North Rhine-Westphalia Travel Guide

The state of North Rhine-Westphalia (in German "Nordrhein-Westfalen" or short NRW) is highly industriated and, as the name shows, the Rhine is the main river that flows through this region. Ruhr, Wupper, Lippe and Erms are the other rivers that are situated in Europe's largest industrial concentration. Almost 18 million people live in this region, more than 50 per cent of them in one of the big cities like Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne, Recklinghausen or Duisburg. Altogether NRW has 30 cities with more than 100.000 inhabitants - more than 20 per cent of all Germans live in this federal state.

Life pulsates in these cities: concerts, musicals and shows in unusual places. Museums, like the big art museums in Bonn, and theaters of all kinds and in great numbers. Shopping that's a real experience. Here, something is always going on! Europe's most dense and diverse cultural region lies here between the Rhine and Weser rivers, with impressive monuments such as the cathedrals of Aachen and Cologne and hundreds of palaces and castles like Hombroich or Bruhl.

Only a stone's throw away of the pulsing cities you will find large recreation areas with forests, hills, fluvial plains and low mountain ranges. Discover the "Bergisches Land" with its famous old churches, the "Teutoburger Wald" or the "Münsterland." Enjoy a romantic weekend, winter walks and fine cuisine or a skiing holiday in the "Sauerland."