Planning a Trip

40km (25 miles) N of Cologne (Köln), 230km (143 miles) NW of Frankfurt

Düsseldorf is a wealthy city -- the richest in Germany. It's big and commercial, full of banks and industrial offices and skyscrapers, but it's also refreshingly clean. Düsseldorf got its start as a settlement on the right bank of the Rhine, but today it's spread out on both sides -- the older part on the right, and the modern, commercial, and industrial part on the left. Five bridges connect the two sections, the most impressive being the Oberkassel. Parks and esplanades line the riverbanks. After 85% of the right bank was destroyed in World War II, Düsseldorf followed a modern trend in reconstruction, and today it's the most elegant metropolis in the Rhine Valley.

Getting There

By Plane -- Düsseldorf International Airport, 6km (4 miles) north of the city, has regularly scheduled connections to 14 German, 47 European, and 132 international airports. You can fly from Frankfurt to Düsseldorf in just 45 minutes or from Munich or Berlin in an hour. For flight information, call tel. 0211/4210 or visit www.duesseldorf-international.de.

The airport is linked to the GermanRail network. Transfer to the Düsseldorf main rail station is via S-Bahn 11, offering service daily 4:03am to 12:30am, with trains every 20 minutes (trip time: 12 min.). One-way fare is 3€. For information, call tel. 01805/996633 (www.bahn.de). Regular airport buses also connect the airport with Bonn and Cologne. A taxi ride to central Düsseldorf takes about 20 to 30 minutes and costs from 25€, depending on traffic.

By Train -- The main train station, the Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, on Konrad-Adenauer-Platz in the southeastern sector, offers frequent connections to all major cities. The trip time to Frankfurt is about 2 1/2 hours; to Munich, about 7 hours. For information, call tel. 01805/996633 (www.bahn.de). Düsseldorf also has extensive regional rail links; for information on regional trains or trams, call tel. 0211/58228. Luggage-storage facilities are available at the Hauptbahnhof.

By Bus -- Access to Düsseldorf is a lot easier by rail than by bus. The region's largest carrier is Adorf GmbH (tel. 0211/418970; www.adorf.de), most of whose buses service small towns within the Rhineland that don't necessarily have railway stations of their own. Buses usually pull into Düsseldorf at the northern edge of the Bahnhofplatz.

By Car -- Access to Düsseldorf is by the A3 Autobahn north and south or the A46 east and west.

Visitor Information

For information, go to the Tourist Office, Immermannstrasse 65B (tel. 0211/17202844; www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de), opposite the railway station. It's open Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 7pm. The office also has a hotel reservations service, which charges a one-time booking fee of 5€, along with a deposit that equals the price of the first night's accommodations. For the tourist office's room reservation services, call tel. 0211/1720224 Monday to Saturday 9:30am to 6:30pm.

Getting Around

Düsseldorf is a big, sprawling city, so you'll probably want to rely on public transportation. The city and environs are served by a network of S-Bahn railways that fan out to the suburbs, along with buses, Strassenbahn (trams), and a U-Bahn system. Ask at the tourist office (tel. 0211/17202844) about purchasing a Düsseldorf WelcomeCard, offering free use of public transportation as well as free entrance to city museums, and reductions on city tours, boat rides, and opera and ballet tickets. Valid for 24 hours, the welcome card costs 9€ for an adult or 18€ for a group/family card (two adults plus two children 14 and under, or three adults). A welcome card valid for 48 hours goes for 14€ for an adult or 28€ for a group/family card. A 72-hour card is available for 19€ for individuals and 38€ for groups/families.

Taxi meters begin at 5.50€ for the first 2km, after which you'll be billed 1.70€ per kilometer. To call for a taxi in Düsseldorf, dial tel. 0211/33333.