Dortmund

Restaurants in Dortmund

There are quite a few restaurants in the city, serving traditional German cuisine, as well as restaurants based on dishes from far and near places. You can find simple and relatively cheap fast food restaurants around Dortmund as well as expensive restaurants with rich and good dishes. There are in the city, and similar to other western cities, fast food chains that are known as favorites of many and also food stalls. In Dortmund, you can find vegetarian and vegan restaurants, meat-free restaurants, restaurants with Mediterranean dishes and, of course, Asian restaurants with dishes typical of the various Eastern countries.

Attractions in Dortmund

A visit to Dortmund is a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about the city itself and about Germany as a whole. There are quite a few sites in the city to stop at, places that justify a visit of an hour or more and also sites that should be included as part of a family vacation in the city with the children. It is very important to plan your stay in Dortmund correctly, and it is recommended to do so in advance, if only to take full advantage of your visit and include all the mandatory stops during your stay.

Here is a short overview of attractions in Dortmund that warrant a stop:

Wastfalestadion Stadium – You can’t talk about Dortmund without mentioning football, or, more precisely, its excellent football team. This stadium, which is considered one of the most popular attractions in the city, and not only for fans of this sport, attracts crowds throughout the year, who want to meet the magic of the team up close. Being the home of the soccer team Borussia Dortmund, the place offers a different and different atmosphere. It is considered one of the most famous football stadiums in Europe and can accommodate over 80 thousand people (standing and sitting) as well as more than 65 thousand people sitting only. This is the largest stadium in Germany, which hosted several matches in the FIFA World Cup in 1974 and 2006, as well as the UEFA Cup final in 2001. Today, it hosts national friendly matches as well as competitions of various European clubs.

Westfalenpark – this charming park is the first to open among the three parks in the same place. While it first opened to the public in 1959, the other two were opened in 1969 and 1991. It is located on the territory of the old Wilhelm Heins Garden, with the tallest German building at the center of it at the time – the Florian Tower, rising to a height of 220 meters. With its 70 dunams, it is one of the largest parks among European city parks and serves as a popular destination for visiting the area. It presents its visitors with over 3,000 different types of roses and regularly hosts concerts and various events.

The Dortmund Zoo (Dortmund Zoo) – this is, without a doubt, one of the most prominent attractions in the city, the one that attracts many families with children as well as animal lovers. The Dortmund Zoo specializes in keeping and breeding animal species coming from South America and is located in the southern part of the city. It was first opened to the public in May 1953 and has since been known as an attractive and pleasant destination.

The German Football Museum – This football museum, also known as the DFB-Museum, is the national museum for German football in Dortmund and it opened for the first time on October 23, 2015. After the 2006 World Cup, which took place in Germany, the DFB decided to finance its establishment from the profits of the World Cup of an international football museum. Out of 14 cities that submitted nominations, the city of Dortmund won the majority of votes. The construction of the museum began in September 2012 and its official opening ceremony took place on April 29, 2013. The museum itself is located near the main train station and is also very prominent thanks to its special architectural structure.

Dortmund U-Tower – Migdal U, or Dortmunder U is a former brewery building in the city, which has become, since 2010, a center of nationalism and creativity. In 1994, the brewery was closed and all its buildings were destroyed, with the exception of the tower itself, which served as the city’s flagship project. Today it is considered one of the main places in Dortmund where events of all kinds are held. The Center for Arts and Crafts mainly exhibits works from the 20th and 21st centuries, which give room for innovative concepts of cultural education in the digital age. The center is a partner in various regional as well as international projects in the field of art, research, creativity and education and is a center of attraction for many visitors throughout the year.

Ostwall Museum (Museum Ostwall) – The Ostwall Museum is a museum of modern and contemporary art in Dortmund, which first opened in the late 1940s. It has been in the U-Dortmund tower since 2010 and includes collections of paintings, sculptures, objects and photographs from the 20th century as well as over 2,500 graphic works interpreting expressionism through classical modern art to contemporary art. The museum also owns 26 works by Pablo Picasso from the 1940s and 1950s and works by Marc Chagall, Salvador Dali, Joan Miró, Paul Klee, Otto Dix, Alberto Giacometti and more.

MKK Museum – Museum fur Kunst und Kulturgeschichte – this is a municipal museum in Dortmund, a museum of art, history and culture. It is located in an Art Deco building in the city, which was used as a bank in the past and is considered one of the most interesting attractions in the city. Its collections include paintings, sculptures, furniture and applied art, illustrating the cultural history of Dortmund from the beginning of the 20th century, and it also hosts temporary exhibitions and permanent exhibitions of art and culture.

Borusseum (Museum of the Borussia Dortmund Football Team) – The Borusseum Museum focuses on one of the most prominent football clubs in the world, the club of the Borussia Dortmund football team. It mainly documents the history of the football department in the city since 1909 and is located in the northeast corner of the stadium. The idea for the establishment of this museum was conceived by the fan and chairman, at the time, Olaf Soplitsky, when he saw how the club’s trophies were handled in his VIP area. On December 19, 2009, the museum was opened to the public for the first time in the presence of the president and other important personalities.

Car rental in Dortmund

Those who come to the city usually do so with the car they rented and as part of a more comprehensive trip in the country. Renting a car in Dortmund can be relevant mainly for travelers, whether they are couples, individuals or families with children, who wish to travel in other regions of Germany or to travel in the style of a star trip (to spend the night in the city itself and every day to go out from it to nearby destinations and return to it, for an overnight stay). The rented car can be picked up from the airport after landing or at the offices of the car rental companies in the city itself.

Flights to Dortmund

As of today, there are no direct flights from Israel to Dortmund, but those who want to get there can find flights with intermediate stops. These flights depart from Ben Gurion Airport and land in various destinations in Europe, from where they continue directly to the airport next to the city. The airlines that offer flights with intermediate stops to Dortmund are: Lufthansa, Wise Air and other companies. It is highly recommended to conduct a market survey and compare the various options to find the most affordable flight, the one that meets all needs. Flights to Dortmund land at the airport which is 10 km from the city. This airport is mainly used for low-cost flights and charter flights.

When should you fly to Dortmund?

Most visitors to the city come to it in one of the following two periods: near Christmas or in the height of summer. In the months of November and December, the city becomes particularly festive and charming Christmas markets are held throughout it, attracting many. both locals and tourists from all over the world. In the summer months, between June and August, the temperatures in the city are very pleasant and you can enjoy a caressing warmth, which makes visiting the city much more comfortable, compared to the cold and rainy seasons. During this period there is a very high demand for places to stay in the city, which requires a reservation in advance and preferably several months before arrival.

For those who choose to fly to Dortmund, you should take into account special events, which are recommended to include during the visit:

Fans of electronic music should come to Dortmund in April, when the Music Festival Wizard is held there. This festival is known as one of the most prominent and respected festivals in Europe, the one that has been held in the city for over 25 years and attracts more than half a million fans each time.