I will be traveling with 40 teen girls in May and am looking for advice for some inexpensive restaurants in Dusseldorf. We will be staying at the youth hostel in Oberkassel, but would like to occasionally eat out. Our daily food budget is less than $35 (for lunch and dinner), so nothing too fancy! Would like to try local foods whenever possible though. (Also would like fun ideas for teens to see and do/or avoid!within 45 minutes by public transport.)

Can you specify the age group? Possible sights and attractions for a group of 13-14yo girls might differ a lot for those 16-19yo.

If their credit cards can take the challenge, they will probably like to go shopping on Königsallee.

Düsseldorf is not one of the major hot spots of tourism (compared with Bavaria or Berlin), so you may want to top your thread once in a while to get new input.

The girls are 12-14. Not big shoppers, although it would be fun to visit the markets or get a few ideas for some inexpensive shops that might appeal to them. I'm guessing from what I read the Ko is over our frugal budget.

Go to Cologne and go to the shopping district - at least my daughter really likes it (at ages 15 and 16), and Königsallee seems to me like it's for very wealthy people. It's nice to look at, though. It's about 20 minutes by train between Dusseldorf and Cologne. Of course, Cologne has several excellent museums, including the Chocolate Museum, the cathedral, and Romanesque churches.

I'd also suggest visiting Aachen, a lovely medieval town, and maybe Bonn, particularly if there are any Beethoven fans.

You're in luck as Dusseldorf has a several block section of its Altstadt, or Old Town that overflows with, for Germany, inexpensive restaurants like pizza joints, kebab places, etc.

I took college students on bike trips thru Dusseldorf for years and we stayed here and they all loved the Altstadt eateries.

I would also take them to the supermarkets that are everywhere and do some picnics - along the banks of the Rhine in Dusseldorf are grassy banks, etc. Further upstream is a large openair public swimming pool the teens may like - and to meet Germans the age.

For male chaprones, one of Germany's largest (legal) brothels is by the train station i believe.

It's often packed on warm nights - outdoor tables in the streets also

Most of the teens will no doubt also be heading to the nearest McDonalds, which are all over.

<It's often packed on warm nights - outdoor tables in the streets also>

this was meant to go with the Altstadt area, not the brothel

I work in Düsseldorf.

I will give you comprehensive information - tomorrow (since it is growing late now...).

Look up this thread tomorrow!

Two questions:

- How old are these girls?

- From which town do they come?

traveler1959: The OP says they are 12-14 years old.

PQ: For cripes sakes!! Someone asks about a teen trip and you tell her about a Brothel??? Have some class (guess you are just depressed about the UK elections and lost all sense)

it was just a bit of humour

jj- britons have no sense of humour?

but i note my indiscretion and yes will blame it on red ken's loss

cheers

I would think taking 40 people to dinner would be fairly difficult at any age.

When my company takes us on trips - each manager takes a group and each group goes to a different restaurant. If we're in the same place for more than a couple of days - we just switch restaurants the following night.... That might work for you....

I don't have any specifics for you for that area.

Welcome to Düsseldorf!

The Youth Hostel (Jugendherberge) is located directly at the Rhein, and you can easily walk across the bridge to the heart of town on the other riverbank.

Look up the location with Google Earth, entering "düsseldorfer Straße 1, düsseldorf".

A stroll along the riverbank is a nice experience. If you go into southern direction, you land in the harbour, with some spectacular contemporary architecture. Especially the buildings designed by Frank O. Gehry are funny.
http://www.duesseldorf.de/eng/medienhafen/index.shtml

Directly under the bridge, you find the Apollo Theatre. It is an eerie sight when it is illuminated at night. They have a good, mostly nonverbal vaudeville-type show, but I am afraid, tickets will be beyond your budget.
http://www.apollo-variete.com

If you go north, you find a great urban playground: lots of people on rollerblades, strolling families, outdoor cafés (some designed like artificial beaches), an old barque in the historic harbour etc.
http://www.duesseldorf.de/stadtpanor.../index30.shtml

If you leave the riverbank and head eastwards, you are in the Altstadt (old town). There you find hundreds of restaurants, snack bars and street stands. Snack bars and street stands might be a good option for your teens, as they offer inexpensive food (for maybe 4 or 5 Euros).

