Bonn

One of the oldest and most important Romanesque churches in Germany, built mainly in the 11th–13th centuries over the graves of the Roman-era martyrs Cassius and Florentius, Bonn's patron saints — the city's name is sometimes linked to their cult. A minor basilica since 1920, its crossing tower and cloister survived WWII largely intact, and the adjoining cloister (Kreuzgang) is one of the best-preserved Romanesque cloisters on the Rhine.

Free (donations welcomed)

The open square in front of the Münster is anchored by a large bronze statue of Beethoven, unveiled on August 12, 1845 to mark the composer's 75th birthday and the first-ever Beethoven Festival, largely funded by public subscription (Franz Liszt was among the donors). Restored in 2022 to remove decades of grime while preserving its historic patina, the statue and the surrounding cafe-lined square are the natural heart of a Bonn old-town stroll.

Free

Built 1737–38 in a delicate pink-and-white Rococo style by court architect Michel Leveilly for the Elector of Cologne, this is Bonn's most recognizable civic building and remains in use for official receptions today — Bonn's mayor still greets state visitors on its steps. It sits directly on the sloped Marktplatz, a favorite spot for photos with the Münster towers visible behind it.

Free exterior view (interior is used for city functions and not generally open to the public)

Bonn's old town is smaller and less medieval-postcard than Cologne's, having been more thoroughly rebuilt after WWII, but its pedestrianized core — centered on the sloped Marktplatz with its twice-weekly produce market (Wed & Sat mornings) — is genuinely pleasant to wander, threading past the Sterntor (a reconstructed medieval gate fragment), Remigiusplatz, and a dense grid of cafes, bookshops and student-town bars radiating out from the university.

Free

Built from the late 17th century as the residence of the Electors of Cologne after Bonn was named their capital, this four-wing Baroque palace was badly damaged by fire in 1777 and again in WWII, then rebuilt to house the University of Bonn (founded 1818) — now one of Europe's largest palace-turned-university buildings. It fronts the Hofgarten, a broad lawn that has hosted everything from royal parades to student sunbathing. As of 2024 the building is in the early stages of a major renovation planned to run at least a decade, so parts of the facade or courtyard may be under scaffolding — the Hofgarten itself remains fully open.

Free to view the exterior and Hofgarten; interior is a working university, not a public museum

Villa Hammerschmidt, built in 1863 as a private neoclassical mansion and known locally as 'Bonn's White House,' served as the official Bonn residence of West Germany's federal president and still hosts him on visits to the city today. Next door, Palais Schaumburg — another converted 19th-century industrialist's villa — was the federal chancellery through the entire Bonn Republic era, from Adenauer to Kohl. Both are heavily secured working government buildings, so casual visitors see only glimpses of the facades from Adenauerallee or the Rhine-side gardens; occasional guided tours are announced separately and require advance booking.

Free to view from outside the fence/promenade; guided interior tours (when offered) are separately ticketed

Built from 1210 by the Archbishop of Cologne on an extinct volcanic hill, the Godesburg was largely destroyed in an 1583 siege during the Cologne War and left a ruin for three centuries, until Kaiser Wilhelm II gifted it to the town in 1891. The surviving 32-meter keep (Bergfried) was restored and reopened for climbing, with a small exhibition on the castle's history inside; the rest of the hilltop — ruined walls, a medieval graveyard, and a restaurant occupying a 1959 rebuild — is free to wander, with sweeping views over Bad Godesberg, the Rhine, and the Siebengebirge from the top.

Keep (Bergfried) climb: adult €1, child/youth €0.50, family (2 adults + children) €2; grounds/ruins otherwise free

An independent spa town until it merged into Bonn in 1969, Bad Godesberg built its identity on a mineral spring discovered in the 18th century — the surrounding Kurpark (spa park), a Baroque-style Kurhaus, and a small casino still trade on that genteel heritage. Its own stretch of Rhine promenade, a short walk from the park, is quieter and less touristed than central Bonn's riverside, and the town also served as the diplomatic quarter during the Bonn Republic era, with several former embassies still dotted through its leafy streets.

Free to walk

Beethoven was born in an attic room of this Bonngasse townhouse in December 1770, and lived here through his childhood before leaving for Vienna in 1792. Saved from demolition and turned into a museum in 1889, it now holds the world's largest Beethoven collection — manuscripts, instruments including one of his last pianos, and personal effects — alongside a modern digital 'Beethoven Museum' wing. A special Andy Warhol exhibition runs September 9, 2026 through April 5, 2027, during which admission prices rise slightly.

Adult €15 / child €10 (standard); rises to adult €17 / child €12 during the Sept 9, 2026 – Apr 5, 2027 Warhol exhibition; family ticket (2 adults + kids under 18) €65

Opened in 1994 on the Museumsmeile, this is the national museum of West and reunified Germany's history — from the rubble of 1945 through the founding of the Federal Republic (with Bonn as its 'temporary' capital for four decades), the Cold War division, and reunification, told through an unusually rich mix of everyday objects, film, and full-scale reconstructions like a 1950s living room and a stretch of the Berlin Wall. With around a million visitors a year it's consistently one of Germany's most-visited museums, helped considerably by free admission.

