"Welcome to the former Capital city Bonn" Top 5 Page for this destination Bonn by jo104

Bonn Travel Guide: 309 reviews and 849 photos

Gateway to the wine treasures of the Ahr Valley

The answer to the question posted by Rhineroll on the meeting page was "Do you like romantic river valleys, shrouded in mist, teeming with colours of the autumn? Do you prefer dry fruity wine to a sweet one?" was a resounding yes - Of course on the wine front I like most wines except very sweet so I ticked all the boxes and booked a flight. Word spread rather quickly and Acirfa (Donna) & Barkerclive (Clive) decided to join me as part of the England clan.

We arrived in Bonn and caught the bus into the city, all excited about our wine exploration of the Ahr valley much to the dissaproval of the little old lady sitting opposite Clive (the youth of today!)

VT'er Dewisri (Basti) was kind enough to meet us at the bus stop and walk us to our hotel. We unfortunately felt we needed to make a quick exit out of reception as I was starting to feel nauseous from the smell of a resident's cigar smoke. I must say that there seemed no clear cut rules regarding smoking and it made me feel that South Africa & England are making far better headway - thats my anti-smoking grumble!!

Friday night Dinner

Win met up with us at the hotel and we went for a pre-dinner stroll past the Rheinische Friederich-Wilhelm University and along the banks of the Rhine. Dinner was at Rietbrocks, a charming wine house, and the staff were very attentive - Oh and we were fairly loud. Win ordered the three different types of Rieslings including "Robert Weil" the wine our English Queen drinks.

With all our various nationalities there were chants of Prost, Gesondheid, Bottoms Up, Cheers. According to Mickybleck (Daniella) its essential you look at the person directly in the eyes when you chink glasses & drink - good fortune indeed shall be yours.

After dinner we headed to a local pub and some of the troops were a little worse for wear. Friday night our posse was made up of Rhineroll (Win), Acirfa (Donna), Barkerclive (Clive), Dewisri (Basti) & her sister Sarah, Mickybleck (Daniella), Reza and his cousin (whom he tricked into coming).

Before and after the wineroll

On saturday morning the English clan were up earlyish ready for a brisk walk before meeting the others. Donna took a shine to the horse we had spotted last night & plenty of photo opportunities at Beethoven's statue (Bonn incedently is his birth place 1770).

We met up at the train station with Sabsi (Sabine), Seppoman (Thomas), Horscheck (Holger), Yumyum (Sonja), Tinytuck (Stef), Sjalen (Charlotta), Kitkan (Keith) and who can forget our super trooper Alice. As our train chugged into the station it was with great delight that we all piled in ready for our adventure in the Ahr Valley. (please visit to find out more)

I think we were all rather worn out after the excellent full day Win organised that dinner was a rather quieter affair. The clocks go back so effectively it meant an extra hour sleep but some of us got no sleep (effects of the alcohol perhaps??)

As we had a tight schedule on sunday we decided to skip brunch and head accross the river for a photo shoot. Sadly when you wait for a barge it never comes turn your back and they all come at once - this is a valuable lesson for the photographer :-)

Anyway best leave the Bonn page for now so I can concentrate on the fun and games we had in the Ahr valley.

Pros and Cons

Pros:walkable city, river walks
Cons:smoking policies

Last visit to Bonn: Oct 2006
Intro Updated Nov 2, 2006
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Written Feb 16, 2007

8 photos

Friday night wine start

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Comments (17)

Jim_Eliason Jan 7, 2009 at 5:51 AM Report Abuse

nice tips!
BillNJ Jun 12, 2008 at 5:14 PM Report Abuse

Looks like the wine roll was a lot of fun! On my last trip, I met Win (Rhineroll) and other VTers in Cologne. VT meetings in Germany are great! Cheers from NJ, Bill
raytor Nov 10, 2007 at 12:48 PM Report Abuse

There are no cheeks sweeter than yours. :-)
nomorewars Nov 2, 2007 at 10:53 AM Report Abuse

Although I utterly enjoyed myself, I can’t help but to feel rather regretful over wasting my time in Bonn in a drunken stupor. Thanks 4 dropping by my Pearland page. Tell your mate that there are more Texas pages to come.
angiebabe Oct 25, 2007 at 6:11 AM Report Abuse

Hi Jo, you guys look like you had a great VT meet. Good on you and thanks for the tour.
Acirfa May 30, 2007 at 3:24 AM Report Abuse

Where did you go, I missed you keeping me company on the side there. Am still uploading pics for Cambridge, long slow process.
ettenaj Apr 4, 2007 at 7:44 AM Report Abuse

Great page I just love Germany
Muarrij Mar 22, 2007 at 10:52 AM Report Abuse

Your interesting Bonn pages brought memories back of my visit a few years back. Great!
scottishvisitor Mar 1, 2007 at 12:53 PM Report Abuse

Looks like Bonn is an interesting place to visit & the wine a must to sample
Nathalie_B Mar 1, 2007 at 10:29 AM Report Abuse

I see you got yourself the best guide in Bonn. I traveled with Win many times, but never made it to his hometown :( Now, go get that Koln schnitzel! :)