Posted by The city centre of Gelsenkirchen has good shopping facilities, but it is not necessarily the first address for a shopping tour in the Ruhr area. A wide pedestrian zone (Bahnhofstraße) leads from the main railway station to Neumarkt, the city’s central square. The Bahnhofsstraße is home to large department stores such as Kaufhof and C&A.
Our tip: Brewery tour through Düsseldorf with free beer (Altbier): More info and online booking
The many small shops with often low prices are striking. Gelsenkirchen is not a very rich city – a bratwurst in a roll can be found here for from 1€, and there are several 1-euro shops in the main shopping streets. There are two large and interesting churches on Neumarkt: the Sankt Augustinuskirche and the Altstadtkirche.
If you walk 200 metres further north from Neumarkt, you come to what is probably the most famous building in the city of Gelsenkirchen. The Musiktheater im Revier (pictured below left) is one of the most important opera houses in Germany. Built in 1959, the building hosts 4-5 performances a week with an average of well over 500 visitors. Advance tickets (from about 8 to 50 euros, as of summer 2017) are available at the theatre box office, at some other advance booking offices and on the internet. Quite a few events are sold out.
Breakfast tip: We had breakfast at Cafe Extrablatt in Arminstraße (picture above right, 10 metres from the central Bahnhofsstraße). They have a very good breakfast buffet until 12 am.
Tip Restaurant and pub: A nice, traditional restaurant is the Brauhaus Hibernia at the main station. Good home-style cooking and its own beer with the typical pub name “Grubengold”.
Other great sights in Gelsenkirchen
One of the most visited attractions in the city is the Zoom Zoo in the north of the city, one of the most modern zoos in Germany.
Many tourists also visit the Schalke stadium with its museum and stadium tour.
The largest model railway in Germany is also an interesting sight.
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