30 Hours in Dusseldorf

At the end of March I found myself  in Dusseldorf celebrating a friends 25th birthday.

The plan went from Newcastle/Liverpool to Germany real quick but I was not complaining to jump back on a plane just a mer 8 days after landing back from Malta, I felt like I was a living walking ‘goals’ hashtag.

First lets appreciate my skills of packing a suitcase. Despite travelling for a night this took hours for me to finally decide what I wanted to wear and which things were really necessary to bring!

We flew to Weeze (NRN) airport from Stansted which ironically isn’t really in Dusseldorf. The flight is only an hour and even though it was a 7am flight (yes I love my morning flights) we were there within no time. I remember closing my eyes, waking up and we were there! The airport is served by the classic and my now favourite low cost airline Ryanair it’s about an hour away from the the city centre. My advice to anyone travelling to/from this airport is to book taxis.

Not only because I’m a very impatient person when it comes to travelling from airport to final destination but because it saves you the hassle of having to haggle to a price. Plus if you have never been there before how will you know what the price is actually meant to be? We were quoted €30 (although we paid €20 on the way back but lets just say that was all down to charm and luck)

This was something I found pretty shocking in the airport. Calling it tasteless I guess is an understatement and didn’t give me a very welcoming first impression.

 

After the looooooong (okay, I’m exaggerating slightly) journey to our accommodation I must admit I was ready for a nap. Travelling for such a short period of time I was worried that time would go so fast, and although this was the case for me it shouldn’t stop you creating an itinerary, as it’ll add a bit more structure and motivation to your trip. So I opted against the nap and headed out to hit the streets. Luckily it was an absolutely beautiful day that I didn’t even need to wear my jacket after a while it was that warm. I had expected Germany to be cold although I was comparing it to my trip to Berlin which was 5 years ago in February.

Did you really think Germany would have views like this in the month of March?

 

We stayed at the most incredible apartment, Graf-Adolf Apartments which at first looked like an unfinished building from the outside. I literally thought, I did not fly on a plane for 1hour, spend another hour in a taxi to be staying in an unfinished apartment but boy oh boy was I wrong. If I was to come back to Dusseldorf this would definitely be where I’d stay.

views from inside our apartment

There is a local train station (Graf-Adolf) and a tram line which runs directly outside the apartment. Sound was not an issue so don’t let this be something to put you off, and if you need a local liquor store/supermarket (who were quite rude and impatient), a McDonalds short walk away and other smaller shops within walking distance.

While travelling around in the city we managed to find the old village and a larger shopping centre. There are loads of different food places to try in Germany, if you’ve never been before I would recommend doing a quick search for the type of restaurants you want to eat in that cater to your budget. It’s always nice to have traditional food (though some sound nicer than they taste and vice versa)

I think the club we went to was called Sweet Heaven and boy oh boy do they know how to make they’re money! Now firstly let me be completely honest when you’re travelling in a mixed group (ethnicity and sex) then you’re likely to always be judged to determine the risks of letting you into the club. This could be based on whether you’re going to spend enough money, whether you look the part or will cause trouble or not etc. The group I was with looked presentable and was ready to have a good time. However this club in particularly has a very strange policy which means you pay (€11/12 entry fee) and you are given a stamp card. At first I wasn’t sure what this card was for but it quickly became apparent that this club was cash free at the bars which is good right? No having to search in your pockets for money? Counting your euros to see if you have enough for that shot? And besides the more you drink the more you spend. Well, little did we know to leave the club you also have to pay the amount you of drinks you purchased which is where it all becomes political as it cost €70 to leave the club if you don’t have your card.

The night became long, and next thing you know it was 11:45am but check out was 12. The apartment staff were amazing at letting us extend our check out by an hour. Which gave us time to get ready and head out to eat before our flight back to London.

Overall I had an amazing time in the short time I was there. Definitely want to get back and explore more cultural parts of the city and Germany in general

 

PS. Highlight of the trip has to be getting a shout out from the Ryanair crew on the flight back, approximately 6/7 months early for my 24th birthday!

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