Duisburg

Landschaftspark, Ruhrort and the Innenhafen over a Duisburg weekend

A weekend in Duisburg covers the old centre and Innenhafen, the docks at Ruhrort and the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord. Day one runs from the Salvatorkirche and Mercator's maps in the city museum to a harbour cruise and the inland shipping museum. Day two takes tram 903 to the former ironworks park.

Day one, morning. Start in the old centre at the Salvatorkirche and the Rathaus, with the Mercator fountain in front, then walk down to the Innenhafen. Visit the city museum for Mercator's globes and maps, and see the converted mill of the Küppersmühle for post-war German art.

Afternoon. Take tram 901 to Ruhrort. Board a harbour cruise from the Schifferbörse pier for a tour of the docks, then visit the Museum of German Inland Shipping, set in a former Art Nouveau swimming baths. Walk out along the Mühlenweide to the Rheinorange at the mouth of the Ruhr.

Evening. Return to the Innenhafen for dinner on a canal-side terrace.

Day two, morning. Ride tram 903 to the Landschaftspark Duisburg-Nord. Climb blast furnace 5 to its upper platform, look into the old casting halls, and watch the climbers on the walls of the ore bunkers. The park is free to enter and open all day.

Afternoon. Head south on the 903 towards Wanheim and walk up the Heinrich-Hildebrand-Höhe to Tiger & Turtle, whose steel track loops above the Rhine. On the way back, stop at the Lehmbruck Museum in the Kantpark for its modern sculpture.

Evening. On a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, go back to the Landschaftspark at dusk, when the lighting comes on and the furnaces glow red, blue and green. Blast furnace 5 itself is closed to climbers after dark.

Tiger & Turtle, by the artists Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth, opened on 12 November 2011 as a project of the Ruhr.2010 cultural capital year. Its 220 m track rises just over 20 m to the top of the loop; you can climb everywhere except the loop itself, up to a highest walkable point of 13 m. The spoil heap beneath, the Heinrich-Hildebrand-Höhe in the Angerpark, is partly slag from a zinc smelter. After dark, 880 LEDs in the handrails light the track.

Sauerbraten in Ruhrort and kebabs on Weseler Straße

Duisburg eats cheaply and well, with Rhineland pub cooking on one side and Turkish kitchens on the other. Try Rheinischer Sauerbraten or Himmel und Äd in the Ruhrort taverns, Currywurst at a snack bar and the kebab houses on Weseler Straße, and drink König Pilsener, brewed in Beeck.

Duisburg is no gourmet destination, but it eats well and cheaply. The city's food has two sides: Rhineland pub cooking and the Turkish kitchens of its large immigrant community.

In traditional pubs and Ruhrort's harbour taverns, the menu runs to Rheinischer Sauerbraten, beef marinated in vinegar and slowly braised in a sweet raisin sauce, Himmel und Äd with fried black pudding, and Reibekuchen with apple sauce in the cold months. The snack-bar standard is Currywurst with fries. Wash it down with König Pilsener, known as KöPi, a crisp Pils brewed in the northern district of Beeck and poured all over the Ruhr.

Children and drivers get Sinalco, a lemonade brand now based in Duisburg that claims to be among the oldest soft-drink labels in Europe.

For the best value, head north to Marxloh. Weseler Straße is lined with Turkish grill houses, bakeries selling flatbread and baklava, and shops full of wedding dresses that draw brides from across Germany. Order Adana kebab or a lahmacun, then visit the Merkez Mosque, one of the largest in the country, which welcomes visitors outside prayer times. Hochfeld, south of the centre, has a similar mix.

For a sit-down dinner with a view, the Innenhafen has Italian, Spanish, Asian and German restaurants along the old warehouse quays, many with terraces over the water in summer.

Kaiserswerth, Xanten and Oberhausen by train from Duisburg

Duisburg sits on a rail junction, so most day trips are covered by a VRR ticket or the Deutschlandticket. Düsseldorf is about 15 minutes by regional train, the U79 tram runs to the palace ruins at Kaiserswerth, Xanten's Roman park is under an hour away and the Oberhausen Gasometer is close.

Sitting at a rail junction between the Ruhr and the Lower Rhine, Duisburg makes an easy base for short trips, and most of them are covered by a VRR ticket or the Deutschlandticket.

Düsseldorf is the obvious one: about 15 minutes by regional train to the state capital's Altstadt, the Rhine promenade and the Königsallee. For a gentler approach, ride the U79 tram south to Kaiserswerth, a riverside village on the northern edge of Düsseldorf with the ruins of a palace built for Emperor Frederick Barbarossa. The tram then continues into Düsseldorf.

Xanten, on the Lower Rhine, is under an hour away by regional train. The LVR Archaeological Park has reconstructed walls, a city gate and an amphitheatre on the site of a Roman colony, and the Gothic cathedral of St. Victor dominates the small old town.

Oberhausen, a few minutes east by train, has the Gasometer, a former gas holder more than 100 metres tall that hosts large exhibitions and has a viewing platform on its roof. The giant CentrO shopping centre stands next door.

Closer still, the Sechs-Seen-Platte in the south of Duisburg is a chain of six lakes left by gravel digging, with woods, walking trails and a swimming beach at the Wolfssee.

For the Ruhr's heritage trail, Essen's Zeche Zollverein is about 15 minutes away by train, followed by tram 107 from Essen Hauptbahnhof.