Six activities to welcome spring
Six activities to welcome spring
Air and light at last!
Have you also had the feeling that the sun has been particularly scarce over the past few months? It's all the more welcome now! If you've been longing for air, light and warmth, March is the time to recharge your batteries. The best place to do this? In the countryside, of course! And you'll find this surprisingly often in Düsseldorf, especially close to the city center. Thanks to the Rhine with its lush, extensive meadows, the North Rhine-Westphalian metropolis is blessed with plenty of inner-city nature. You will look in vain for this elsewhere. Here are a few tips for enjoying spring in the metropolis to the full.
The blue ribbon
When the crocuses venture out of the ground, the sparrows are whistling from the rooftops: Winter will be history in just a few days! The "Blue Ribbon" in Rheinpark Golzheim now consists of no less than eleven million crocuses, which, depending on the weather, create an impressive carpet of flowers between February and March. A blue miracle on a green meadow that dazzles tourists and locals alike. The crocuses were sponsored by Pro Düsseldorf, a non-profit organization for urban beautification, which had the first bulbs planted in 2008. The splendour starts near the Theodor Heuss Bridge, where the "Blue Ribbon", whose curved shape symbolizes the waves of the Rhine and its course, measures around 2.5 kilometers. 2500 meters, which can also be enjoyed and conquered on foot. Doing this circuit several times a week is not only worthwhile from a sporting point of view. It is simply too beautiful to watch how, after a tentative start, more and more flowers open up every day - until spring actually arrives.
Jogging in the Südpark
While most tourists are already familiar with the Rheinauen, there is a place in the south of Düsseldorf where locals in particular spend their leisure time. Together with the adjacent Südpark, the old Volksgarten forms Düsseldorf's largest green lung and is an Eldorado for joggers. So why not do as the locals do and run towards spring here? This way you can prepare for the light clothing season - and feel like a real Düsseldorf resident. To help you find your way around the expansive greenery, here's a tip for a seven-kilometre route that offers maximum variety. You start at the Zeitfeld, the work of art with 24 station clocks by Klaus Rinke opposite the Volksgarten S-Bahn station. From here, you run past the boathouse through the old part of the park, which welcomes you with large maple and beech trees. The wide path, which is also well-lit in the evening, winds its way south and leads you to a small farm with an organic food store and cake café and on to a large lake planted with cherry trees on its eastern shore. At the Deichgraf restaurant, keep right and take the path through the former Buga grounds, where there is almost always something in bloom. Return past the Akki cultural center and along the railroad line to the starting point.
Cycle tour to Benrath Palace
If you don't want to walk, you can also cycle. Most of Düsseldorf's urban area is flat and there are wonderful cycle paths along the banks of the Rhine in particular. And why not combine a springtime ride with a top-class cultural experience? Our suggestion: cycle to Benrath Palace, the baroque summer residence! It is an architectural highlight, lies in the middle of a beautiful park and is also home to a museum of garden art. The starting point for this tour is the south of Düsseldorf, the aforementioned Zeitfeld at the Volksgarten. The great thing about this route is that it is very varied, connecting some of Düsseldorf's more rural districts with one of the city's landmarks, Benrath Palace. However, a bit of fitness is required to complete the approximately 25 kilometers. So plan enough time. First, cross the Volksgarten park lengthwise, a bridge at its southern end leads over the A46. Then follow the signs towards Himmelgeist, pass the Botanical Gardens and cycle along the embankment of a canal for a while before turning off towards Himmelgeist. You now cycle through Himmelgeist on roads with little traffic. At Mickeln Castle, turn left onto Am Steinebrück and continue onto Am Trippelsberg, past idyllic paddocks and a small chapel. From here, follow the signs towards Benrath. It becomes urban for a few minutes at the four-lane Bonner Straße, but a dead straight cycle path runs parallel to it. As soon as the Rhine comes into view, turn right and follow the course of the river until the Schlosspark comes into view on the left. Now immerse yourself in it and cycle along the symmetrical paths straight to the castle. A picnic in the park? A cake in the castle café? A visit to the kitchen garden or the garden museum? Or would you prefer to swap your pedals for felt slippers and indulge in a little confectionery romance on a guided tour of the castle before returning to the city center? It's up to you! You know the route back.
