North Rhine– Westphalia

NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA 557 Dortmund Gelsenkirchen Essen Cologne Brühl Oberhausen AREA : 34,080 SQ KM 34,080 SQ KM : AREA  See urban See urban why football is a religion in the Ruhrgebiet when attending a a when attending in the Ruhrgebiet why football is a religion

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Feel your spirit soar soar your spirit Feel Find Have your mind blown by your mind blown by Have Go behind the scenes of Go behind the scenes of Experience a 21st-century Experience a 21st-century Avant-Garde Art Avant-Garde cutting-edge in an old gas storage exhibits ) p597 tower in Oberhausen ( planning in the making at Cologne’s Rheinauhafen ( p572 ) Mine Madness Mine Madness spin on the industrial age at the Zeche ) p591 coal mine in Essen ( Zollverein Schalke 04 match in Gelsenkirchen ( p599 ) or Borussia Dortmund game in Dortmund ( p596 ) ) p596 ) or Borussia Dortmund game in Dortmund ( p599 Schalke match in Gelsenkirchen 04 ( Miraculous Metamorphosis Regal Reception Reception Regal at courtlife on a tour of Schloss Augustus- ) in Brühl p579 ( burg Sucker for Soccer Heights Heavenly when faced with the majestic loftiness of ) p569 Cologne’s Dom (cathedral;

POPULATION: 18 MILLION 18 MILLION POPULATION:

      HIGHLIGHTS HIGHLIGHTS Must-sees include Cologne with its lofty Dom (cathedral), Bonn with its Beethoven legacy Beethoven include Cologne with its lofty Dom (cathedral), Bonn with its Must-sees The industrial age shaped North Rhine–Westphalia more than any other German region. industrial age shaped NorthThe than any other German region. Rhine–Westphalia more

 Soest are treasured for their churches and the Sauerland is the place to get your nature fix. to get your nature for their churches and the Sauerland is the place treasured Soest are Years’ War was signed, and elegant ones such as Düsseldorf, the state capital. Paderborn and as Düsseldorf, War was signed, and elegant ones such capital. Paderborn the state Years’ experiences. There are historical cities such as Münster, where the treaty that ended the Thirty that ended treaty the where historical cities such as Münster, are There experiences. perial capital of Aachen. The lively Ruhrgebiet and placid Lower Rhine are best for off-beat and placid Lower Rhine are Ruhrgebiet lively perial capital of Aachen. The and fabulous museums, the Unesco-listed baroque palaces in Brühl, and Charlemagne’s im- and fabulous museums, the Unesco-listed energies elsewhere. And so it did, banking instead on high-tech, media, retail and culture. media, retail so it did, banking And on high-tech, instead elsewhere. energies powerful to focus its But starting nations. the region in the mid-1960s, lower demand forced For a hundred years, coal and steel fuelled the growth of Germany into one of Europe’s most the growth of Germany into one of Europe’s fuelled years, coal and steel For a hundred muscular Rhine, fed by tributaries such as the Ruhr that gave an entire region its name. region an entire by tributaries such as the Ruhr that gave muscular Rhine, fed others fashioned completely from scratch in the wake of WWII. And through it all carvesothers fashioned completely the There are places whose looks have remained largely unchanged since the Middle Ages and the Middle unchanged since Ages largely remained places whose looks have are There Villages sweetly lost in time contrast with frenzied metropolises habitually on fast forward. metropolises habitually lost in time contrast with frenzied sweetly Villages flat, windswept expanses and forested hills high enough to hold onto snow during winter. high enough to hold onto snow during winter. hills and forested flat, windswept expanses Prussian provinces and a little fiefdom called Lippe-Detmold, and a little fiefdom called Prussian provinces within its boundaries it harbours phalia feels almost like a country unto itself. Cobbled together in 1946 by the Allies from two Cobbled together like almost a country unto itself. phalia feels With a population greater than that of Austria and Switzerland combined, North and Switzerland Rhine–West- than that of Austria greater With a population Westphalia North Rhine– A27 NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA srhre applies. surcharge fromtheticketif purchased a€2 office, Tickets are available atvending machines; anywhere withinNorthRhine–Westphalia. you twohours to make a also the €34 forgroupsof uptofive people. There’s ticket costs€25forsingletravellers and andtrams. The U-Bahn as wellbuses, trains RE,RBandS-Bahn You canonlyuse to3amthenextday onweekends).night from 9amto3amthefollowingday (mid- one dayof unlimited travel withinthestate public transport.The byting aroundNorthRhine–Westphalia There are dealsavailable forget- several Around Getting 558 Schloss Moyland NORTH RHINE–WESTPHALIA Monschau B ELGIUM Eifel NationalPark A50 Nijmegen Airport (25km) To MaastrichtAachen Mönchengladbach Venlo A44 Emmerich H HNLN • Dsedr THE RHINELAND••Düsseldorf Aachen Weeze Rurberg Airport Geldern A40 SchöneFahrtTicket Viersen Goch A4 Heimbach A57 B57 Schleiden Grevenbroich Krefeld N ETHRLADS A1 Xanten Ulft Jülich Vogelsang Kalkar A61 A52 Duisburg Gemünd Kalkar Wunderland Düren B258 A1 Rheinberg Neuss Kall NIEDERRHEIN A3 Zülpich RHINELAND Oberhausen Kerpen Bocholt Wesel Airport International Dusseldorf