If you want to eat in a proper restaurant which is large enough to accomodate your party, these are my recommendations:
- Zum Schlüssel, a traditional brewery with traditional food. Small dishes starting at 3 Euros, stews for 5.10 Euros, main dishes for 8-10 Euros.
http://www.hausbrauerei-zum-schluess...p&lang=eng
- Zum Schiffchen, also a traditional brewery. A little more expensive, with main dishes for 10-15 Euros.
http://www.brauerei-zum-schiffchen.de
- Füchschen. Another brewery, again in the 8-10 Euros price range.
http://www.fuechschen.de/htmlGB/start-frames-61.html
In any case, make a reservation.

In the Altstadt, you may visit two fine baroque churches:
- St. Andreas, Andreasstraße
- Maxkirche, Schulstraße (Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy played here)

Attractions in Düsseldorf:
- Aquazoo: Excellent aquarium.
http://www.zoo-infos.de/set-en.html?/zoos-en/98.html

- Birthplace of the poet Heinrich Heine, Bolkerstraße 53 (in the heart of the Altstadt)

- Kunstsammlung K20: a world-class collection of 20th century art, including masterpieces of Picasso, Dali, Miro etc.
http://www.kunstsammlung.de/en/home.html

- Goethe-Museum inside Jägerhof Palace
http://www.goethe-museum-kippenberg-stiftung.de/

Attractions in the region:
- Neanderthal-Museum: A spectacular museum of the history of mankind. Excellent audioguides in English, telling stories of neanderthal men and women. Interactive projects for kids and teens (on reservation). With public transport, 45 min from the youth hostel to the museum.
http://www.neanderthal.de/

- Köln (Cologne) is worth a daytrip: cathedral, Roman-Germanic Museum, Roman palace and sewer...
From Düsseldorf main station 31 min with the (low-cost) regional train or 21 min with (pricey) high-speed train.
www.koeln.de

- Aachen is also spectacular, with the cathedral where Charlemagne was crowned exactly in 800, the treasury and the medieval city hall. The train takes 1:23 but it is worth it.

For regional public transport:
http://www.vrr.de/en/index.html

For trains:
www.bahn.de

Some general links:
http://www.duesseldorf.de
http://www.duesseldorf-tourismus.de

Some words on security:

Your girls will be safe day and night, even in the small hours. Especially in the Altstadt, security is abundant, both municipal police (the OSD, dark blue uniforms) and state police (green uniforms).

Any other questions? I will be happy to help you.

Many hostels used to at least provide evening meals if booked - this would be the cheapest plan and yes if you plan 40 to go to one restaurant, good luck.

You could take them to the Altstadt inexpensive eateries ghetto and then let them go around - chose what they want and spread the wealth around.

bookmarking

indiancouple: FYI to help you in the future . . .

See that yellow star next to the OP? That is the link to bookmark the thread. You don't really need to top it w/ 'bookmarking'.

You can spend an afternoon or day in the CENTRO OBERHAUSEN! One of the biggest malls in Germany.
There you find restaurants, shops etc.
But 40 chicks is quite a number to control ;-) Mayb your hostel should sort out in advance where to book tables for the teens.
The budget seems reasonable. If having a burger for lunch you can "splurge" for dinner in a nice Italian restaurant for salads and pizzas. Or in the Altstadt (old town) you might find nice eateries as well.

Happy travels!

SV

Ah - try to get to the DUE Hafen (port). There are very nice hang-outs and eateries in Summer - also for lunch.
Mc D, BK, PZ etc. is available if junk is not out of question.

SV

I now have read traveller's advise: It's comprehensive! Even for me ;-)

APOLLO would be great for the kids - but I doubt they are willing to spend at least 27€/approx 25UD$ a ticket.
Maybe there is a king of "youth" discount?

THX traveller for that! Have been to Apollo and now that's on the to-do-list prior to Xmas

SV

spassvogel: "<i>But 40 chicks is quite a number to control</i>"

And hopefully they did. But we'll never know. librarianne never came back to post a trip report -- 2 years ago . . .

janisj - WHAT A SHAME I did not check the time of posting

Would have been good to learn what came out of the trip. Wouldn't it?

THX for pointing that out!

SV