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City in Germany · North Rhine-Westphalia

Bochum

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia.

Bochum
Bochum · Tuxyso (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The place

Bochum is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia. With a population of 372,348, it is the sixth-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous German federal state, and the 16th-largest city in Germany. On the Ruhr Heights hill chain, between the rivers Ruhr to the south and Emscher to the north, it is the second largest city of Westphalia after Dortmund, and the fourth largest city of the Ruhr after Dortmund, Essen and Duisburg. It lies at the centre of the Ruhr, Germany's largest urban area, in the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, the second biggest metropolitan region by GDP in the European Union, and belongs to the region of Arnsberg. There are nine institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Ruhr University Bochum, one of the ten largest universities in Germany, and the Bochum University of Applied Sciences.

Adapted from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What is there

Worth seeing in and around Bochum

10 places within 25 km that the world writes about, in the order of how widely: the ones a visitor has heard of first, then the ones only a local would name.

  1. 01
    Ruhrstadion

    Ruhrstadion is a football stadium in Bochum, Germany. It is the home ground for the VfL Bochum and has a capacity of 27,599.

    1.7 km · football stadium in Bochum, Germany · Wikipedia
  2. 02
    Ruhr University Bochum

    The Ruhr University Bochum is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in 1965.

    5.3 km · university in Germany · Wikipedia
  3. 03
    German Mining Museum

    The German Mining Museum in Bochum or DBM is one of the most visited museums in Germany with around 365,700 visitors per year. It is the largest mining museum in the world, and a renowned research establishment for mining history.

    800 m · museum · Wikipedia
  4. 04
    Musiktheater im Revier

    Musiktheater im Revier is the venue for performing opera, operetta, musical theatre and ballet in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It opened on 15 December 1959; it is listed since 1997 as a protected cultural monument.

    9.3 km · opera house in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany · Wikipedia
  5. 05
    Stiepel Priory

    Stiepel Priory is a Cistercian monastery in Stiepel in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in 1988 at the instigation of Franz Hengsbach, first Bishop of the Diocese of the Ruhr.

    5.7 km · monastery · Wikipedia
  6. 06
    Hardenstein Castle

    Hardenstein Castle is a ruined castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The remains lie east of Herbede on the Ruhr River, surrounded by mountains, and are not easily accessible.

    9 km · ruined castle in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany · Wikipedia
  7. 07
    Bochum Railway Museum

    The Eisenbahnmuseum Bochum-Dahlhausen is a railway museum situated south of the city of Bochum in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded by DGEG, the German Railway History Company in 1977 and is based in a locomotive depot that was built between 1916 and 1918 and ceased operation in 1969.

    8.4 km · railway museum in Bochum-Dahlhausen · Wikipedia
  8. 08
    Schauspielhaus Bochum

    The Schauspielhaus Bochum is one of the notable drama theatres in Germany. It is located on Königsallee in Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia.

    1.1 km · theatre in Bochum, Germany · Wikipedia
  9. 09
    University Hospitals of the Ruhr-University of Bochum

    The University hospitals of the Ruhr University of Bochum, German Universitätsklinikum der Ruhr-Universität Bochum, abbreviated UK RUB is a syndicate of six university hospitals and associated facilities of the Ruhr University of Bochum. Founded in 2008 by the merger of formally independent hospitals the UK RUB is now a major provider of health in the Ruhr Metropolitan Region treating over 400,000 patients per year with a strong commitment to research and teaching.

    8 km · syndicate of eight university hospitals and associated facilities of the Ruhr University of Bochum · Wikipedia
  10. 10
    Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil

    The Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil, full German name "Berufsgenossenschaftliches Universitätsklinikum Bergmannsheil GmbH", also referred to as "Bergmannsheil", formerly known as "Bergbau-Berufsgenossenschaftliche Krankenanstalten Bergmannsheil", is a tertiary teaching hospital in Bochum. It is a hospital of the Ruhr-University Bochum and part of the University Hospitals of the Ruhr-University of Bochum.

    1.6 km · Bergmannsheil University Hospitals, Ruhr University of Bochum · Wikipedia

Ranked by the number of language editions of Wikipedia with an article on each, from Wikidata; the sentences are the openings of those articles, CC BY-SA 4.0.

See

What Wikivoyage says to see

There are some flyers explaining the highlights of Bochum published by the marketing office. They are named "Blaue Linie" (blue line) and are available at the tourist office at Huestraße 9 or on the web. A monthly calendar of events is also available there.

