Six walks that will bring you closer to spring

Get out into the air

Finally done. The days are getting longer, the trees and meadows are green again. Is there nothing keeping you indoors now? And would you like to combine a brisk walk with a beautiful experience of nature and a visit to Düsseldorf's sights? Then we have something for you. On the following six routes, you can head towards the approaching spring. Whether alone, as a couple, with family, friends or colleagues, you will experience the most diverse facets of the Rhine metropolis. It has been proven that walking tours are not only ideal for contemplation or in-depth conversations, but also open up completely new perspectives.  

For botanists: The Südpark  

Is the annual spring awakening still a great miracle for you? Because you enjoy every new blossom, every fresh green? Then you should head for the Südpark these days. With a total area of 70 hectares, it is the largest park in Düsseldorf and is criss-crossed with countless winding paths. We wouldn't recommend a single route, but you should go exploring for yourself, following the example of the butterflies and drifting from one flowering bush to the next. A good starting point for this walk is the Zeitfeld, an installation of towering station clocks by artist Klaus Rinke, directly opposite the Volksgarten S-Bahn station. From there, the route heads directly south, first through the so-called Volksgarten, the oldest part of the park, which was laid out in 1895/96. Some of the giant trees that stand here by romantic ponds with beautifully curved shorelines probably have a lot to tell. Adjacent to the Volksgarten is the former Buga site, which was created for the Federal Garden Show in 1987 and surprises visitors with its incredible variety of plants. In the "Vor dem Deich" and "In den Gärten" areas, water basins overgrown with water lilies and pretty benches invite you to take a break. If you are a good walker and have more than an hour to spare, you should also visit the Botanical Gardens, with its futuristic-looking greenhouse in the far south of the grounds, close to the university.  

For urban explorers: The Millionaires' Mound at the North Cemetery   

The last shirt has no pockets. And yet wealth during one's lifetime can sometimes make all the difference after death. That is, if you have found your final resting place on a slight rise in Düsseldorf's North Cemetery. The place is popularly known as the "Millionaires' Hill". This is because it is mainly industrialists and bankers who are buried on the burial plots on this hill. So if you are interested in Düsseldorf's city history, a tour of the 70-hectare North Cemetery, which was established in 1884, is definitely worthwhile. Especially as it doesn't look morbid when spring awakens, but has become a popular oasis of peace among the living thanks to the park-like character created by Eduard Hoppe. Whether you enter the cemetery park from Ulmenstraße or from Danziger Straße, you should not miss fields 61 and 64. The path between these graves is like a walk through German industrial history. Düsseldorf was known as the "desk of the Ruhr" and many of the names that can be found on Millionaire's Hill are inscribed in the city's historical memory. The most important grave, not least because of its imposing layout, is probably that of the Henkel family on field 75, where company founder Fritz Henkel also found his final resting place. Other illustrious names: Franz Haniel, who played an important role in the steel industry, August Bagel, founder of a printing and publishing house, the banker Gottfried Trinkaus and Veba boss Rudolf-Christian von Bennigsen-Foerder. The name Detlev Rohwedder recalls a dark chapter in history. The head of the Treuhandanstalt was murdered by RAF terrorists in Düsseldorf in 1991.  

For water sports fans: Little Hawaii  

The Rhine, the great waterway that cuts through Düsseldorf, offers countless opportunities for walks. The left bank of the Rhine in particular, with its extensive meadows, old poplars, grazing flocks of sheep and beautiful sandy beaches, is ideal for an extended tour. Depending on your fitness level and time available, you can walk for miles upstream or downstream. However, the section of the route that belongs to the district of Lörick is particularly pretty. It starts at the Theodor Heuss Bridge. From here, the route heads north towards the Lörick outdoor pool, either directly along the water or on the dyke. The idyllic Rhine beaches, shaded by willows and located in the immediate vicinity of the "Löricker", are popularly known as "Little Hawaii". You can spread out your picnic blanket and watch the hustle and bustle on the river in several fine sandy bays that line up like pearls on a string. Barges lying deep in the water, sailing their cargo towards Rotterdam, small sports boats, rowers and wild jet skis share the wide river. When it's time to head back, take a short detour to the marina and stop for a sundowner at Rheinclub 297 before heading back south above the Lörick outdoor pool.   

