Bucket List

Steel constructions, chimneys and light installations - the Traumzeit Festival brings together industrial culture and a festival feeling. Every summer, the Duisburg-Nord Landscape Park, a former steelworks, is transformed into a stage where audiences and bands sing and dance across genres. And that's not all: where people used to work hard, today you can not only party, but also climb, dive and hike all year round.

For a break from everyday life, head up to the Lower Rhine: Right on the lakeshore in the Dingdener Heide, you can dream as if you were floating in a hammock between the trees. You can reach your tent via a tree-trunk staircase or a rope ladder. There is also a richly filled breakfast basket with welcome sparkling wine and a sweet goodnight greeting - the ideal weekend trip into nature. Our top list for glamping and camping provides you with further information for excursions and even more unusual accommodation tips.

The Tiger & Turtle walk-through rollercoaster is a real eye-catcher in its own right, and the work of art on Heinrich-Hildebrand-Höhe in Duisburg is one of the Ruhr Area's slag heap highlights. This place is particularly enchanting during the first or last hours of the day at golden hour: a visit at sunrise or sunset develops a magic all of its own.

Robust, not particularly large and weatherproof, just made for a free life outdoors: these are the wild horses in the Merfelder Bruch in Münsterland. They live here all year round. And even if it is not always easy to see the herd of around 400 animals, a trip to the nature reserve is always worthwhile. You can find out where else it's really wild in our top list of wild animals.

The building by architect Frank Gehry with its red brick surfaces, gleaming stainless steel and flowing, angled shapes is considered one of the most unusual museum buildings in the world. This special feature on the outside also has an effect on the exhibitions on the inside: The Marta is not simply an art museum, but sees itself as a museum for art, architecture and design.

Drachenburg Castle towers majestically over the Rhine near Bonn in the middle of the Siebengebirge. From up here, visitors have a breathtaking view of the river. However, the ascent also takes breath. Drachenburg Castle is located about halfway up Drachenfels, where Siegfried, the legendary hero from the "Song of the Nibelungs", is said to have killed the dragon Fafnir in order to bathe in his blood and become invulnerable. It takes 15 to 30 minutes to walk to the top, depending on your pace and fitness level. If you want to avoid the strenuous climb, you can simply take the Drachenfels cable car at the bottom and ride up to the summit, with Drachenburg Castle as a stopover on the way there.

A sea of rocks formed by the influence of water, wind and people. A path, an undulating bridge and a viewing platform wind their way across it. The Hemer Felsenmeer is a national geotope. It is home to one of the oldest iron ore mining areas in the Sauerland region, as well as rare plants and bats. A very special place that is a real eye-catcher, especially in autumn.