Bonn (Germany)

Advantages: Compact, cultured, loads to do
Disadvantages: Limited "old town", some may find it lacking vitality

Bonn was the capital of the former West Germany (or Bundesrepublik in German) between1949 and 1990. It is the nineteenth largest (according to Wikipedia) city in Germany which says much about why it was chosen to be the new capital following World War Two; Konrad Adenauer, the post-war chancellor of the Bundesrepublik, was a local lad and he pushed for Bonn to become capital over Frankfurt, a city which was in a much better position to take on the ...
...infrastructure but Bonn won the day in spite of the added costs involved. Following World War Two, Germany was divided into four zones; this was done to satisfy the Allies who each had various claims on the territory and wished to protect their individual interests and the other reason was that it was believed that Germany needed to be prevented from becoming too powerful again in the future. Although Berlin was also divided, it was seen as imperative ... Read review

Advantages: Nice shops, many museums, various trips
Disadvantages: Lacking in something, I'm just not sure what

The former capital of Germany, Bonn is somewhere I’ve wanted to visit for a while, but especially since I went to Berlin, the new capital, in a compare and contrast sort of way. I only had 28 hours in the city, but I still saw a fair bit. One think I would recommend that you do immediately on arrival is to get hold of a Welcome Card. These start at 9 Euros for one person for 24 hours, but ones for longer periods, or for groups and families ...
...starting from that point. Bonn has around 40 museums, and I couldn’t possibly visit all in my short time there, but I got round a fair few, helped by the fact that with my Welcome card making entrances free, I could walk in, have a nosy around and leave if I didn’t like it, without feeling I had wasted money. BEETHOVENHAUS • Address: Bonngasse 20 • Tel: +49 228 9817525 • Entrance: €4 / €3 (concessions) ... Read review

Advantages: Interesting
Disadvantages: Not enough foreign language support

When I visited Bonn a couple of years ago, I was particularly impressed by the Haus der Geschichte (Home of history) museum. It was incredibly new at the time (or at least seemed so) and was very well put together. Designed for a mainly German audience, it concentrated very much on domestic matters and history, but was a brilliant insight from an outsiders point of view. I was little disappointed at the time that there was no much support for non-German ...
...too, we are more guilty of being foreigner-unfriendly I think. The holocaust section is very chilling. Original metal shelving with row upon row of little cards recording Jews etc. The furnace illustration was truly moving too. A small dark room in which there was the consant roar of the furnances of a concentration camp. The modern part of the museum concentrated quite heavily on post-war politics and includes a setup of the then parliament. ... Read review

Advantages: Cheap and sufficient accomodation
Disadvantages: Basic, a little out of the centre

...delighted in paying cash for once, since it was so cheap (and I was only staying one night). The hotel is within walking distance of a number of museums (op coming soon) and opposite an open air swimming pool. • Verdict The hotel is a basic one, but the staff members were friendly (and multi-lingual if you needed them to be). The location is not wonderful – it’s not an easy place to pop back to during the day, for example – but it has reasonable public transport links. The hotel offers no leisure facilities or similar, but it’s a decent enough place to choose for a city break when you plan to spend most of your time out of the hotel anyway. And at 30 GBP for 2 people per night, in a major city, you can’t complain. • Address Ibis Bonn Vorgebirgsstr. 33 Bonn 53119 Germany Tel: (+49... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful

Advantages: nice people, beautiful city
Disadvantages: can't think of any

...and enjoy yourself. If you want to go out in Cologne, the best places to eat and relax are in the old town, not far from the main train station. You'll find a lot of restaurants and you have a great view on the river Rhein. To have a drink you can go to one of the many cocktailbars on Heumarkt or Zuelpicher Platz. This is a very trendy and young region with some Studentbars, so the drinks and entries are quite cheap here. If you want to go to a club which is very "in" you could go on the "Ringe". But make sure you don't wear trainers! What you have to drink here is Koelsch! Of course there are other things to see and do other then drinking and partying at night. I mentioned the river Rhine before and you can make boattrips to places like Bonn (which was the capital of Germany before Berlin). Cologne is famous for it Cathedral, which is just... Read review

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Advantages: Culture, fun and party
Disadvantages: Quite busy and could be cleaner

...Frankfurt was historically mentioned was in the year 794 when "Karl der Große" founded it as Franconovurd. After the lost 2nd world war Frankfurt tried to become capital of Germany, but lost against Bonn - our former capital. Well, as you well know, in the meantime it's Berlin. What you have to see Ø Goethe Haus: The famous writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was born 1749 in Frankfurt. His house can still be visited and is a must for literally and culturally interested. Ø Museumsufer (bank of museums): Alongside the bank of the Main in the middle of the town are 19 museums located. Technical, historical, art, culture - everything you could be looking for. The last weekend in August there is even the so called Museumsuferfest (festival of bank of museums) where all museums can be visited within two days for only 7,50€. Crossing the Main... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful