Essen

Worth seeing in and around Essen

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
   University of Duisburg-Essen

   The University of Duisburg-Essen is a public research university in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. In the 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, the university was awarded 194th place in the world.

   1.5 km · university in Germany · Wikipedia
2. 02
   Museum Folkwang

   Museum Folkwang is a major collection of 19th- and 20th-century art in Essen, Germany. The museum was established in 1922 by merging the Essener Kunstmuseum, which was founded in 1906, and the private Folkwang Museum of the collector and patron Karl Ernst Osthaus in Hagen, founded in 1902.

   1.2 km · museum in Essen, Germany · Wikipedia
3. 03
   Essen Minster

   Essen Minster, since 1958 also Essen Cathedral, is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands on the Burgplatz in the centre of the city of Essen, Germany.

   600 m · cathedral · Wikipedia
4. 04
   Golden Madonna of Essen

   The Golden Mother of Good Counsel of Essen is the eldest Roman Catholic sculpture of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Child Jesus. The image is a wooden core covered with sheets of thin gold leaf and is part of the treasury of Essen Cathedral in Germany.

   600 m · sculpture of the Virgin Mary and the infant Jesus in Essen Cathedral, Germany · Wikipedia
5. 05
   Folkwang University of the Arts

   The Folkwang University of the Arts is a university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies, located in four German cities of North Rhine-Westphalia. Since 1927, its traditional main location has been in the former Werden Abbey in Essen in the Ruhr area, with additional facilities in Duisburg, Bochum, and Dortmund, and, since 2010, at the Zeche Zollverein, a World Heritage Site also in Essen.

   7.1 km · German university for music, theater, dance, design, and academic studies · Wikipedia
6. 06
   Essen Abbey

   Essen Abbey was a community of secular canonesses for women of high nobility that formed the nucleus of modern-day Essen, Germany. A chapter of male priests were also attached to the abbey, under a dean.

   600 m · monastery · Wikipedia
7. 07
   Max Planck Institute for Coal Research

   The Max Planck Institute for Coal Research is an institute located in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany specializing in chemical research on catalysis. It is one of the 86 institutes in the Max Planck Society.

   9.6 km · research institute in Mülheim an der Ruhr, Germany · Wikipedia
8. 08
   Aalto Theatre

   The Aalto Theatre is a performing arts venue in Essen, Germany, and is home to the city's opera company Aalto-Musiktheater and the ballet company Aalto Ballett. The Essener Philharmoniker serve as the venue's orchestra.

   400 m · opera house in Essen, Germany · Wikipedia
9. 09
   Glückauf-Kampfbahn

   Glückauf-Kampfbahn is a multi-use stadium in Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

   9.9 km · football stadium · Wikipedia
10. 10
    Stadion Essen

    Stadion an der Hafenstraße, known as Stadion Essen until 2022, is a stadium in Essen, Germany. Located in the borough of Bergeborbeck, it has a capacity of 20,650 spectators.

    4.7 km · stadium in Essen, Germany · 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.

What Wikivoyage says to see

Essen has a wide offer of sights to see and do. You can explore its vast industrial heritage, being home to heavy industry in the past, take part in its cultural life, or just enjoy the vast green spaces that are especially prevalent in the south of the city.

1. 01
   Zeche Zollverein

   181 (tram 107; bus 170, 183.), info@zollverein.de.

2. 02
   Red Dot Design Museum

   Gelsenkirchener Straße 181 (just beside Zeche Zollverein), museum@red-dot.de.

3. 03
   Museum Folkwang

   Goethestraße 41 (Metro U11 Tram 107, 108 stop "Philharmonie"), info@museum-folkwang.essen.de.

4. 04
   Villa Hügel

   Hügel 15, fax: +49 201-6162911, office@villahuegel.de.

5. 05
   Kettwig Historical District
6. 06
   Old Synagogue and Jewish Culture Centre

   Edmund-Körner-Platz 1 (Essen Rathaus station).

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

Things to do

International Christmas Market from late November to early December the streets and historic alleys of the city centre are filled with over 200 arts and crafts stalls. Essen Light Weeks. Enjoy Essen ("Essen genießen", this is a word play since "Essen" translates to "food" as well). Gourmet highlights in autumn. Football: SGS Essen play soccer in Frauen-Bundesliga, the women's top tier.

1. 01
   Lake Baldeney
2. 02
   Spiel

   An annual four-day boardgame trade fair which is also open to the public held in October at the Messe Essen exhibition centre.

3. 03
   Aalto-Theater

   Opernplatz 10,.

4. 04
   Philharmonie Saalbau

   Huyssenallee 53 (Philharmonie station, U11, 107, 108).

5. 05
   Grugahalle

   Messeplatz 2 (Stadtbahn U11, Messe Ost / Gruga station, large parking lots and garages nearby).

6. 06
   Colosseum-Theater

   Altendorfer Straße 1 (Berliner Platz station, use Exit "Ausgang B"),.

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

Where to eat

All these are in the city centre:

1. 01
   Wohnraum im Unperfekthaus

   20, fax: +49 201-8536605, info@unperfekthaus.de.

2. 02
   Gaststätte Im Briefkasten

   Hachestraße 21.

3. 03
   Trattoria La Famiglia

   Hindenburgstraße 9.

4. 04
   Tandori Haus

   Friedrich-Ebert-Straße 84.

5. 05
   Zagreb Grill

   Rottstraße 2.

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

Getting to Essen

Airports

Düsseldorf (DUS), 25 km · Dortmund (DTM), 42 km · Weeze (Niederrhein) (NRN), 63 km

Stations

Essen Central Station, 100 m · Gelsenkirchen Central Station, 8.5 km · Mülheim (Ruhr) Hauptbahnhof, 9 km · Essen Mülheim airfield, 7.5 km · Mülheim West station, 9.9 km

• Dortmund → Essen

  32 km · quickest by road, 48 min · €4–5
  GuideToday
• Weeze → Essen

  59 km · quickest by road, 1h 19m · €8–11
  GuideToday
• Köln (Cologne) → Essen

  59 km · quickest by road, 1h 22m · €7–10
  GuideToday
• 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.

No local-transport research exists yet for Essen

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 Essen. What is above is what we hold from open sources; nothing here pretends to be more.

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