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Duisburg is a German city in the western part of the Ruhr area (Ruhrgebiet) in North Rhine-Westphalia. It is an independent metropolitan borough within Regierungsbezirk Düsseldorf with a population of 500,000. With the world's biggest inland harbor and its proximity to Düsseldorf International Airport, Duisburg has become an important venue for commerce and steel production.

Nightly view of Duisburg Inner Harbour

Understand

Contemporary Duisburg is a result of numerous incorporations of surrounding towns and smaller cities. It is the twelfth-largest city in Germany and the fifth-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia. The city is renowned for its steel industry. There is still one coal mine in operation, but Duisburg has never been a coal-mining centre to the same extent as other places in the Ruhr. All blast furnaces in the Ruhr are now located in Duisburg, with 49% of all hot metal and 34.4% of all pig-iron in Germany produced here. The University of Duisburg-Essen, with 33,000 students, ranks among the 10 largest German universities.

Get in

By plane

Düsseldorf International Airport (DUS IATA) is just 20 km south of Duisburg. Take the SkyTrain people mover to the airport's long-distance train station and board any regional train going northwards - Duisburg Hauptbahnhof is the immediate next station, the trains take under 10 minutes to get there. You can also take the S1 S-Bahn train, with several stops on the way, taking c.a. 20 minutes. The journey is covered by the B-level fare of the local public transportation authority, VBB.

Frankfurt Airport is Germany's busiest airport with a wealth of short-haul and intercontinental connections. Direct high-speed trains take you from Frankfurt Airport to Duisburg Hauptbahnhof in c.a. 1.5h, departing frequently in daytime. Tickets can be had for EUR 29 if booked in advance with Deutsche Bahn, passengers of many airlines serving Frankfurt Airport can also take advantage of the Rail&Fly offer.

Dortmund Airport (DTM IATA) to the east of Duisburg sees some regular service from several European airlines. To get to Duisburg, take the Airport Express bus (25 mins, EUR 8.50 one way) and change to a Duisburg-bound train at Dortmund Hauptbahnhof. There are multiple trains every hour between both cities, including high-speed ICE and regional RE trains - both take between 30-40 minutes to cover the distance.

The low-fare airline Ryanair flies from some European destinations to Niederrhein Airport Weeze (NRN IATA) northwest of Duisburg, near the Dutch border. The only practical way to get from there to Duisburg is by ordering a minibus airport transfer, as there is no direct train connection.

Duisburg Hauptbahnhof

By train

Duisburg's central station (Duisburg Hauptbahnhof) is the main junction of regional, nationwide and international railway lines.

  • VRR (local trains, in German)
  • Deutsche Bahn (nationwide and international trains, in English)
  • Thalys (international trains to Belgium and France, in English)

By car

Get around

Public transportation Duisburger Verkehrsgesellschaft AG.

The Lehmbruck museum holds an acclaimed collection of modern sculpture

See

  • Cultural and Local History Museum, Johannes-Corputius-Platz 1. Monday: closed. Includes also the Mercator Treasury (a collection of globes an maps made by Gerhard Mercator, the inventor of the atlas) and a museum on the city of Königsberg.
  • Wilhelm Lehmbruck Foundation Museum, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Straße 40. Sculpture collection.
  • Zoo Duisburg. Mülheimer Straße 273, with great collection of primates, dolphinarium and koala bears.
  • Botanical Garden Kaiserberg, Schweizer Straße 24.
  • Botanical Garden Hamborn, Fürst-Pückler-Straße 18.
Dragonboat racing on the Innenhafen

Do

The giraffe made of LEGO blocks at the LEGOLAND Discovery Centre is lit up at night
  • Landschaftspark Nord. Former blast furnace complex which has been transformed to a park. Discover the cultural heritage of the Ruhr area [1]

Buy

Rheinorange, a modern sculpture marking the mouth of the river Ruhr flowing into the Rhine
Walsumer Hof - a restaurant so old it is now heritage-protected!

Eat

  • Poukhoun, Heerstrasse 256, +49 203 72999533. An inexpensive Laotian restaurant in a residential district that has had enough rave reviews to merit taking reservations.
  • Mongo's, Philosophenweg 17-18. A Mongolian buffet restaurant - and a part of a bustling chain thereof to boot! - is perhaps the last thing you expect in Duesseldorf, but the terrace overlooking the Innenhafen and simply good food make it a pleasant surprise.
  • Enoteca La Trattoria, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz 2. An Italian restaurant with a sizeable wine cellar, popular with local businessmen and well-to-do, many of whom grew to be friends with its host, Massimo.

Drink

  • Duisburg is the home of the beer König Pilsener. One can buy it in supermarket, kiosks and in almost every restaurant.
  • There are two small breweries producing their own beer: Webster Brauhaus and Brauhaus Urfels. Both of them have restaurants too.
  • Sinalco is a lemonade brand quite known throughout Germany - and a company situated in Duisburg.

Sleep

Go next

This city travel guide to Duisburg is a usable article. It has information on how to get there and on restaurants and hotels. An adventurous person could use this article, but please feel free to improve it by editing the page.