North Rhine-Westphalia: Land of Great Contrasts – from Urban to Rural
Facts
- Population 17.95 million.
- Area 34,080 sq. km.
- Fourth largest state, but the most populated.
- Despite industrial history 75% of the state is forests, fields and lakes.
Famous Facts
- Cologne’s Cathedral (Kölner Dom) is one of the biggest Gothic buildings ever constructed.
- Brühl is home to Phantasialand, one of Europe’s first amusement parks and built in the style of Disneyland 38 years ago.
- The skull of ‘Neanderthal Man’ resides in the Rhenish State Museum (Rheinisches Landesmuseum) in Bonn.
- In 794, Charlemagne established Aachen as the capital of his vast Frankish Empire.
Where about
North Rhine-Westphalia (Nordrhein-Westfalen) is bounded to the west by the Netherlands and Belgium. To the north lies Bremen and Lower Saxony, to the east Hesse and to the south Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland. It shares international borders to the west with the Netherlands and Belgium to the south-west.
How to get there
International Airports at Düsseldorf, Cologne and Bonn.
Holiday Ideas
Scenic Rhine Valley | Scenic Rhine Valley | Münster Short Break | Düsseldorf Short Break | Cologne Short Break | Aachen Short Break | Low Cost Break Münster and Osnabrück | Low Cost Break Dortmund | Low Cost Break Lower Rhine Region | Low Cost Break Düsseldorf | Low Cost Break Cologne | Duesseldorf Weekend Break | Luxury City Break: The Hyatt Regency Cologne
