After the Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon: Düsseldorf

The Route: Duisburg Hauptbahnhof → Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof → Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof → Duisburg Logistics: Regional train, roughly 15-20 minutes each way. There is no need to book ahead; trains on this corridor run several times an hour throughout the day. Marathon Month: May Duration: Day trip

Duisburg Hbf ──(15-20 mins RE/S1)──> Düsseldorf Hbf ──(walk/tram)──> Rhine Promenade & Altstadt
                                              │
                                              └──(15-20 mins RE/S1)──> Duisburg Hbf

The Rhein-Ruhr-Marathon finishes inside the schauinsland-reisen-Arena on the Sunday, and by Monday most finishers are moving at a fraction of their usual pace. Düsseldorf, one stop down the Rhine from Duisburg, is the correct answer to that problem: a flat riverside city that asks nothing of stiff quads. May in Düsseldorf runs mild, typically somewhere in the high teens Celsius by early afternoon, with the chestnut trees along the Rhine fully in leaf. Regional trains (the RE1, RE2 and several others, plus the S1 S-Bahn) link Duisburg Hauptbahnhof to Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof in about a quarter of an hour; there is no seat reservation system on this short a hop, so a same-day ticket from the machine or the DB Navigator app is enough. Check the current fare at bahn.de or vrr.de before travelling, since regional pricing structures are revised periodically.

The Rhine Promenade

From Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, a tram or a twenty-minute walk down Königsallee brings you to the Rheinuferpromenade, the pedestrianised strip that runs along the river past the Altstadt. It is flat, fully paved, and lined with benches, which makes it close to ideal for a recovery outing: the surface has no cobbles until you turn inland toward the old town itself, and there is nowhere on the promenade you are forced to climb. The Rheinturm, the tall telecommunications tower with its digital clock face counting down in five-second segments, marks the southern end of the walk and gives a fixed point to aim for and then simply stop.

The Altstadt

The old town sits just back from the river, a compact grid of narrow streets that has functioned as Düsseldorf's drinking quarter for well over a century. The traditional Altbier houses here, Uerige among them, brew their own dark, unfiltered beer on the premises and serve it straight from the cask by waiters carrying trays of small glasses rather than taking individual orders. It is not a subtle drink after 42.195 km, but a small one with a plate of Currywurst does the job. For something quieter, the MedienHafen a short tram ride south offers modern architecture by the water, including Frank Gehry's three angular buildings, and a slower pace than the Altstadt on a Monday afternoon.

Getting Back

Trains back to Duisburg run on the same regional lines, roughly every ten to fifteen minutes for most of the day, so there is no last-train pressure to plan around. Allow the same 15-20 minutes for the return leg.