Delightful DÜsseldorf
Düsseldorf is a city you don’t hear much about, but really should. I was lucky enough to be invited by the Dalata Hotel Group to spend a couple of days there and discover just what this city in the industrial heartland of Germany has to offer.
I flew from London Heathrow to Düsseldorf Airport, around an hour’s flying time away. With direct flights coming in from New York, Chicago, Toronto and Miami, plus more than 60 European destinations, and The Netherlands and Belgium within 2 hours by train, it’s surprisingly well connected. This makes it an excellent location for meetings, incentive travel, conferences and events. The airport even has its own train station, Düsseldorf Flughafen.
I travelled into the city by taxi, however, along with my fellow event professionals, a trip that took about 20 minutes. We were staying at the Clayton Hotel Düsseldorf, a bright, modern and well-equipped hotel with 393 rooms and suites.
Düsseldorf is home to Europe’s third largest Japanese community and the hotel is located in the Little Tokyo District of the city, providing a fascinating fusion of Japanese and German cultures. Here is a buzzing commercial hub packed with shops selling colourful kimonos and waving cats, sushi and karaoke bars, Japanese restaurants and Asian supermarkets.
Just a few steps from the hotel lies the Königsallee, one of Germany’s most famous and expensive shopping streets, with luxury goods stores like Gucci and Chanel drawing shoppers from around the world. The kilometre-long boulevard is divided by a canal and lined with chestnut trees. The Kö-Bogen shopping mall, designed by Daniel Liebeskind and Rhine promenade are also nearby. For business travellers, the financial district and main train station are also just a few minutes away.
We were treated to a 9-course Japanese tasting menu at the hotel’s The Teppanyaki Restaurant. Watching the teppan masters show off their skills preparing everything from lobster tail and scallops to the famous Japanese Wagyu beef on the special iron plate grills was quite something!
A trip to Düsseldorf is not complete without a tour of the town’s microbreweries and we did this with Altbier Safari around the Altstadt or old town. With its 300-plus pubs, breweries, restaurants and clubs so close together, the locals like to call this “the longest bar in the world!”
We were treated to a 9-course Japanese tasting menu at the hotel’s The Teppanyaki Restaurant. Watching the teppan masters show off their skills preparing everything from lobster tail and scallops to the famous Japanese Wagyu beef on the special iron plate grills was quite something!
A trip to Düsseldorf is not complete without a tour of the town’s microbreweries and we did this with Altbier Safari around the Altstadt or old town. With its 300-plus pubs, breweries, restaurants and clubs so close together, the locals like to call this “the longest bar in the world!”
“Just a few steps from the hotel lies the Königsallee, one of Germany’s most famous and expensive shopping streets”
Native to the region, Altbier is a smooth malty brown ale served in short 6oz glasses and as part of the tour we visited five microbreweries and learned the art of brewing a Düsseldorfer Altbier. Clearly not having had enough to drink, we finished the evening with a nightcap back at the hotel, where I got to sample a new cocktail, the White Lily.
Walking the streets of a city really is the best way to see and understand it, and that’s exactly what I did next morning. My stroll took me past some fabulous architecture, including the three Gehry Buildings of Düsseldorf harbour which adorn the banks of the Rhine River. Built by US architect, Frank Gehry, the three twisted constructions with their mirrored walls and matte white finishes spiral and stretch into the sky in his iconic style.
Walking through the Bürgerpark, we headed to the Rheinturm, a 240.5 metre round television tower located in the Medienhafen, directly on the river and which dominates Düsseldorf’s skyline. The M168 viewing platform, so named because it rises 168 metres above the city provides breathtaking views over the city and the Rhine and has a cocktail bar.
Walking the streets of a city really is the best way to see and understand it, and that’s exactly what I did next morning. My stroll took me past some fabulous architecture, including the three Gehry Buildings of Düsseldorf harbour which adorn the banks of the Rhine River. Built by US architect, Frank Gehry, the three twisted constructions with their mirrored walls and matte white finishes spiral and stretch into the sky in his iconic style.
Walking through the Bürgerpark, we headed to the Rheinturm, a 240.5 metre round television tower located in the Medienhafen, directly on the river and which dominates Düsseldorf’s skyline. The M168 viewing platform, so named because it rises 168 metres above the city provides breathtaking views over the city and the Rhine and has a cocktail bar.
“Clearly not having had enough to drink, we finished the evening with a nightcap back at the hotel”
We finished off the day with an exceptional three-course meal back at the hotel’s restaurant, followed by a music quiz.
I was impressed with all that Düsseldorf had to offer. A relatively small city of just over 600,000 inhabitants and with more than 57% of its area green space, it was incredibly easy and pleasant to get around on foot and there was plenty to discover from culture, architecture and shopping to beer, of course.
A big thank you to Richard Coupland, Franco Ferrara and James, Andrawos, Garret Marrinan, Katherin Planstedt and Mieke Clemens-Grub for your kind invitation and superb hospitality.
If you’d like to know more about Düsseldorf, please do get in touch.
I was impressed with all that Düsseldorf had to offer. A relatively small city of just over 600,000 inhabitants and with more than 57% of its area green space, it was incredibly easy and pleasant to get around on foot and there was plenty to discover from culture, architecture and shopping to beer, of course.
A big thank you to Richard Coupland, Franco Ferrara and James, Andrawos, Garret Marrinan, Katherin Planstedt and Mieke Clemens-Grub for your kind invitation and superb hospitality.
If you’d like to know more about Düsseldorf, please do get in touch.