Winter moments of happiness

An unrivalled natural spectacle takes place every year on the Lower Rhine: in the cold season, around 250,000 wild geese land between Duisburg and the Dutch border and populate the meadows and watering holes along the Rhine in droves. The chattering of the Arctic white-fronted geese, which use the Lower Rhine as a comparatively warm wintering ground, can be heard from afar. They feel particularly at home in the Bislicher Insel nature reserve, one of the last near-natural floodplain landscapes in Germany. The visitor centre there provides vivid information with a permanent exhibition and excursion offers. NABU's Lower Rhine Nature Conservation Centre in Kleve also offers bus tours to see the geese from mid-November to mid-February.

There are glowing highlights on the peaks of the Ruhr region, as some spoil tips glow particularly beautifully in the dark. Such as the Rheinpreußen spoil tip in Moers: like an oversized red candle, "Das Geleucht" at the top of the spoil tip provides a splash of colour in the dark. Together with the slag heap below it, the walk-in industrial heritage sculpture is around 120 metres high and offers panoramic views day and night across the landscape to Duisburg, Bottrop and Kamp-Lintfort as well as the Rhine and steelworks that are still in operation.

Visitors travel back to the Ice Age in Neandertal, where the world's first Neanderthal man was once unearthed. Right next to the Neanderthal Museum, which tells you everything you need to know about the origins of mankind, is the Ice Age Game Reserve. Here, you can see replicas of prehistoric animals such as aurochs, bison and wild tarpan horses. A small hiking trail leads around the enclosure and very close to the animals.

How good that the days are so short in winter: Because then the twinkling starry sky is not so long in coming. It shines particularly beautifully over the Eifel National Park adventure region, where it is so dark that the Milky Way can be seen with the naked eye. It has even been awarded the "International Star Park Eifel National Park" seal of approval. On clear winter evenings, various offers direct your gaze into the universe, but also sensitise the other sensory organs to the special features of Eifel nature on earth. Trained star guides, for example, invite you on discovery tours through the night. For those who want to sleep in afterwards, the certified star hosts offer just the right thing with late riser breakfasts and late check-outs.

Picnic in winter? Yes, that's right! Münsterland not only invites you to take a break in the parkland in summer, but also packs you a picnic basket in winter. Around 30 municipalities are putting together local and regional gourmet products for the "Give away a picnic" campaign. The filled picnic boxes make a great gift under the Christmas tree, but can also be eaten directly on the next winter picnic outing. And if the ground is too cold or too wet for a break: picnic areas with tables and benches can be found in many places in the region, for example around the many castles and palaces in Münsterland.

Ice skating is simply part of winter. Sports enthusiasts in NRW can do their laps in indoor and outdoor ice rinks. One very special ice rink is located between former coke ovens, rusty pipes and tall chimneys - at the Zollverein UNESCO World Heritage Site in Essen. It gets really romantic here after dark, when the old colliery site is illuminated in colourful lights.