Mönchengladbach travel guide
Borussia's Foals, Hollein's Museum Abteiberg and two moated castles
Mönchengladbach is a former textile city between Düsseldorf and the Dutch border, best known for Borussia's football and the postmodern Museum Abteiberg, with moated castles at Rheydt and Wickrath. Come from May to September, when the castle parks and the Bunter Garten are at their best. Plan a day, perhaps two. Prices are above average, and Schengen rules apply.
Mönchengladbach sits on the flat Lower Rhine plain west of the river, midway from Düsseldorf to the Dutch border at Venlo. Locals shorten it to MG, or Gladbach. It grew rich on cotton and wool, earning the label of the Rhineland's Manchester, and absorbed its twin town Rheydt in 1975. That merger explains why it is a big city that rarely feels like one, with two separate centres, two stations each called Hauptbahnhof and no trams.
Most visitors come for Borussia Mönchengladbach, the Bundesliga club whose young 1970s side earned the nickname Die Fohlen (the Foals). The cultural reason to stop is the Museum Abteiberg, Hans Hollein's terraced postmodern art museum below the medieval minster. Add two moated castles, Schloss Rheydt and Schloss Wickrath, and a viewpoint over the vast Garzweiler lignite mine, and one or two days is plenty. Düsseldorf is close enough for a day out.
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Plan on football, contemporary art on the Abteiberg, two moated castles and the edge of a giant open-pit mine.
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Best time to visit Mönchengladbach
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
The Lower Rhine's warmest months, with events in the Schloss Rheydt grounds and the park at Wickrath; biking is pleasant, but showers blow in quickly off the plain.
Borussia home games at Borussia-Park pack the trains and shuttle buses; weekend hotels fill on big match days.
Damp, grey and mild, with little snow; the Museum Abteiberg and Christmas market are the main reasons to visit.
Bundesliga fixtures against Cologne, Dortmund or Bayern bring the biggest crowds; book rooms and trains early for those weekends.
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Getting there
Regional trains from Düsseldorf and two Hauptbahnhofs
Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), about 40 km east, is the airport to use. The SkyTrain links the terminals to the airport's railway station; from there take a train to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof and change to a regional train or the S8 for Mönchengladbach, about an hour in total. Taxis are quicker in light traffic but costly. Mönchengladbach's own airfield (MGL) has no scheduled passenger flights. The city has two main stations because Rheydt kept its name after the merger. Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof, on Europaplatz in the northern centre, has a few IC and ICE services and regional trains to Düsseldorf, Cologne, Essen, Duisburg, Münster, Koblenz and Venlo. Rheydt Hauptbahnhof, a few kilometres south, sees mainly regional trains. For most long-distance trips, change in Düsseldorf, Duisburg or Cologne. Long-distance coaches also stop in the city. By car, the A52 and A61 meet at the edge of town.
- Düsseldorf Airport
- Train to Düsseldorf Hbf, then regional train; about 1 hour
- Düsseldorf Hbf
- Regional trains and S8, about 25-30 minutes
- Venlo (Netherlands)
- Direct regional trains, about 30 minutes
- Two stations
- Mönchengladbach Hbf for the centre, Rheydt Hbf for Rheydt and Schloss Rheydt
- Check which Hauptbahnhof your ticket names; they are not interchangeable and are several kilometres apart.
- Bring a Deutschland-Ticket or regional day ticket if you plan side trips to Düsseldorf, Cologne or Venlo.
Where to stay
Alter Markt, near the Hauptbahnhof or out by the castles
Stay near the Alter Markt for the Museum Abteiberg and the Waldhausener Straße pubs, or near Mönchengladbach Hbf for trains to Düsseldorf. Hotel choice is limited, so most visitors pick one of these two centres. On Borussia match weekends, Düsseldorf, about 25 to 30 minutes away by train, is often the easier option.
- Altstadt around the Alter Markt
- The minster, the Museum Abteiberg and the pubs of Waldhausener Straße on foot; loud on Friday and Saturday nights
- Near Mönchengladbach Hbf
- Chain hotels and the Minto shopping centre, handy for trains to Düsseldorf; uphill walk to the Altstadt
- Bunter Garten and Bismarckviertel
- Quieter park-side streets with the Dorint Parkhotel; a 15-minute walk to the centre
- Rheydt and Wickrath
- Small hotels near the castles and Rheydt Hbf; quiet, but you depend on buses or taxis in the evening
- On Borussia match weekends, Düsseldorf hotels can be an easier option than the few in Mönchengladbach.
