"Düsseldorf in the Snow" a Düsseldorf Travel Page by antistar

I arrived in Düsseldorf at 6.20am and immediately became confused by the map in the station, trying to leave by the main exit by walking out the back. This was my first experience with the haphazardly organised maps of Dusseldorf, more fun was to be had later. Because my hotel had been fully booked the night before my room wasn't ready until 1pm, and I was left to walk around a freezing Düsseldorf, in the dark, having had no sleep on the night train from Stralsund, and with everything closed. To make matters worse a blizzard blew in from the east as day broke, and the first heavy snow of the year fell on the city, and me. I had even managed to lock my camera up in the station, so I couldn't take any pictures. My first impressions of the city were not good, and I was just about ready to cancel all my holiday plans and go home.

Thankfully things got better. The snow made the city beautiful, and I soon forgot my tiredness wandering around snapping photos with my rescued camera. After a few hours sleep and meeting with my friend for drinks in the town I was starting to warm to the city. The next day, when the weather moved on to leave me with a snow covered city under a perfect azure blue winter sky, I was starting to fall in love. Düsselfdorf isn't Germany's greatest city's, and I was constantly comparing it (usually in a negative way) to Stuttgart, but it did have a lot of charm, and I particularly loved the modern architecture of the city, and the relaxed affluence of the people. My special favourite place in the whole town was the Media Harbour, a collection of fine architecture on a bend in the river Rhein so wide it could be a sea channel or lake.

Düsseldorf itself is a modern city of about 600,000 people that competes for your attention with nearby cities in the Ruhrgebiet and Rhein area, like Cologne and Bonn. It is often overlooked by tourists, and sometimes dismissed even by Germans, but with a bit of work on its image it could be a fine city. It hasn't got a cathedral like Cologne, palaces like Munich, or a history like Berlin, but the people have given it enough character, wonderful buildings and art to make it a worthy destination on anyone's tour of German cities. If only they could organise the transport system more efficiently, like Stuttgart, develop the Media Harbour into the special place it deserves to be, and improve the city's tourist image, then people would likely come here in their droves.

Hmmm...maybe the city is better as it is...