10 Best Family Things to Do in Dusseldorf

Phantasialand is a family-fun amusement and theme park offering thrill rides, games, carnival-style food and live entertainment in several themed worlds from real-world to fantasy settings. This park attracts millions of visitors annually and has been offering family entertainment since 1967 with themed areas including Berlin, Mexico, China, Africa, a medieval village and a fantasy world. The park features 7 roller coasters, 4 water rides, 3 thrill rides, 3 dark rides, and dozens of other rides, games and attractions.

Between rides, you can stop and grab food at one of the brilliant takeaway food stands or sit-down eateries, and you can take in occasional live shows featuring music and dance. It’s an hour south of the city centre.

Movie Park is a traditional theme park featuring entertainment, rides, games and food all themed around the culture, history and making of movies. The park consists of 7 themed areas including the Hollywood Street Set, the Streets of New York, Nickland, the Old West, the Santa Monica Pier, Adventure Lagoon and Federation Plaza. It features 9 roller coasters, 5 water rides and dozens of other attractions throughout its many park areas.

The park is famed for its shows including the Nicktoons Character Show, Action Stunt Show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show and others. The annual Halloween Horror Fest is a major draw with more than 250 scare rides. The park is about 30 miles north of Dusseldorf.

Toverland is an amusement theme park located in the Netherlands about an hour northwest of Dusseldorf featuring rides, games, food and fun for the family. Opened in 2001, the park has grown throughout the years and was awarded the European Star Award for theme parks. It’s divided into 6 themed areas including Land van Toos, Wunder Wald, Ithaka, Magische Vallei, Port Laguna and Avalon. Land van Toos and Wunder Wald are indoors, making them ideal for rainy days, and they still offer thrill rides and roller coasters.

In all, the park fields 5 roller coasters and 4 water rides, plus dozens of other attractions and rides. The park attracts more than 500,000 visitors every year.

Irrland is a zoo, adventure and recreational theme park with indoor and outdoor adventures for kids and adults alike to enjoy on a special day out. This fun park is geared largely towards children and offers rides like tricycle courses, twisty slides, Bobby Car Hill and go-kart courses. Some more adult-oriented attractions include super-fast slides, so there’s enjoyment for the grown-ups, too.

The park covers more than 300,000 square metres of space, and the onsite zoo includes small animals, some of which the kids can pet. The family can navigate a plant maze, or the kids can run and play in a gigantic adventure playground. It’s about 45 minutes northwest of Dusseldorf.

The Rheinturm, or Rhine Tower, is a telecommunications tower with a stunning viewpoint and rotating restaurant that offers views of the city from 170 metres in the air. The tower rises 240.5 metres above the ground, with the viewpoint and restaurant about halfway up. It’s one of the tallest buildings in the city and towers over the skyline. It takes the restaurant about an hour to make a full rotation, so during the time you’re eating you’ll get a full 360-degree view of the city for miles in every direction.

The food is delicious, the history of the tower is enchanting, and the kids will love the rotating skyline views. It’s right in the city centre.

Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum is an aquarium in a vast urban park showcasing more than 500 species of native and exotic aquatic creatures that you can see up close. This zoo underwent a massive 3-year renovation that expanded its offerings to a stunning showcase divided among 25 rooms. You’ll get to see freshwater and oceanic creatures here while learning all about the ecology of the waterways, the diversity of creatures underwater and the importance of their survival to the world we all share.

The aquarium is located in the heart of the city’s Nordpark, a vast green space with picnic areas, sports pitches and walking paths to complete your day out. It’s about 20 minutes north of the city centre.

Wildpark Grafenberger Wald is a zoological park with dozens of native animals that you’ll get to see in their natural habitat, some up close. This lush, forested park hosts around 100 animals including wild boar, wildcats, raccoons, deer, foxes and many others. Most of the animals can be fed vegetables and fruits, and the deer are so friendly they will come up and eat right out of visitors’ hands, which little kids love. The forest also offers hectares of walking paths to just enjoy getting back to nature.

Best of all, entry to the wildpark is completely free, making it a great option for families on a budget. It’s about 20 minutes northeast of the city centre.

The Neanderthal Museum is a unique exhibit that traces the history and evolution of humankind from our origins as apes to the missing link before we became as we are. This attraction will be of special interest to older kids and teens as it explores evolution over 4 million years with interactive and exciting exhibits including lifelike sculptures and multimedia presentations. After viewing the exhibition, walk the Neanderthal Valley that showcases animal species from the ice age that survive even today, such as European bison and other back-bred animals.

The lower level of the museum hosts rotating exhibits every few months, many of which may be of interest to the little ones. It’s 30 minutes east of the city.

Rheinuferpromenade is a riverfront promenade lined with shops, cafes, restaurants, walking and cycling paths and attractions all situated right along the beautiful and iconic Rhine. This vibrant urban park in the heart of the city centre was the result of a 1990s effort to beautify the waterfront area, and today it’s filled with independent shops selling gifts, souvenirs and high fashion and is dotted with restaurants and cafes. It offers cycling trails and step seating to watch the boats sail along one of the world’s most iconic rivers.

From here you can take a cruise, explore the Old Town or attend a festival. Your whole family will escape from the hustle and bustle while the kids run and play.

Freizeitbad Düsselstrand is a family-fun water park with lightning-fast water slides, splash zones, lazy river attractions and all manner of water fun for the family. The park includes indoor and outdoor adventures, and besides water slides it offers paddling and swimming pools, water fitness programmes, games, food and even a sauna where the adults can enjoy a full spa treatment to relax and recharge while the kids play all day long. A children’s area includes a shallow pool with water-spitting animal statues.

Other amenities include a water polo pool, water basketball, a play pool with bubble loungers, 3 whirlpools and a lounge area with a full restaurant. It’s 15 minutes west of the city centre.