Getting around
Buses, taxis and walking up the Abteiberg
Mönchengladbach shut down its tram networks in the 1950s and 1960s, which makes it one of Germany's largest cities with no urban rail at all. The NEW bus network does the job by day, with routes from both stations to the castles, the hospital and the suburbs, but it thins out sharply in the evening and stops around 11pm. Sunday buses start late in the morning. On Friday and Saturday nights a night bus runs from the Alter Markt and Waldhausener Straße to the outskirts until about 3am. Drivers, machines and the VRR app all sell tickets. Within the Gladbach centre, walking is easy: the Hauptbahnhof to the Alter Markt takes about 15 minutes, uphill. Rheydt and the outer districts are too far to walk, so use a bus, a regional train between the two stations or a taxi. Cycling works well on the flat roads from April to October, though rain arrives quickly.
- Bus 016
- To Schloss Rheydt
- Buses 06, 016 and SB1, or train RB33
- To Wickrath and its castle
- Night bus
- Fridays and Saturdays from the Alter Markt until about 3am
- Walking
- Hbf to the Alter Markt and Museum Abteiberg, about 15 minutes
- Taxis wait at both stations; after 11pm they are the only realistic way home from the Altstadt on weeknights.
Know before you go
Abteiberg museum, castles on the edge of town and Borussia.
Why travelers love it
- The Museum Abteiberg, terraced into the hillside below the minster, with Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter inside.
- Schloss Rheydt, a Renaissance water castle with moats, bastions and a museum of art and history in its rooms.
- A Borussia match in the 54,000-seat Borussia-Park, when much of the city wears black, white and green.
Good to know
- Buses stop early; plan evening returns from Rheydt or Wickrath before about 8pm, or budget for a taxi.
- The Garzweiler mine is strictly off limits; view it only from the official viewpoints at its edge.
Trip fit
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Weather in Mönchengladbach, month by month
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Abteiberg, Schloss Rheydt and Wickrath park in a day and a half
A day and a half covers Mönchengladbach. Walk up from the Hauptbahnhof to the Abteiberg for the Münster St. Vitus and Hans Hollein's Museum Abteiberg, lunch on the Alter Markt, then take bus 016 to Schloss Rheydt. Next morning, see Schloss Wickrath and its park and a viewpoint over the Garzweiler mine.
Morning. Walk up from the Hauptbahnhof to the Abteiberg, the hill where Benedictine monks founded an abbey in the 10th century. The Münster St. Vitus keeps a Romanesque crypt and a high Gothic choir with medieval stained glass. Right below it, Hans Hollein's Museum Abteiberg (opened 1982) steps down the slope in metal-clad pavilions and garden terraces. Its collection of art since the 1960s is excellent, with strong holdings of Beuys and Pop Art.
Lunch. Eat on or around the Alter Markt, the old market square at the top of the hill, then walk through the Bunter Garten, the city's main park, if the weather is good.
Afternoon. Take bus 016 south to Schloss Rheydt, a moated Renaissance palace with bastions and a museum of local history and art in its wings. Allow an hour and a half, then walk the moat paths.
Next morning. Ride bus or train to Wickrath for the baroque Schloss Wickrath and its large park with canals and avenues. Continue to a viewpoint on the edge of the Garzweiler lignite mine to the south-east, where giant bucket-wheel excavators work a pit that has swallowed whole villages. In the afternoon, take the train to Düsseldorf or to Roermond and Venlo across the Dutch border.
Reibekuchen, Altbier and the pubs of Waldhausener Straße
Mönchengladbach eats Lower Rhine food: Reibekuchen potato fritters, Rheinischer Sauerbraten with raisin gravy and Himmel un Ääd in winter. Dark Altbier is the usual tap, with Kölsch also common. For nightlife go to the Alter Markt and Waldhausener Straße on Fridays and Saturdays, and for daytime cafés to Hindenburgstraße.
