Anyone know about this city? I may be going to a conference there. Seems far away from other major German cities. Actually seems closer to Amsterdam!

How to best get there from U.S? Any info you may have about this city (things to do/see, size, sites, etc.) would be helpful.

My DIL comes from near Bielefeld.
I've never been to Bielefeld itself but it is in a lovely area - the Teutoburgerwald.
It is half way between Hanover and Dortmund.

Tell me what is "lovely" about it, please. Any day trips from there?

Oh, BTW - we would be there the third week in Nov.

I was there, but can't say much about it. My former boyfriend came from Werther, which is nearby. Werther is where the candy Werther's originals come from. We just hung out at his parents and visited friends. I remember the university was fairly modern and not all that attractive. The old part of town was nice and at Christmas had a nice Christmas market.

Yeah, the Hermannsdenkmal, you go there and sing the national anthem as loud as you can . And then you realize it's just like Mount Rushmore, just that Herman kicked "evil" Roman ass 2000 years ago. . Or didn't he? And no, there's no mountain there. And now since historians have found out that that battle took place somewhere else what will they do with stoney Herman?
Nah, Herman is under "Denkmalschutz".

Well, I have been about 50 times in Bielefeld.

Bielefeld is not bad, but not really exciting.

What is near Bielefeld?

A first-rank destination is Münster, a town that is worth at least two day-trips: a wonderful cathedral with a stunning astronomical clock, another gothic main church with cages for the baptists, a medieval Old Town with beautiful shops, one of Germany's best markets, a gothic city hall where the Westphalian Treaty was negotiated (which ended the Thirty Years' War), one of Germany's best open-air museums (Mühlenhof), an excellent zoo, many baroque palaces in town and much more.

In the vicinty of Münster, you find some of Germany's most spectacular castles, e.g. Schloß Nordkirchen, Burg Vischering and many more.

Herrmann's Monument has been mentioned, and closeby, there are the Externsteine, sandstone formations.

Paderborn is a worthy destination, with the cathedral and the Heinz-Nixdorf-Museum (Heinz Nixdorf was a pioneer of computers).

In Vornholz, you find an interesting castle.

In Bielefeld itsself, be sure to visit Alte Spinnerei - a former spinning mill which has been converted into a cultural center.

Open www.viamichelin.com, enter Bielefeld, Germany, and click on Tourism. You will find a lot of attractions in the region around Bielefeld.

Hmm - Wonder when the Christmas markets would open up.

Echnaton - Do you think the "castles" nearby would be open at that time (third week in Nov.)? Thanks for the link. Do you think the places you mentioned are reachable by train?

logos999 - HUH? I'll have to look up Hermannsdenkmal. Have no idea what it is (except that you say what supposedly happened there, didn't.)

kenav, look it it up, every German schoolchild knows it and then you will too . It's the founding myth of Germany. Also read about Hannibal crossing the alps with his elephants. Another nice story. They should teach more history . You always think, that everybody on the planet knows those things, but then it's "only" European history.

My latin is poor, but this should be it?

"Quintili Vare, legiones redde!"
The 17th, 18th and 19th roman legion was killed that day.

Kenav,

the castles are open year-round. Münster has one of Germany's best Christmas markets. For train connections, see www.bahn.de

The train from Bielefeld to Münster takes 1:00 hour, to Paderborn 1:07. The castles on the countryside are more difficult to reach by train.

Here some info about the Hermannsdenkmal:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminius

From the USA, the best way would be flying into Düsseldorf (there are direct flights with Lufthansa from Chicago and Newark and with Air Berlin from several U.S. cities). The train from Düsseldorf Airport to Bielefeld takes 1:35.

Even closer to Bielefeld is Hannover Aiport (however no direct flights from the U.S.). From Frankfurt to Bielefeld the train takes between 3:30 and 4:30, depending on the connection.

BTW, from Amsterdam Airport to Bielefeld, the train takes 4:19. Düsseldorf will be the best option.

Another idea:

The train from Bielefeld to Berlin takes 2:30 - in any case, you should visit the capital from there!

Have to go to bed now -it's past midnight.

Spent one night at Bielefeld when I got an awesome bargain with Priceline. They are famous for their potatoes. At least that's what our concierge at the Movenpick told us. Not much to see in the town, but the charming village of Hameln is not too far away.

Haven't been there but had to respond to your post, because apparently it wins the prize as the most "normal" town in Germany - my cheesy German textbooks featured a cast of characters all living in Bielefeld. The husband of a good friend of mine hails from from Bielefeld, and he found this quite amusing!

I think you've gotten good answers from the others. And sometimes it's nice to see how the normal folk live.

You will have a hard time going there since Bielefeld does not exist
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bielefeld_Conspiracy

A little bit of history of the Teutoberg Forest, below - the Romans really got their butts kicked. Hetismij mentioned this forest, above.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...utoburg_Forest

Cowboy1968 - Read the "conspiracy" theory. Promulgated by a college student no doubt. Pretty funny.

Unfortunately, from JFK - I live in NYC - there is no direct flight to Dusseldorf. There is one change (in Amsterdam or Zurich or Frankfurt, etc.) to get there. Then, you have to get on the train. All to go to a city that doesn't exist, or if it does, doesn't have much to offer.

AND, it costs $800 r/t as of now! Yikes, and this is in November, the "slow" season. WTH??

There is a direct flight from Newark to Düsseldorf. I have booked it for April. The flight number is LH 409, departing 4:45 p.m., arriving 6:05+1 a.m.

Here some more links:

www.muenster.de
http://www.schloss.nordkirchen.net/en/
http://www.burgvischering.luedinghausen.de (click on "Galerie" and then "1 Impressionen")

Can't get to Newark easily. JFK is 15 minutes from my apt. But thanks.

Looking at your other links.