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  • Writer's pictureKathryn van den Berg

Düsseldorf, Germany

26-27 November 2022

I visited my first Christmas market ever in Düsseldorf and wow, what a magical visit it was.


Candace- a South African friend who I met in Maastricht through a Facebook group, and who I went to Breda with, was my travel companion for the weekend. We left on Saturday around 11:00 and arrived in Düsseldorf around 13:30. We had a stop in a dead end town called Herzogenrath where the only thing of any interest ever happening was an old German lady who tried to speak to me in German. Failing this and realising I'm English, she proceeded to march around in circles giving me the death startle at every opportunity. I felt simultaneously humoured and bad for her...maybe she really needed directions and couldn't get them. Anyway, there's a funny little sidebar.


Before even dropping out bags off at the Ibis Hotel where we were staying, we decided we needed a good German lunch to fill us up before tackling the Christmas markets.


As we sat down the waiter brought us two beers pretty much without even asking, and we agreed because we are in Germany after all! After a pretty average German meal followed by an above-average apple strudel, (and a very forward waiter who asked us what percentage we wanted to tip him!) we checked into the hotel and had to change rooms immediately on behalf of a leaking toilet.


Once this inconvenience was sorted, we were more than ready to tackle the three Christmas markets I'd researched dotted around the Oldtown of Düsseldorf. Unfortunately for us, the location of the markets was a 30-minute walk from our hotel after a day of travelling. Some umming and ahhing ensued but there was no way I was missing my first Christmas market and so we sucked it up and walked.


The location of our hotel was...let's say... not in the tourism books. However, 15 minutes through the walk to our destination we started to feel more at ease and the scenery got more photo-worthy. We arrived at a bustling, bright, busy shopping scene with little Christmas stalls set up in the walkways of the shops and we were delighted. Alas, my google maps told us to walk on and so walk on we did! And I'm so glad we followed Google's advice because we ended up seeing three markets and starting at the furthest one.


We started at the market with the big Christmas tree. I believe this was called the Handwerker-Markt and is a smaller market that takes place in front of the City Hall on Marktplatz (Weihnachtsmarkt am alten Rathaus). The Christmas stalls in this location are modelled on those of the brick Renaissance-style Rathaus (city hall) and it was adorable and so festive. On the steps of the city hall, there were carolers singing Christmas music in English to complete the Christmas atmosphere.



Then we went further on to a market area which was my favourite- it had a Ferris wheel in the background which of course we went on (for €8 if you want to know).


We had to get off the Ferris wheel at one point because of technical difficulties (which makes one not want to get back on it actually...).


My favourite part of the Ferris wheel was the warmth... At this time it was sunset and it got really really cold.


Luckily I'd brought my coat that I got the previous day from Zara at a black Friday special (€95 marked down 40%) so the cold didn't affect the covered areas much.


For dinner, I got pasta that they put in a big wheel of cheese which turned out to look nicer than it tasted... It was too spicy and I had nothing to drink at this point. I stood in a super long line with my pasta in one hand being relentlessly pushed in front of by drunk Germans until I got to the front of the queue, ordered water and later changed my mind to add to the order a mug of Glühwein. I kept the mug instead of returning it for the deposit. It's just so festive and wonderful.

After this section, we walked further on to what the blog I used as inspiration calls the main market-the Altstadt Markt. This market is the one we initially stumbled on in the afternoon but 'saved for later' in the pursuit of following Google's advice. The main market lines two main thoroughfares in the Old Town, Flinger Straße and Marktstraße. In this market, the Christmas huts resemble Düsseldorf’s old burgher houses.

The Christmas speciality of roasted walnuts (which I'd only heard in songs up to this point), the smell of fresh inviting gingerbread and handmade Christmas decorations (one of which I bought and which my dad is convinced is going to collect dust) put me in the Christmas spirit like never before. I cannot wait for the rest of this week, because I've planned to go to at least 3 other Christmas markets in Germany and maybe one in Brussels (in case you're wondering, we have only two two-hour classes this week. One on Monday and one on Thursday, so I intend to make the most of my merry time off.)


After a fairly decent sleep - I never sleep well on the first night in a new place - we were up and about again this morning to tackle Düsseldorf. Candace and I had some disagreements about what to do so we decided to buy an €11.90 day travel card and do as much as we could.

First, we decided on my choice: street art. We went to a district called Kiefernstrasse (which I once again found on a Pinterest blog) and we are both so glad that I did. Each house in the area was painted by a different artist and as soon as we saw the houses from a distance, I was absolutely in my element. The art was exceptional and the talent was unbelievable: I think a picture I worth a thousand words in this case.

After eating my heart out here, we took a bus and a tram to the same area we were in yesterday so Candace could get a photo of the bridge she saw in a postcard. We then had breakfast- a cappuccino, orange juice and a slice of apple pie with whipped cream- and decided to head back to the hotel and back to Maastricht. Just in time too because it started lightly raining and it was freezing.

We arrived back at the hotel with 15 minutes to book and catch the next train so it was a mad rush. Never mind, we made it, and here I sit on the very train typing my blog entry for Düsseldorf.



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