Dusseldorf

Dusseldorf rewards walkers who never open their wallets. The Altstadt, the self-styled “longest bar in the world” with hundreds of pubs crammed into half a square kilometre, costs nothing to wander until you sit down for an Altbier, and the riverside Rhine promenade links the old town to the Gehry towers of the MedienHafen as a free stroll past the city’s best modern architecture. Many city museums waive admission during the final hour before closing, and the K20 and K21 art houses run free cultural evenings on the first Wednesday of the month, so a little timing turns a culture day into a no-cost one. The Hofgarten and the Rhine parks give you green space and people-watching for free, and Cologne sits roughly 40 kilometres upstream on cheap regional trains for an easy budget day trip and a Kölsch-versus-Alt taste test. Shoulder months like April to early June and September bring mild Rhineland weather, lighter crowds, and lower room rates than the summer and trade-fair peaks.