Museum Insel Hombroich
If, despite all these options close to the city, you still feel like exploring the area around Düsseldorf, we have a special tip for you. 25 minutes by car from Düsseldorf city center, in Neuss-Holzheim, the Museum Insel Hombroich awaits you. The name is a little misleading at first, as the museum consists of not one, but ten buildings, which the artist Erwin Heerich designed especially for the presentation of Karl-Heinrich Müller's collection. And the site is only an island in the figurative sense. The private museum is located on the site of the historic island of Hombroich, a park from the early 19th century, long abandoned at the time of its acquisition, which lies between arms of the River Erft. Showing art - loosely based on Paul Cézanne - "parallel to nature" was the plan of founder Karl-Heinrich Müller, who bought the 21-hectare nature reserve in 1982 and founded the daylight museum in 1987 with walk-in pavilions and sculptures, some of which are used as exhibition buildings. Here you can stroll along winding paths through nature, carefully designed by landscape architect Bernhard Korte, and discover something new time and again. If you get hungry or thirsty, you can fortify yourself at a free rustic buffet waiting for you in one of the larger buildings. But that's not the whole secret of this wonderful place: Just a stone's throw away, the Langen Foundation has found a home on the grounds of the Hombroich rocket station , or to be more precise: in an exhibition building designed by Japanese star architect Tadao Andō. Where does the name of the location come from? There used to be a NATO missile site here, which was closed in 1990. Here too, Karl-Heinrich Müller was the mastermind behind the project, and the Langen Foundation was founded by art patron Marianne Langen. The exhibition has been running since 2004 on a total area of 1,300 square meters. Concrete, glass and steel, as well as air, light and water (in the form of a reflecting pond) characterize the location, which impresses with its clear structures and spectacular lines of sight. Also worth a visit are the exhibition hall by Thomas Schütte next door and the teahouse by Japanese architect Terunobu Fujimori. So make sure you bring plenty of time with you.
Imperial Palace in Kaiserswerth
Do you like it idyllic? Kaiserswerth is a Düsseldorf district with pretty, cobbled streets lined with baroque buildings. The most famous sight is the ruins of the Kaiserpfalz, a 12th-century castle complex that offers panoramic views of the Rhine and the surrounding countryside. As the route from Düsseldorf city center to Kaiserswerth is extremely scenic, it is also ideal for a day trip by bike. The starting point is the Varieté Apollo at the Rheinkniebrücke bridge. The advantage of this tour is that it runs all the way along the Rhine, so you practically can't get lost. On the riverside promenade designed by Niklaus Fritschi and Benedikt Stahl, the route heads steadily north on the right bank of the Rhine. You pass the old town, Burgplatz with the castle tower, the only remnant of Düsseldorf's city palace, and then follow Vater Rhein upstream. The Rhine meadows begin behind the Rhine terraces. Here, a shady, gravel path leads you to the Theodor Heuss Bridge, under which you will once again have asphalt under your wheels and share the path with inline skaters and joggers. After the trade fair, which you leave on your right, you reach the embankment, where a paved, car-free path leads into the countryside. Although it feels like you are always cycling straight ahead, you are following the large curves of the river - this is easy to see from the position of the sun or the position of the Rhine Tower behind you, which sometimes seems to be to the left and sometimes to the right of the river. Up here in the north of the city, there are Rhine meadows as far as the eye can see, interrupted only by the striking pylons and tensioning cables of the airport bridge. After crossing under the bridge, your destination is already in sight: Kaiserswerth and the Imperial Palace. Explore and climb its ruins to your heart's content - and if you're thirsty, you should make a pit stop in the beer garden of the neighboring "Burghof". From here you can also see the small ferry, which you can board if you fancy a change and want to cycle back along the left bank of the Rhine. Even then, the river is always in sight on the way back. After around 50 minutes, you will reach the Rheinkniebrücke bridge and, after crossing it, you can enjoy a springtime sundowner at the KIT Café next to the Apollo.
Boat trip on the Rhine
No sports? If you're like Winston Churchill and would rather burn calories than eat them, this tip might be to your taste: on the excursion boats that sail on the Rhine, you can feast to your heart's content on Sundays from April to October with a view of the beautiful Düsseldorf city panorama. This means: you are welcomed on board with sparkling wine and orange juice and then feast on the hot and cold dishes from the buffet while the old town, the Rhine meadows and Oberkassel slowly pass you by. The starting point is the boat landing stage at Burgplatz on Easter Sunday and on the first and third Sundays from May to October. You should be there at 9.30 a.m., as you set off at 10 a.m. The breakfast boat cruises along the Rhine until 1 p.m., after which you will be released full and happy at the same place and can take a short digestive stroll along the Rhine promenade. Real gourmets choose the first Sunday of the month for their culinary river cruise. That's when the legendary Düsseldorf fish market takes place downstream, a stone's throw from the landing stage. Around 80 traders are just waiting to spoil you on the gourmet mile. In addition to fish and seafood, you will find all kinds of selected delicacies here. Those who are already full can enjoy the stalls with flowers and handicrafts.
This article is funded by REACT-EU.