Free

Opened in its current Axel Schultes-designed building in 1992 (part of the same complex as the neighboring Bundeskunsthalle), the Kunstmuseum Bonn holds one of Germany's most important collections of German Expressionism — especially August Macke, a Bonn resident and member of the Rheinische Expressionisten group — alongside post-war and contemporary German art.

Reported adult pricing varies by source (roughly €7-12 for the permanent collection, more for special exhibitions) — check kunstmuseum-bonn.de for the current rate before visiting

Completed in 1992 and instantly recognizable for the blue conical skylights dotting its roof (one per invited artist, including Georg Baselitz), the Bundeskunsthalle has no permanent collection — it exists purely to host major touring exhibitions spanning art, history, science and culture, and regularly lands blockbuster international shows. What's on varies completely by visit date, so check current exhibitions before planning around a specific theme.

Day ticket €14 adult / €7 reduced; combined ticket with Kunstmuseum Bonn €20 adult / €10 reduced; free for visitors up to and including age 18; free on German Unity Day (Oct 3)

A smaller satellite of Munich's Deutsches Museum, opened in 1995 to focus specifically on German scientific and technological achievement since 1945 — nuclear physics, laser technology, and space research among the themes — with interactive stations that make it more hands-on than a typical history museum. A good, less-crowded stop at the quieter southern end of the Museumsmeile.

Adult approx. €9 — check deutsches-museum.de/bonn for current pricing and any reductions

Founded by ornithologist Alexander Koenig and opened in 1912, this natural history museum is known for its large-scale taxidermy dioramas recreating African savanna and rainforest scenes, alongside a serious research collection as part of the Leibniz Institute for Animal Biodiversity. It also has a notable footnote in political history: the Parliamentary Council met in its lecture hall in 1948–49 to draft West Germany's founding constitution, the Basic Law (Grundgesetz).

Day ticket €6 adult / €3 reduced

One of the largest and oldest regional museums in Germany, the LVR-LandesMuseum traces the Rhineland's cultural history from prehistoric times through the Roman era and Middle Ages to the present, in a purpose-built early-20th-century building near the university. Its permanent exhibition 'Welt im Wandel' (World in Transition) anchors the collection alongside a strong holding of Rhenish painting and sculpture; the ground-floor archaeology galleries covering prehistory through the early medieval period are closed for renovation until around March 2027, so check current scope before visiting if that's your main interest.

€11 adult / €7 reduced; free under 18; free on the first Friday of each month

A 17th-century bastion from Bonn's old city fortifications, used from the 18th century to collect river tolls and customs duties — hence the name ('old customs'). Its raised terrace was landscaped into a public promenade in the 19th century and still carries two Napoleonic-era cannons as a reminder of its military past. Today it's simply the best free viewpoint in the city center: a sweeping look up the Rhine toward the Siebengebirge hills, right at the edge of the Hofgarten.

Free

Built from 1715 as a summer residence for the Electors of Cologne and connected to the main Kurfürstliches Schloss by a dead-straight processional avenue (the Poppelsdorfer Allee), this Baroque palace now houses university science departments and, more importantly for visitors, the University of Bonn's botanical garden in its grounds — laid out from 1818 with historic glasshouses, a lily pond, and themed collections covering more than 8,000 plant species.

Palace exterior/courtyard free; botanical garden free on weekdays, €4 adult / €2 reduced on weekends and public holidays

Laid out on former floodplain for the 1979 Bundesgartenschau (Federal Garden Show) and handed to residents afterward, this 160-hectare park is Bonn's biggest and most-used green space — a lake for pedal boats, a genuine Japanese garden, rose gardens, and a 45km network of paths popular with joggers, cyclists and picnickers on a warm afternoon. It sits directly south of the Museumsmeile, making it an easy add-on to a museum day.

Free

Completed in 2002 and designed by Helmut Jahn, this 162.5-meter twisting glass tower is Bonn's tallest building and the headquarters of Deutsche Post DHL Group — a striking modern counterpoint to the government quarter and Rheinaue nearby. A 30th-floor visitor level offers panoramic views over the city, Rhine and Siebengebirge, but it is not routinely open to the public: access is normally limited to an annual company Open Day and occasional pre-booked tours, so treat this primarily as an exterior/skyline landmark rather than a plan-around destination.

Free to view from outside; interior visitor-floor access is rare and not guaranteed — check Deutsche Post DHL's site for any announced Open Day or tour dates

Laid out in 1715 as a burial ground outside the city walls and closed to new burials in 1884, this three-hectare cemetery became a fashionable resting place for university professors and notables after the University of Bonn's founding in 1818. Its best-known grave is the shared monument to composers Robert and Clara Schumann, alongside the grave of Beethoven's mother and members of Friedrich Schiller's family, all set among mature trees and elaborate 19th-century sculptural monuments by artists including Karl Friedrich Schinkel. It's a quiet, contemplative walk rather than a conventional sight, and free to wander.

Free