Six beautiful outdoor pools in Düsseldorf

We only say one thing: get in the pool! 

In the summer months, you often need very little for the greatest pleasure: a swimming costume or bikini, towels, a few euros for chips and a cold drink and you're off to the outdoor pool of your choice - which can also serve as a second living room from May to September. Whether you want to swim your first laps at six o'clock in the morning to get through an eight-hour working day at your desk, enjoy the hustle and bustle between the five-metre tower and plunge pool in the afternoon or the evening hours are just right for you because it's more peaceful: everyone will find the perfect outdoor pool in Düsseldorf. Here are our six suggestions - for which it's best to book your tickets in advance to avoid queues. 

Rheinbad in Stockum 

The much-vaunted bikini figure? Certainly not a reason to do sport. It's much more about keeping body and mind healthy through regular exercise - and where better to do this than in the shadow of the Düsseldorf Arena? It's not just that the fitness of the Fortuna players who play there provides an incentive. The opportunity to let off steam on 2,000 square meters of water should also be reason enough to enjoy the outdoor pool season at the Rheinbad (Europaplatz 1) to the full. From Mondays to Fridays as well as Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, all the highlights are available to you between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m.: swim against your inner bastard on the 50-meter lane (of which there are six alone!) and then feel as young as if the summer vacations were six weeks long again in the diving pool with one, three and even five-meter towers. In the pool right next door, you can whizz down the wide slide. After all that adrenaline, you can relax under the water mushroom. By the way: if, for whatever reason, you don't feel like getting into the water, why not cheer on a friend? Perhaps the grandstand will even awaken in you the desire to become a coach or, even better, a participant at the Olympics.

Lido in Lörick 

Choosing a favorite among Düsseldorf's outdoor pools would be similar to the challenge of choosing your favorite child among several sons and daughters. Absolutely impossible, of course! Nevertheless, Strandbad Lörick (Niederkasseler Deich 258, Mondays to Fridays, 6 am to 8 pm; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 9 am to 8 pm) always occupies one of the top spots when it comes to the overall "perfect time in an outdoor pool" package. On an incredible 100,000 square meters, the equivalent of almost 15 soccer pitches, you can sunbathe (well creamed up, of course) until dusk, and as often as the high summer temperatures allow. Even when it's barely over 20 degrees, fans flock here - and not just because of the size of the pool. The keyword that explains another plus point: location, location, location! Barely 100 meters from the Rhine, surrounded by lush meadows, you can swim with your loved ones in eight lanes in the 50-meter-long pool. Or you can splash around with the kids in the children's area, where the sun sails and water fountains will delight the whole family. If the sandwiches you have just eaten temporarily prevent you from jumping into the water again, let your bikini and swimming trunks dry while you compete in beach volleyball or table tennis. Then cycle back home along the Rhine. Jackpot, right?

All-weather pool in Flingern 

If the asphalt is burning under your soles and you're already experiencing mirages of outdoor pools in the middle of the city due to the heat, you may have already arrived in Flingern! Because right here, specifically in the Allwetterbad (Flinger Broich 91 a, Monday to Friday, 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.), swimming wishes come true. The revolving doors, the gates to swimming bliss, open up a multitude of possibilities: Swim one 50-metre lane after the other at a minimum of 22 degrees Celsius or take all the courage you can muster to conquer Düsseldorf's only ten-metre tower from a dizzying height - and enjoy the panorama over a seemingly endless horizon. Of course, there are professionals who master the jump as if it were a walk in the park! The scaredy-cats among us prefer a slightly shorter free fall of exactly one meter, which is made possible by the short slide. Speaking of scaredy-cats: don't worry, the water snake in the children's area is definitely not Loch Nessi. Or is it?

Outdoor pool in Kaiserswerth 

Want to really switch off without the constant blaring of cell phones and city horns? Then head to Kaiserswerth! As if the district in the north of Düsseldorf wasn't already bursting with idyllic charm, the outdoor pool in the middle of a residential area (Kreuzbergstr. 33, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, 7 am to 8 pm, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, 8.30 am to 8 pm) also has an incomparable charm. Run by the members of the "Flossen weg" association, this small open-air oasis is the "grande dame" of swimming pools that has nothing to prove to anyone. Super-long pool? No way! Elaborate counter-current systems or other bells and whistles? Not necessary! Instead, women, men and children can relax and unwind here in water temperatures of 26 degrees - especially as an hour feels like a minute in the shade of the trees that have been growing there for ages. It's a shame that summer can't last here! Volleyball and table tennis as well as a "four wins" (and a pirate ship climbing frame for the youngest) provide a short change of pace if your hands are already wrinkly from hours of swimming.  

Swimming in the Unterbacher See 

The scent of suntan lotion in your nose, the taste of strawberry ice cream on your tongue and sand between your toes? Sounds good? Then off to the Unterbacher See! Two natural lidos await you - one in the north (Großer Torfbruch 18, daily 10 am to 7.30 pm) and one in the south (Am Kleinforst 300, same opening hours), so that you only have one goal when it's 30 degrees in the shade: get in the water! You can spend days, if not weeks on site, with the only distance you need to cover being between the lake and your towel - or to say hello to your neighbors who happen to be three rows away. And if you fancy a bit of exercise in between: Sailing, stand-up paddling and boat trips are also very popular with guests. Happy ending at the end: the fries, which have perhaps never been more golden. 

New outdoor pool in Benrath 

After four years of renovation, swimming fun is finally back in Benrath this summer. The Benrath outdoor pool (Regerstraße 9, 40593 Düsseldorf, Monday to Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.) has become a top-class "temple of sport" in recent years. The multi-generational health pool leaves absolutely nothing to be desired with its 25-metre pool including diving board, teaching pool and training pool with lifting floor (i.e. height-adjustable), a vitality warm water pool with massage jets, outdoor brine pool, whirlpool and toddler pool! The beach volleyball court and the large sunbathing lawn with mature trees also ensure the perfect vacation feeling. So nothing stands in the way of your relaxing outdoor pool summer in Düsseldorf!

Cover picture: Bädergesellschaft Düsseldorf mbH