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Ahaus one-way tripto Wuppertal A565 B9 A46 Essen Bonn Leverkusen , which gives Marl RUHRGEBIET Cologne A31 A1 Coesfeld A61 Troisdorf Neuwied Lüdinghausen Cologne Bonn Airport Königswinter Witten Nordhorn Bad Honnef Gelsenkirchen Bochum Schalksmühle Havixbeck Remscheid WESTPHALIA Siebengebirge B9 Nordkirchen Steinfurt Nienberge RHINELAND-PALATINATE Rheine buys Waldbröl Lünen Ascheberg A43 A4 A1 Nottuln Hagen Lingen Wiehl Dortmund A30 International Osnabrück Hörstel Koblenz Münster Biggesee Unna Airport Attendorn Dortmund Airport A3 Münster Finnentrop Altena Freudenberg Iserlohn Menden A45 they shed those they shed those Armani jackets. have noproblem lettingtheirhairdown once torealise thatlocals quarter alongtheRhine, (oldtown),thehistorical around theAltstadt Yet allittakes isafew hours of bar-hopping oneof wealthiestcities. Düsseldorf Germany’s tions are amongthefieldsthathave made ing, advertising, fashionand telecommunica- all buttoned-upbusinessatfirst glance: bank- cities. It’saposhandmoderncitythat seems nightlife andan art scenetorivalmanylarger boundary-pushing architecture, zinging dazzleswith thestate capital, Düsseldorf, % DÜSSELDORF TE RHINELAND THE Olpe Greven A1 Warendorf 0211 /pop585,000 Sorpesee Lotte B414 Hamm Werl Ahlen SAUERLAND Meschede Siegen SIEGERLAND Lennestadt Arnsberg Möhnesee Lippstadt Osnabrück Soest Gütersloh Erwitte Berleburg B55 (843m) Kahler Asten Bad Bielefeld Wiedenbrück Rheda- A1 Warstein A2 Wetzlar B62 Winterberg A33 30miles 50km 0 0 Geseke Paderborn Herford Marburg Brilon B65 Lübbecke Rahden Delbrück A45 Marsberg Löhne LOWER SAXONY Giessen Airport Lippstadt Paderborn/ Minden HESSE A30 Horn lonelyplanet.com A33 Warburg B3 Bückeburg Driburg Bad Brakel Beverungen Steinheim

B252 Rinteln Stadthagen A44 Hamelin

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