Essen, Dusseldorf, or Cologne
 

Couldn't find any recent threads for this part of Germany. I'm looking for suggestions on which city I should use as my hub. The three cities in the heading are only because that's where the Marriott properties are located and I would use points, if it makes sense.

I'm looking to be in the Rhein-Ruhr area for three days this coming October 2021 (arriving on a Monday evening and departing on a Friday morning), provided I'm allowed to enter Germany and Bundesliga games are open to spectators. The things I already have planned are the Roman ruins and Bruhl Castle in Cologne and the Schwebebahn in Wuppertal. Essen industrial history could be added, if I can find anything that captures my interest. I've yet to find anything in Dusseldorf that interests me, but this is after only a limited search. I'd like to say that my itinerary would be planned around trying all the local beers, but I'm a lightweight when it comes to beer consumption (one and done, it fills me up). But something interesting is surely something I'd plan to try. For example, the smoked beers in Bamberg were really interesting.

Thanks for your help.

Perhaps the mining museum in Bochum might interest you.

https://www.bergbaumuseum.de/en/

Try one of the regional brews (Alt in Düsseldorf, Kölsch in Cologne).

Well if it comes beer, Düsseldorf offers a brewery tour. Details could be found here: https://www.guiders.de/tour/656-brau...orfer-altstadt or here https://www.duesseldorfer-kompass.de...redirect=en_US A similar tour is offered in Cologne as well. And yes, Zeche Zollverein in Essen or Landschaftspark Nord in Duisburg are well worth a visit if you are into the history of this former heart of the German montan industry. A car would be useful, but not necessary.

Not sure, what is available to the public in October give the state of play in regard to this crazy little thing called coronavirus.

I found a mention of the Schwebebahn amusing. I didn't think many people knew about it. We visit friends near Wuppertal when we are in Germany so one time we rode on it. But otherwise I wouldn't have known it existed.

I would have a look which hotel has the best offer and consider a combination of Cologne and Ruhrgebiet. It's quite a distance.

How long do you have for your trip?

The plan is to arrive DUS Monday afternoon, depart to Hamburg Friday morning. Friday to Monday I plan to see Bundesliga and 2 Bundesliga games in and around Hamburg. I depart Tuesday from FRA.

I have a hotel reservation for Dusseldorf, but not sure it is the best option. In my five or so searches I've yet to find anything that captures my attention. It took me one search to find plenty in Cologne, which brought me to post this thread. For three days touring, I might be trying to take in too large an area and maybe I should just stick with a couple core sites.

It´s a tough program and I fear it´s quite a lot for 3 days. You can without problems spend all the time in Cologne, but it depends what you like. I would say one day in Clogne, 1 for Brühl and perhaps Bonn/ Düsseldorf and 1 for the Ruhrgebiet (Essen, Bochum and Wuppertal (Bergisches Land, not Ruhrgebiet)). If you want to visit Bundesliga Hamburg will most likely be hard, 2nd Bundesliga could fit. Of course you can´t say now if the teams will have games. Most likely from Monday to Thursday there will be no Bundesliga games, so it´s not a real factor. With a lot of luck there could be a game Monday evening in the 2nd Bundesliga.

I wont make Essen the hub.. and DUS vs CGN. Well, since you fly DUS-HAM (as I understood it), I'd make DUS the hub. D'dorf to Cologne (as city) is a quick hop (CGN is way south).

For me the main attraction to Düsseldorf is the beer. Five brewery taps in the Altstadt, all within a short walk of each other. And they serve their beer in .25l (about 8.5 ounces) so "one and done" is less of an issue...

If your schedule has you there on the the 3rd Tuesday of October (Oct 19), one the breweries (Uerige) releases a special beer that day

If you are into modern art, they have a couple of museums with (I'm told) good collections.

As for Wuppertal, as they say "Einmal im Leben durch Wuppertal schweben" (Once in your life you should float thru Wuppertal). I remember when I German teacher back in the day tried to describe it to me and I had no idea what she was trying to tell me :)

If interested in a pretty historic downtown with half-timbered houses etc. then consider adding Hattingen to the mix.

I'm actually taking the train to Hamburg, but that shouldn't matter too much. In 2019 I used trains everywhere (Copenhagen-Berlin-Bamberg-Frankfurt(Eintracht)-Bremen(Werder)-Sinsheim(Hoffenheim)-FRA) and it was easy and affordable. The game at Hoffenheim allowed me to see what was the beginning of the Schalke decline into a 2 Bundesliga team.

Thanks for the good comments from everybody. I see some good places to visit and it looks like Dusseldorf will be the most convenient being at the hub of so many train routes. Essen and Koln are at the ends of my reach for this part of my trip, consuming more time transiting to the places I want to see. I liked the Hattingen idea a lot! That might be a full day on it's own. I'll investigate more the Essen industrial history to see if they will be open for business in October. My gut feeling is that outdoor sites might be quicker to reopen.