Bonn has excellent connections to, well, most of Europe, but this list concentrates on what's closer.
Afternoon Activities:
- Go over to Königswinter and climb up Drachenfels! You'll actually pass two castles before the end - the real Drachenfels at the top of the mountain is really old (and it shows), while halfway up is the much newer and prettier Drachenburg Schloss. The hike is half the fun, but if you're feeling lazy, you can opt to take the little inclined train up. On nice days, sometimes mules are also available for rental.
- Get a little lost looking for Kloster Heisterbach, a ruined monastery not far from Drachenfels.
- Bike down the Rhine for great views of Drachenfels, and visit the tragic and legendary Rolandsbogen.
- Relax in the Hofgarten in front of the University, Alter Zoll by the Rhine, the grass in the middle of Poppelsdorfer Allee, or any other nice park in Bonn.
- Eat the super cheap (1 euro) crepes that are sold near the University and the Cathedral. The best one is the Kinder Schokolade kind, almost too rich, which I have never seen offered outside of Bonn.
- Walk up to Kreuzbergkirche, a little church that's all but forgotten now but which features an impressive Baroque staircase and was once visited by many pilgrims. The view from up there is nice as well.
- Take the bus to Waldau, where you can take a little hike through a protected forest area as well as see two types of native deer and wild boars - the babies are really cute in the springtime!
- Do as the tourists do and go visit the house of Beethoven, and then go to the Beethoven symphony house to hear a performance.
- Visit one of Bonn's wonderful museums such as the very good and free Haus der Geschichte post-WWII history museum.
- Go down to the southernmost part of Bonn, Bad Godesberg, and walk up to the castle there.
Day Trips:
In Nordrhein-Westfalen:
Aachen - To the far west of Nordrhein-Westfalen is the city of Aachen, once the seat of Charlemagne. Some buildings from his time even remain, along with a lovely coronation hall and Northern Europe's oldest cathedral (a world heritage site). Aachen a nice university city with hot springs and a lot of cute places to sit and eat.
Cologne - The cathedral of Cologne, also a world heritage site, is simply the most amazing cathedral I've ever seen. It was in fact the tallest building in the world for a while, and is still one of the tallest cathedrals (I think only Ulm beats it, and Ulm has one single spire to Cologne's two). The rest of Cologne is also worth a visit for the amazing Karneval celebration, for some nightlife, and for the chocolate museum.
Dusseldorf - Not too far from Cologne, another Rhine-side city. The harbor has some quite interesting looking buildings in it, and the Japanese part of town is fun to visit if you want to see a bunch of anime geeks in costume or try the best Japanese food for miles. I really like the feeling in all the restaurants by the banks of the Rhine.
Wuppertal - Famous for being really boring, but Wuppertal has its moments, and a pretty cool suspended train. I also thought the free botanical garden was worth a quick visit. You can throw it in with Dusseldorf or Cologne easily.
Bad Münstereifel - A rare place in Nordrhein-Westfalen, this is one of those cute German towns with the half-timber buildings and the old city walls. Its in the Eifel region, which means lovely, gentle hills all around.
Münster - This small city in the north of the state has a beautiful cathedral, (don't fall for the decoy 'cathedral' in the square... that's just an ordinary church) a few blocks of buildings that look like they belong much farther north in Germany, and a cool open-air museum where you can see old wooden buildings and mills, try your hand at spinning wool or playing a turn-organ.
Duisburg - Part of the old Ruhr-gebiet industrial area, there's a very interesting and unique park here called the Landscape Park Duisburg. It's basically a huge old factory converted to a park - pieces have become rock-climbing areas, children's playgrounds, observation towers, a movie theatre, and a scuba diving pool. Especially cool when its lit up on weekend nights.
Essen - Another part of the old Ruhr-gebiet, Essen is home to the Zollverein coal processing plant, a UNESCO world heritage site. You can spend a surprisingly long and interesting time there taking the guided tour (2 hours long!) and wandering around the other parts of the enormous complex.
In Rheinland Pfalz:
Koblenz - Not far south of Bonn is Koblenz, which marks one end of the Upper Rhine River Valley. Koblenz has an old palace, a handful of churches and plazas... blah blah blah... AND two sites you can't miss: The Deutsches Eck, which marks the confluence of the Rhine and the Mosel with the flags and shields of each German state and a huge statue towering above it all (climb up and you will feel like you are at the prow of the ship Germany)... and Ehrenbreitstein, a simply enormous fortress across the river with an unbelievable view over the river and the hills.
The Upper Rhine River Valley - The stretch of river between Mainz and Koblenz is so full of castles that you'll get whiplash trying to photograph them all on a drive down. Better take a day-cruise and get on and off a few times on the way. This is fully half of the legendary Germany you've all read about - the rest of it is in Munich with the Lederhosen, Octoberfest, and Neuschwanstein castle.
Mainz - This is at the other end of the Upper Rhine River Valley from Koblenz, and its a pleasant city with a town-feeling. Mainz was a big deal in the middle ages. The printing press was invented here and you can check out the Gutenberg museum. There are also several important churches, and I liked all the cool fountains everywhere.
Trier - The oldest city in Germany, Trier sports some great Roman ruins I never expected to see so far north, like the magnificent emperor's baths and an amphitheater... as well as the "Black Gate" that is the city's icon. Some very German segments as well.
Heerlen - If you're itching to get to the Netherlands, fast, Heerlen is the first stop across the border. It doesn't have a lot to offer a tourist except what's quintessentially and uniquely Dutch - like Stroopwaffels, yummy fries, and other things I won't mention here.
Maastricht - This is the only major city in the Netherlands that I consider a possible day trip from Bonn (I've heard of package tours that will take you to Amsterdam and a few other towns and back in a single day, but that's just silly as far as I'm concerned. You have like 35 minutes in Zaanse Schans, what's the point?). Maastricht now has lovely dutch architecture, and more of the above mentioned waffles, fries, etc.
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