  1. 01
    German Mining Museum
  2. 02
    Railway Museum and Station Dahlhausen
  3. 03
    Art Museum

    The focus of the collection is Middle-European and Eastern-European Avant-Garde, German Expressionism, Surrealism, Informal and Cobra.

  4. 04
    City Hall

    The layout is strictly symmetrical, the façade is plain.

  5. 05
    Haus Kemnade

    Today's building was established in Renaissance style in the 17th century on the walls of a former medieval castle.

  6. 06
    Castle Blankenstein

    16, Hattingen (Bus 350 or night bus NE4 direction Hattingen or Schwelm to Burg Blankenstein stop).

From Wikivoyage: Bochum, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Do

Things to do

Jumble Sale. In front of the city hall every third Saturday of the month. Steam-Festival. An exhibition of old, steam-powered trams, about every second year on the ground of Mine Hannover in Bochum-Hordel. FIDENA. Marionette theatre. Bochum Maiabend. Festival with medieval roots on the last weekend of April. Bochum Total. Music festival, one of the largest and most important free music festivals in Germany.

From Wikivoyage: Bochum, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Eat

Where to eat

The traditional cuisine of Bochum is the cuisine of the Ruhr, meaning Westphalian cuisine with strong East-Prussian and Rhenish influences. Typically served was cabbage, rabbit, goat, pork and sometimes pigeons. The cuisine has changed and is still changing. Today, there are more Turkish, Polish, sometimes Russian and Mediterranean influences.

  1. 01
    Bratwursthaus

    Kortumstraße 18 ("Bermuda3Eck/Musikforum" 308/318, "Südring" 350,365,SB37).

  2. 02
    Neuland Küche.Bar.Bühne

    A former corner pub that has turned into a meeting place for artists and students.

  3. 03
    Erdapfel Bochum
  4. 04
    Taubenschlag Gaststätte

    Untere Marktstraße 7.

  5. 05
    Zur Altstadt

    Brückstraße 20.

From Wikivoyage: Bochum, CC BY-SA 4.0. Not yet checked by us.

Go there

Getting to Bochum

Airports
Dortmund (DTM), 28 km · Düsseldorf (DUS), 38 km · Cologne Bonn (CGN), 69 km
Stations
Bochum Hbf, 600 m · Gelsenkirchen Central Station, 8.3 km · Herne station, 6.9 km · Wanne-Eickel Central Station, 6.5 km · Bochum-Dahlhausen station, 8 km
  • Köln (Cologne) → Bochum
    65 km · quickest by road, 1h 33m · €9–12
  • Weeze → Bochum
    72 km · quickest by road, 1h 36m · €9–13
  • Greven → Bochum
    392 km · quickest by road, 6h 17m · €50–70
  • From anywhere
    The planner compares every way there from wherever you are.
    Plan a trip

Road and air are today’s quick answer; timetabled trains, buses and ferries load on the results page from the operators’ feeds.

Not yet researched

No local-transport research exists yet for Bochum

Our researched notes are written from a sourced entry: every shared taxi, boat and village bus with its operator, its rule, its fare and the year we saw it, and what could not be confirmed. Nobody has done that work for Bochum. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

What Wikivoyage says about moving around
  • Go nextIts lush green setting has long been a popular day trip and short stay destination for the city dwellers of Bonn, Düsseldorf, Cologne and other large cities in the region.

From Wikivoyage: Bochum, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us; that article was last edited 2026-09.

The nearest places where the work is done
  1. 01
    VlielandNL

    10 ways of moving, 47 sources

    251 km
  2. 02
    Isle of WightGB

    11 ways of moving, 22 sources

    601 km
  3. 03
    ZermattCH

    8 ways of moving, 26 sources

    609 km
  4. 04
    Helsingborg and the Öresund crossingSE

    6 ways of moving, 13 sources

    622 km
  5. 05
    LundyGB

    7 ways of moving, 11 sources

    826 km

If you know how people move in Bochum – the stand, the rule, the fare – tell us, and the note gets an entry.

Around it

Next door to Bochum

Bochum is 14 km from Essen, the nearest large city, whose note carries the wider picture.

  • Gelsenkirchentown in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany9 km
  • Hernetown in Arnsberg Government Region, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany6.7 km
  • Wittentown in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany9.8 km
  • Hattingentown in the district of Ennepe-Ruhr-Kreis, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany9.4 km
  • Wattenscheidurban district of Bochum, Germany5.7 km
  • Castrophuman settlement in Germany9.9 km