Bonn: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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EUR 68 - 105 Hotel Eden - Am Kurpark
 Located directly beside a park in the elegant district of Bad Godesberg, this 3-star hotel with free Wi-Fi access is a tranquil, central and comfortab… MoreEUR 69 - 129 Hotel Astoria Bonn
 This hotel offers comfortable accommodation in Kassenich, a southern district of historic Bonn. It lies just 3 kilometres from the city centre and enj… MoreEUR 70 - 170 Hotel Ambassador
 This 3-star hotel enjoys a quiet yet central location in the Bad Godesberg district of Bonn. From the nearby underground station, you can reach the ci… MoreEUR 77 - 420 Hilton Bonn
 This 4-star hotel in Bonn is beside the River Rhine, just 500 metres from the Beethoven-Haus museum. It offers a spa with pool, 2 restaurants, and Wi-… MoreEUR 55 - 999 Haus Müllestumpe
 This hotel is in Bonn´s green Auerberg district. It is surrounded by a park with parrots, and the Rhine river is only 350 metres away. The hotel… MoreEUR 63 - 119 Hotel Alexander
 This traditional, family-run hotel offers a free buffet breakfast, stylish restaurant and cosy rooms with free Wi-Fi. It lies in the west of Bonn, wit… MoreEUR 40 - 90 Hotel Am Römerhof
 This family-run, 3-star hotel lies in the heart of Bonn, around a 10-minute walk from the Old Town and 300 metres from the nearest U-Bahn (underground… MoreEUR 61 - 88 Hotel Am Roonplatz
 Just a 10-minute walk from Bonn Central Station, this hotel is located in Bonn’s Südstadt district. It offers free Wi-Fi, free parking and traditio… MoreEUR 50 - 112 acora Hotel und Wohnen
 This 3-star hotel lies in the northern district of Tannenbusch in Bonn, just 300 metres from the Tannenbusch U-Bahn (underground) station and a 7-minu… More | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bonn: Guide
Bonn was the former capital of the Federal Republic of Germany (previously, West Germany) and lies on the river Rhine some 20 km south of Cologne. The city remains a popular choice for large-scale exhibitions and conferences. Bonn is best known culturally as the birthplace of Ludwig van Beethoven. Population 315,000.
Understand
Bonn's beginning dates to between 13 - 9 BC when Romans began building roads, bridges, and fortresses at a location known as "Bonna". One well documented event was the maryrdom of two Thebaean legionaries. The Thebaean Legion was an all Christian legion, which refused to worship the emperor as a god. As punishment the Thebaean Legion's commander, Mauritius was executed in St. Moritz as were many other Thebaean legionaries including Cassius and Florentius, Bonn's patron saints, who were martyred at the location of the present-day Münster basilica.
After the Romans left the town had a very tumultuous history. Bonn has been destroyed and pummeled on so many occassions that it nearly became a pastime. Norman invaders were the first to burn the town to the ground in 881 and again in 892. In 1198 King Philip of Swabia and Duke Heinrich von Brabant layed seige to Bonn. In 1244 Konrad von Hochstaden, archbishop of Cologne ordered Bonn to be fortified. The reasons for fortrification may have been for the Archbishop's protection as he had apparently begun fighting with Cologne's leaders and often resided in Bonn after the dispute. In 1288 under Sigfried II von Westerburg the archbishopric was transferred from Cologne to Bonn, which has since been transfered back to Cologne.
In 1582 Archbishop Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg converted to Calvinism and refused to give up his position as elector. In February of 1583 Waldburg married and was in April of the same year excommunicated by Pope Gregory XIII. After the Truschessian War Gebhard fled to Strassbourg, but not before Bonn felt the rapture of Bavarian troops, who blew up the Godesberg (the archbishop's residence) with 1,500 punds of gun powder. While the town survived the Thirty Years war Bonn was completely destroyed in 1689 as a result of the War of the Grand Alliance.
In December 1770 Bonn's most famous son, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born on Bonngasse. Bonn is probably best known as Beethoven's birth place and this fact is well advertised by the city despite Beethoven vehement disgust towards his hometown. Beethoven spent some time in Vienna hoping to study with Mozart, but after his mother's death he was forced to return to Bonn for five years to raise his two younger brothers since his alcholic father was unable to. In 1772 Beethoven returned to Vienna never to have returned to Bonn.
Get in
By air
The closest airport to Bonn is the Cologne-Bonn (German: Köln-Bonn) airport (, ). The airport handles far more air cargo traffic than passengers, but since the airport has become the hub for a few low-cost air carriers the airport has seen a nearly two-fold rise in passenger traffic. From outside of Europe the airport is a very well kept secret - airlines will often offer on par or better rates to CGN than some of Europe's larger airports like Gatwick, Heathrow, or Charles de Gaul. Several flights from New York City cost as low as $400 round trip.
From the airport, take the 670 airport bus to the middle of Bonn city. It leaves every 20-30 minutes from near the taxi stands at the airport. You can also take a train from the airport to Bonn-Beuel, which is the other side of the river from Bonn city (Zentrum).
By train
Cafetiero: best Latte Macciato in the town, but open only during the day. Location: Mauspfad in pedestrian area
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikitravel article "Bonn". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.5 license.Get around
See
The former capital
Museums and Galleries
Do
Festivals
Music & Theatre
Learn
Buy
Eat
Bierhaus Machold on Heerstrasse, near the corner of Wolfstrasse, Altstadt (Old City). Food from 17:00-23:00. . Excellent German food and good beer in a nice pub. Beer garden in summer. Try the Jägerschnitzel! 7-15 EUR for mains.
Soup in the city a small bistro, where you get soups and salads, hand made and really good. Also fruit juices and baguettes. You can eat for 4-8 EUR. Open: Monday - Friday 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday 12 a.m. tp 4 p.m. Web (only german) Drink
Cafe Einstein: very close to Cafetiero - great coffee (beats Starbucks) and one of the few branches of this Berlin-based chain outside of Berlin
Café Blau (blue): mainly visited by students, this café is located in the entrance hall of a public swimming pool. It is kind of "cult" to go there, even the food is not so good. Location: Franziskaner Strasse.
Brasserie: large café, brasserie, restaurant. Really good brunch on sundays. Location: Remigius Platz (near Marktplatz)
Café Fassbender: they have the best cake in town. It is a pastry shop and a café. Often very crowded, also for elderly people nice to visit. Location: Corner Sternstrasse and Dreieck.Sleep
Budget
Mid-range
Splurge
Contact
Get out
Cologne
Drachenfels (1010 ft.), crowned by the ruins of a castle built early in the 12th century by the archbishop of Cologne, rises behind the town. From the summit, which can be accessed by the Drachenfels Railway, there is a magnificent view, celebrated by Lord Byron in Childe Harold's Pilgrimage. A cave in the hill is said to have sheltered the dragon which was slain by the hero Siegfried.