Ideas for a free day/days in Dortmund, Bonn?
 

I'm going to be in Dortmund at the end of April and then in Bonn mid-May, both long weekends, Bonn a couple of days longer. My Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will be planned until 6:00 pm. Any suggestions for dining, shopping, exploring? In Bonn, I'm hoping to find a Rhine river trip even if it's short, maybe visiting the Freibad Bad Honnef island for walking, ice cream, etc. Dortmund will be with friends, Bonn will be with my husband for a day or so before friends join us. Any ideas will be very welcome.

Bonn is nice with many good museums (Haus der Geschichte, Bundeskunsthalle etc.). In the region Schloss Augustusburg Brühl is UNESCO world heritage and worth a visit. At the Markt you can get good ice-cream (Eismanufaktur Solo Qui ).
Dortmund ("Verbotene Stadt") is more difficult. They have a modern art museum (Museum Ostwall im Dortmunder U) and the German Soccer museum. Otherwise it depends what you like.

Thanks! The Schloss Augustusburg Brühl looks like a great choice! It looks like Dortmund will be the challenge, which I figured. I'm not sports-minded but I'm sure where there are sports fans there will be plenty of beer and casual food :-) I'll look into the modern art museum as well. Thanks again.

Take a look at this official link from the City of Dortmund. I'm sure you will find something there.

Or you go to Düsseldorf or Münster which are much more interesting cities. Nevertheless there is something to see even in Dortmund. If you are interested in Industry culture try Zeche Hansa or in Essen Zeche Zollverein which is World Heritage and is home of a nice historical Museum (Ruhrmuseum).

Thanks for this link--I hadn't found this on my own. Definitely some possibilities there. Now I'm sad I'll be missing the dog and cat show in Dortmund:-)

Münster looks interesting and I've been scoping out some options there since it's so close. The Dortmund trip just allows for a full free day and some evenings--the evenings may need to stay local but a day in Münster would be doable.

I do love the idea of the cookbook/homemaker museum--I couldn't tell if it was open or was now more of a library but the pictures were intriguing.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I'd definitely do "Haus der Geschichte" when in Bonn. When I used to live there, there where quite a few good restaurants: sassella, Il punto, Le petit poisson, Cosi, just to name a few of the Mediterranean options.
it is generally a very walkable city, with a lot of smaller parks and very nice architecture.