Essen itinery

I%26#39;m tagging along my husband%26#39;s business trip (4/19-21) in Essen and we plan to spend 3 days each before/after that to do some sight-seeing. Pls recommend the must see sights in Essen and nearby towns- our 1st time to Germany- and which cities we should fly into to max the time from Washington D.C. We%26#39;ve enjoyed/done lots of bike riding in D.C. Appreciate all the inputs.

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The next airport to Essen is Düsseldorf , but it is also easy to get to Essen from Frankfurt .

Essen is the european culture capital in 2010 .

You find industrial culture in Essen (Folkwangmuseum , Zeche Zollverein).

If you like to bike I recommend to bike along river Ruhr and lake Baldeney in the south of Essen . Kettwig / Ruhr is part of Essen , but a romatic little town itself . It is easy to get there if you rent a bike in Essen-Werden (lake Baldeney Hardenbergufer phone: (0201) 3844749 ) and bike along the river Ruhr .

Old towns to visit (about one hour from Essen by train or car) are :

Cologne, Düsseldorf, Aachen and Münster / Westfalen

Here are some useful links :

…ruhr2010.de/en/home.html

http://www.kettwig-today.de/

aachen.de/EN/…index.html

http://www.koeln.de/tourism/welcome

www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de/default_en.php

www.muenster.de/stadt/tourismus/en/index.html

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Thanks for the info. Would you recommend Munich/Berlin for some historical sites/castles (which ones?) and the easiest mode of transportation? We%26#39;re spoiled here by daily car commuting and tends to feel that public transportation is not as convenient. Thanks again.

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If you like castles I recommend middle rhine valley between Koblenz and Bingen . You find a lot of castles and romantic little towns within a beautiful landscape . It is nice to bike along river Rhine , to travel by boat or even both .

It is easy to get there by train within 2 hours .

www.welterbe-mittelrheintal.de/index.php…

If you have to decide between Munich and Berlin :

Munich is further from Essen than Berlin and Berlin is our capital I would take Berlin.

You get to Berlin by direkt train from Essen within less than 4 hours .

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We%26#39;re definitely going to try the bike riding along the river there and probably will try to spend a couple days in Berlin. Since there%26#39;re so many castles, which one or two would you recommend, and what%26#39;re the highlights in Berlin-no opera nor night clubs for us? I really appreciate your taking the time here.

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Berlin is not a famous place for castles. The most popular one there is castle Sanssouci in Potsdam (city next to Berlin).

Are you planning to rent a car and to dioscover places by yourself or are you planning to go by train. Do you want to stay overnight in Essen only or do you also want to stay in other cities?