My tips for newcomers (but not limited) to Bonn and around.

What to do? Where to go? Which restaurants and bars would I recommend? where to go for a walk?

I live in Bonn for more than 10 years, it is a nice little town, at first it may seem a bit boring (I know…) but it has surprisingly a lot do and discover. I grew up in a big city (Lisboa) and I am a city person although I love to be in the nature, Bonn definitely doesn’t have the options and flair of a big city like Lisboa and Cologne (I lived there for 5-6 years), but I must say that I learned to love Bonn, and, it is a quite nice and enjoyable town if you know where to go and what to do, it is quite international, diverse and yes, YOU CAN HAVE FUN IN BONN.

Below you have a list of my favorite places, If you have some recommendations that you don’t see in the list, let me know, like you I am always looking for new places to discover.

RESTAURANTS

  • Tapas Bar
    Quite a selection in Bonn:

    • “Der Spanier” : You can find this one in the Alstadt, Bornheimerstr, Spanish goodies shop during the day, Tapas Bar at night, really great atmosphere (maybe the best place in town in terms of atmosphere), nice food, nice people.
    • Still in Altstadt, you have “San Telmo”, nice place, big tables, which you can share and give you an opportunity to meet other people, nice food.
    • “Sa finca” in Bonn-Beuel is also a cool Tapas place with good food.
    • La loca in poppelsdorf, nice food
  • Italian
    Really good places in Bonn, for Pizza and Pasta:

    • My top italian restaurant in Bonn is “eat italian” – AMAZING food – located in Altstadt close to the Rhein
    • My top pizza place is Tuscolo, wood oven, tasty and big Pizzas. 2 restaurants, one in town and one in Altstadt (even better Pizza). You can’t be in Bonn and don’t go for a Pizza in Tuscolo!!!
    • Borsalino: good pizza, good pasta, a nice little Italian restaurant in the Altstadt.
    • Vapiano: it is a Bonn franchise that grew to the world, you can find them in many countries in the world. Recommended for fresh pasta, pizza and salads. You can find it in the B9 close to the museums.
    • Antica Pizzeria Nennillo, nice napolitan pizza close to the Frauenmuseum in Altstadt.
    • L’Osteria, 2 locations in Bonn, close to the Rhine at the Bonner Bogen (Ramersdorf) and in the center. Good pizza, good pasta.
  • Asians
    • May May (Center):  in the center is a great Vietnamese small restaurant, really nhammy food and my personal favorite!
    • Makiman (Center, Beuel and suedstadt):  good sushi, good Korean food, Korean grill in suedstadt.
    • Ichiban (Center): Good sushi place, nice place to sit outside during the summer.
    • Mandu (Center): very small but very tasty,  Korean food.
    • Saigon (Altstadt): Probably the best Vietnamese in Bonn.
    • Cay Tre, My new favorite, nice place, with Vietnamese food, very tasty. Pedestrian area in the center.
  • Brewery
    • My favourite is “Em Hottchen”, in the center, great food, good atmosphere, it is probably the oldest brewery in town, so lot’s of charm. If you are in to meat and beer, you can’t miss this one.
    • Salvator, more directed to Bavarian specialties and beer, quite nice!!
    • Sion – Okay food, big place, ideal for taking a big group.
  • German food places (non-brewery)
    • Elephant, in the center, offers a good and tasty choice of German food
  • Turkish
    • Donerhause, in Altstadt, is my favourite Doener place, it is full of charm, the owner is a very nice guy
    • Saray (center): If you are looking for some authentic turkish food, this is the place to go, the charcoal grilled meat is just a must. Try a chicken skewer Roll and cry for more.
    • Meyman (Bertha): really good Turkish food, one of my new favorites, even the doner is done with real meat, the charcoal grilled meat is super tasty.
  • Burger places
    • The number one in Bonn is the BurgerManufaktur in Altstadt, really tasty burgers, good fries, nice place!
    • Cowboy Burger saloon, would be my second choice, close to Beethoven halle, good burgers, and amazing sweet potato fries!!
    • Hans In Glueck, in friedensplatz and in Beuel, great burgers, fries and drinks.
    • Cartoon, for burger, drinks, food. Modern music, appealing bar and good food (varied). Young, relaxed, party kind of mood on weekends.
    • Burgerwerk Beuel: located in the Beuel center, really tasty burgers.
  • Steak House
    • If you like steak and you have a place like the Argentinian Steak house “El Tarascon” in town then you are blessed. Really good one, the lomo is like butter there…price is high but totally worth it as quality is as well high!
    • Abacco’s Steakhouse – Nice place, good steak, a bit pricey.
  • Lebanese
    • In Poppelsdorf you can find the best Lebanese in town (Phoenicia Lounge), really good food.
    • In Beuel you have Montliban, if you like Lebanese food then enjoy!
  • Other restaurants
    • Café Spitz has nice food and a it is a beloved place for brunch and drinks.
    • Midi, right in Muensterplz, the food is ok, nice place as well to sit in the sun and have a afternoon drink.
    • Bongout, also a same style café as the ones above, with nice food and nice drinks.