Mönchengladbach eats like the rest of the Lower Rhine. Reibekuchen, crisp grated-potato fritters, come with apple sauce or on pumpernickel, and are sold at the Christmas market and in pubs. Rheinischer Sauerbraten, pot roast marinated for days and served with a raisin gravy, red cabbage and potato dumplings, is the Sunday dish. Himmel un Ääd, black pudding with mashed potato and stewed apple, turns up on traditional menus in winter.
The beer here leans towards Düsseldorf: dark, hoppy Altbier is the usual tap, served in small straight glasses and replaced as soon as you finish one. Kölsch is also widely poured, a sign of the city's position between the two rivals.
For a night out, the Altstadt is the only real cluster. The Alter Markt and the steep Waldhausener Straße hold the bars, cafes and clubs, which fill with students from the university of applied sciences and fans after home games. Weekday evenings are quiet; Friday and Saturday are busy until late.
Daytime eating is centred on Hindenburgstraße, the main shopping street that climbs from the Hauptbahnhof towards the Altstadt. Cafes and bakeries line it, along with Turkish and Italian places. On match days, stadium sausages and beer at Borussia-Park are part of the ritual.
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How we research our Mönchengladbach travel guide
Mönchengladbach has two Hauptbahnhofs, which is why Deutsche Bahn is the first thing we check. moenchengladbach.de covers the castle bus routes, night buses and museum hours, with the German National Tourist Board for context.
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Checked against trusted sources:
Official website of MönchengladbachGerman National Tourist BoardDeutsche Bahn
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Quick facts on Mönchengladbach for first-time visitors.
General
Mönchengladbach and Rheydt merged in 1975, and Rheydt's main station kept its name. Mönchengladbach Hbf serves the northern centre, Rheydt Hbf the southern one.
The Foals nickname comes from the young, fast team that won five Bundesliga titles in the 1970s.
The Austrian architect Hans Hollein. Opened in 1982, it is one of the landmark buildings of postmodern architecture and holds art from the 1960s onward.
There are no trams; they were closed in the 1950s and 1960s. The S8 and regional trains link the two Hauptbahnhofs and Düsseldorf, but local travel is by bus.
Fridays and Saturdays, when the bars and clubs below the Alter Markt stay open into the early hours, and evenings after Borussia home games. Weeknights are quiet.
Yes. Direct trains reach Venlo in about 30 minutes, and Roermond, with its designer outlet, is a short drive across the Dutch border.
Mönchengladbach shut down its tram networks in the 1950s and 1960s, which makes it one of Germany's largest cities with no urban rail at all. The NEW bus network does the job by day, with routes from both stations to the castles, the hospital and the suburbs, but it thins out sharply in the evening and stops around 11pm. Sunday buses start late in the morning.
Mönchengladbach is best known for:
- The Museum Abteiberg, terraced into the hillside below the minster, with Joseph Beuys, Andy Warhol and Gerhard Richter inside
- Schloss Rheydt, a Renaissance water castle with moats, bastions and a museum of art and history in its rooms
- A Borussia match in the 54,000-seat Borussia-Park, when much of the city wears black, white and green
Getting there
Shuttle buses run from Mönchengladbach Hauptbahnhof to the stadium before and after games; allow plenty of time, as roads around the ground are congested.
Bus 016 to the Schloss Rheydt stop. The castle is a Renaissance water palace with a museum inside.
About 25 to 30 minutes from Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof by regional train or S8.
Timing & weather
Yes, its northern end lies inside the city limits. The pit itself is off limits, but viewpoints on its rim show the scale of the lignite workings.
The best time to visit Mönchengladbach is May to Sep. The mildest, longest days for the castle parks, the Bunter Garten and outdoor tables on the Alter Markt; the Bundesliga season runs from August.
- Summer: May - September (The Lower Rhine's warmest months, with events in the Schloss Rheydt grounds and the park at Wickrath; biking is pleasant, but showers blow in quickly off the plain)
- Football season: August - May (Borussia home games at Borussia-Park pack the trains and shuttle buses; weekend hotels fill on big match days)
- Winter: November - March (Damp, grey and mild, with little snow; the Museum Abteiberg and Christmas market are the main reasons to visit)
Visa & documents
As a Schengen member, Germany shares one set of entry rules with most of the EU. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Pickpocketing at large stations, Christmas markets and on big-city public transport is the main risk in a very safe country. Carry ID and validate paper tickets where required. Call 110 for police and 112 for fire or ambulance.