For friends of flora and fauna: the Rotthäuser Bachtal valley  

The special features of this valley, which is located around 20 minutes' drive west of the city center on the Bergische Landstrasse, are its wetlands, springs, numerous fish ponds and extensiven Reedbeds. Plants such as giant horsetail and watercress are at home here. On a stroll along the stream and through the alder, ash, beech and softwood floodplain forests, you may encounter the reed warbler, reed bunting and kingfisher. The blue-green mosaic dragonfly, one of the dragonflies, will also be happy to accompany you part of the way through its habitat. A possible starting point is the Gut Moschenhof riding stables. Head towards the Gerresheim cemetery and then turn left across a meadow and down a hollow path into the stream valley. Once you reach the marshy ponds in the hollow, you have a choice. There are several options for walking through the woods on the other side of the valley. The landmark here is the Papendelle estate with its large goose pond, from where you can walk past cow pastures back towards the cemetery. The last section of the path leads steeply up into the forest. Once you reach the cemetery, you can already see the paved road that takes you back to the starting point of the hike, the Moschenhof estate. These almost seven kilometers have not yet satisfied your wanderlust? No problem! The designated nature reserve of the Rotthäuser Bachtal is extensive.  

For architecture fans: the Medienhafen  

Architecture is written with a capital A in Düsseldorf. Some big names have already created a monument in the Rhine metropolis. In addition to the Kö-Bogen I (Daniel Libeskind) and II (Christoph Ingenhoven), located at the northern end of the boulevard and on the neighboring Gustaf-Gründgens-Platz, you can take a look at even more architectural superlatives, especially in the Medienhafen. Why not combine marveling at the creativity of the great master builders with a pleasant afternoon stroll through the former industrial area? The tour starts at the "Speditionsstraße" streetcar stop, directly in front of the headquarters of Trivago - one of the world's largest hotel search engines, which had a white building with a curved glass and concrete façade designed here by the SOP architectural group. It offers space for a good 2000 employees. There is a running track on the planted roof, and there are restaurants and a moat in the courtyard. Directly opposite is the "Float", the new administrative building designed by star architect Renzo Piano. The buildings, which are connected to each other by a transition, look like randomly broken up ice floes and their axes correspond to the streets that surround the spacious grounds. At the same time, the free-standing first floor makes the building appear to float above everything. The massive Hyatt Regency design hotel rises up at the end of Speditionsstraße. It was designed by the architects SOP/JSK. The architectural ensemble also includes the pedestrian bridge, which now leads you to the next landmark: the triad "Neuer Zollhof 1-3" by architect Frank O. Gehry. There is no straight line here. 1531 window boxes protrude from the three buildings with their different façades. Neuer Zollhof 1 is made of brick. House number 3 is plastered white, while the lower Zollhof 2 has a stainless steel façade. The sister buildings to the right and left are reflected in it. Masterful! The icing on the cake is the Rhine Tower at the tip of the harbour, which is the tallest building in Düsseldorf at 240 meters. Fancy a break? At the top of the tower is the Japanese restaurant Qomo, which rotates on its own axis in 72 minutes. And from the viewing platform below, you can get a bird's eye view of your tour. 

For romantics: The Benrath Palace Park  

It is pure splendor. The baroque, pink Benrath confectioner's palace alone, which the people of Düsseldorf affectionately call their little Versailles, is a feast for the eyes. And the palace park is in no way inferior to the building. There is no better place for a romantic stroll for two than the listed park in the south of Düsseldorf. It was designed by palace architect Nicolas de Pigage, who carved a geometric system of paths and squares into the dense forest of the former zoo between 1755 and 1770: a masterpiece of horticulture! On the one hand, there are the private gardens of the owner Karl Theodor and his wife Elisabeth Auguste, an English-style strolling garden on the western side of the palace and a Baroque garden on the eastern side, as if drawn with a compass and ruler. You should definitely pay a visit to the large kitchen garden and the orangery, which houses the Museum of European Garden Art. In total, the green lung covers more than 61 hectares, of which around 45 hectares are designated as a nature reserve. And rightly so: the park is home to more than 80 bird species and over 300 beetle species. So you stroll around the estate like the nobility, stop off at this or that secluded bench and try to spot and name the birds chirping in the treetops above you. Finish off with a slice of cake in the castle café - there really is no more fitting way to welcome spring.