North Rhine-Westphalia Hotels Germany

North-Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia is the most western state Germany and has the highest population and is the most economically successful providing 22% of Germany’s GDP, with land area of 34k sq km. It shares southwestern borders with Belgium, the Netherlands in the west and northwest. It also borders Lower Saxony to the north and northeast, Rhineland-Palatinate to the south and Hesse to the southeast. The state occupies the Rhine-Ruhr urbanised region and many people equate North Rhine Westphalia with industry and urban sprawl. However, almost 52% of the area of the state is used for agriculture and forests cover around 25% of the ground area.

The southern parts of the Teutoburg Forest is in the northeast, the northwestern areas are part of the Northern European Lowlands, and the south east is occupied by the sparsely populated regions of Sauerland and Siegerland. The most important rivers flowing through North Rhine-Westphalia include the Rhine, Ruhr, Ems, Lippe and Weser. The capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia is Dusseldorf, and the largest city Cologne.

There are many major cities including Dortmund, Essen, Duisberg, Aachen, Bonn, Monchengladbach and Munster. North Rhine-Westphalia prides itself on being the densest cultural region in Europe with 573 museums, and unrivalled treasures in art and culture, and with 91 public and 40 private stages host many orchestras, rock concerts as well as a range of other events. There are 14 nature parks and facilities for water sports, riding and golf as well as year-round skiing.

There are many historic sights also, North Rhine-Westphalia has four UNESCO Heritage sites including Cologne Cathedral and Aachen Cathedral, Schloss Augustburg and the former coal mine in Essen – Zeche Zollverein.