Düsseldorf: Old Town Beer Halls, Rhine Promenade and Japan Days
Düsseldorf gets overshadowed by Cologne and Berlin, but it has its own dry wit: a compact Altstadt crammed with breweries pouring dark Altbier, a riverside promenade built over a buried motorway, and one of Europe's largest Japanese communities tucked around Immermannstraße. It's a fashion and advertising town too, so the Königsallee canal is lined with designer boutiques rather than souvenir shops.
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✈ Plan Your Trip →Sights
Altstadt (Old Town)
Dubbed the 'longest bar in the world' for its density of breweries; narrow lanes around Bolkerstraße mix Gothic churches with beer halls.
Rheinuferpromenade
A pedestrian riverside strip that replaced an elevated highway in the 1990s, now the spot for evening strolls with views of the Rhine barges.
Königsallee (the Kö)
A grand boulevard split by a tree-lined canal, with 19th-century mansions on one side and glass-fronted luxury stores on the other.
Rheinturm
A 240-metre TV tower with a rotating restaurant and observation deck; its digital clock displays time using light bands instead of numbers.
Museum Kunstpalast
A major fine-arts museum covering Rubens to Gerhard Richter, housed in the Ehrenhof complex near the river.
EKO House of Japanese Culture
A Buddhist temple and Japanese garden in the Niederkassel district, reflecting Düsseldorf's status as a hub for Japanese businesses in Germany.
Schloss Benrath
A pale-pink 18th-century pleasure palace at the edge of the city, built for the Elector Palatine with formal French gardens and canals.
A Sample Day
Food & Drink
Düsseldorf's food identity is built on stubborn local beer culture and a genuine Japanese food scene rare outside Japan itself.
Late spring (May-June) and early autumn (September) bring mild weather for riverside walks and outdoor beer garden seating without summer crowds; Christmas markets in the Altstadt make December a strong alternative.
The city centre is compact and very walkable, with the U-Bahn and tram network (Rheinbahn) covering outlying districts like Benrath or the trade-fair grounds; a bike path runs the length of the Rhine promenade.
Order Altbier by simply emptying your glass — a passing waiter (Köbes) will keep refilling it automatically until you place a beer mat on top to signal you're done.
FAQ
Is Düsseldorf worth visiting if I'm already going to Cologne?+
Yes — the two cities are only about 25 minutes apart by train, and Düsseldorf's Altstadt, riverside promenade and Japanese food scene feel distinctly different from Cologne's cathedral-and-old-town character.
Why does Düsseldorf have such a large Japanese community?+
Japanese trading and manufacturing firms set up European headquarters here from the 1950s onward, building a lasting community centered on Immermannstraße and the EKO House temple.
How is Altbier different from other German beers?+
It's a top-fermented ('ale-style') beer that's then cold-conditioned, giving it a darker colour and slightly fruitier, more bitter profile than the lagers common elsewhere in Germany.
Handy for your trip
Ready to explore Düsseldorf?
Build your own itinerary around the Altstadt breweries, the Rhine promenade and a detour into Little Tokyo.
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