STRONG and very bitter – sipping on one small shot was enough to warm me up before heading back out into the nighttime drizzle.
My last stop was the Stadterhebungsmonument, or City Founding Monument of Düsseldorf. I walked by the monument, and then back down to the river to begin the walk back to the hotel. Along the way I ran into another Christmas Market, this one complete with a massive ice skating rink that ran around the entire perimeter of the market!
By the time I got back to the hotel, I was pretty cold and tired, so I headed straight to bed. The next morning I had to catch an early train over to Brussels to meet my younger sister.
I can’t wait to head back to Germany (hopefully in 2021!) to explore even more of the beautiful Christmas Markets across the country. Have any tips of places to make sure I stop at, or questions about planning your own trip? Let me know in the comments!