BARS/CLUBS

  • The old Jacob : Really nice bar – great Gin, great cocktails
  • Fiddlers (Endenich): great place to see football, enjoy some nice Irish food and beer.
  • Shakers(Center): if you are in for the masses and for good cocktails, this is the place to be seen and to see…
  • Che Guevara (Center): Nice cocktail place in the center
  • Pawlov (Altstadt): Oldest bar in Bonn
  • Das Nyx (Altstadt): Bar/disco, cool parties, nice relaxed atmosphere
  • Havana (Poppelsdorf): In a nice area with many cool bars and restaurants, this one is still my favorite.
  • Flynns (Altstadt): nice little Irish bar at the heart of Altstadt, huge whiskey selection.
  • Jazz gallery, right in Oxfordstr, this is a old club in the bonn night scene and quite successful, they have some nice parties.

BIERGARTEN

  • Alte Zoll, close to the university and the Rhein is the best place;
  • Schaenzen, close to the Rhine (Rosental) is also a very nice one
  • In altstadt you have the biergartens from:
    • John Barleycorn,
    • Quiet man
    • donerhause
    • Pawlov
  •  In Altstadt, during the day in the Frankenbad (swimming pool) Square, there is always a coffee wagon, really tasty coffee and a square with a latin flair, with people hanging around and relaxing! During the summer, Das Nyx opens up a cool Biergarten in one side of the square.

TEAHOUSE/CAFE

  • In Altstadt you have quite a selection of nice coolcafes and tea houses, I recommend:
    •  Jaz – French inspired deco, nice cakes, good coffee and tea selection; ( unfortunately a couple of friends experienced a very bad and rude service, nice looking place not so nice people);
    • Cafe Camus – great coffee, good enviroment, nice cakes
    • Cafe Blute – nice looking place, typical tea house, great tea selection, home-made cakes;
    • Cafe “c’est la vie” – French bakery, amazing cakes, the best selection in town, quiches, nhammy bread, tasty fresh juices, life can’t get better or tastier (2nd location in the center at Friedrichstraße);
  • In sudstadt, you can get the best coffee in town at the Black coffee pharmacy;
  • In the center
    • VarieTee, great tea house and a place to go, amazing tea and cake selection, good food, a place full of taste;
    • Thalia the book store also has a nice cafe place, with a nice view over marktplatz.
    • Tee Geschwendner, a good quiet place in the center, even if it is in the pedestrian zone
    • Now as well in the center: Cafe “c’est la vie” – French bakery, amazing cakes, the best selection in town, quiches, nhammy bread, tasty fresh juices, life can’t get better or tastier.
  • In Beuel you can find Mayras wohnzimmer, really nice place.

CINEMA (in original)

  • Brotfabrik in Beuel
  • Rex in endenich
  • Woki in the center (very limited)
  • Kinopolis in Bad Godesberg

Walking/Trekking

  • Ennertwald – one of my regular walking places, at the side closest to Ramersdorf you get beautiful views of the Rhine and Bonn
  • Siebengebirge -many tracks to walk and all different and interesting
    • Stenzelberg – If you park at the monastery ruins you will find on the way to Stenzelberg a great place to eat Flammkuechen in the middle of the forest. Views from the top are amazing.
    • Margarethenhöhe
    • Steinbruch
    • Drachenfells: a nice place to visit with nice views from the top and a nice restaurant plus the palace in between is very nice (Schloss Drachenburg)
  • Siegaue: lots of treks to discover, beautiful place with the river (sieg)
  • Wohnerheide

Towns worth a visit

  • Cologne
  • Aachen
  • Dusseldorf
  • Monschau
  • Koenigswinter

To experience Bundesliga

  • Cologne
  • Leverkusen
  • Dortmund (although about 2 hours away)
  • Gelsenkirchen (1 hour away)

If this is not enough for you, you can always go to Cologne, after all it is only 25 mins away with the train!!!