When writing my master thesis at the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis and Information Systems, I spent 7 month in the former German capital. The city is beautifully located aboard the Rhine, just half an hour south of Cologne.
sightseeing
- Government District:
Though the government moved to Berlin more than 15 years ago, still many ministries and administrations are located in Bonn. Most of them are not open to the public such as the Villa Hammerschmidt and the former Bundeskanzleramt. Yet, once a year there is an open day where all the sites can be visited for free. The former Bundestag is open year round.
- Botanical Garden:
Behind the Poppelsdorfer Schloss is the botanical garden. Entrance fee is 2 Euros.
- Open Cast Minig Site Garzweiler II:
Though not directly located in Bonn but close to Cologne the open cast mining area is worth a visit. RWE organizes tours to the site in a truck. You can stand besides one of the amazing giant bucket-wheel excavators.
- Schloss Augustenburg, Brühl:
Between Bonn and Cologne the Bavarian royal Wittelsbacher family built a pictoresque castle which can be easily reached from the train station.
insider.tip
In Kessenich, you can find one of the best Italian restaurants outside Italy. The Sassella hosted already famous guests such as earlier German chancellors and Bill Gates.