A day in Bonn with children

We decided to have a quick, 3 night, visit to Aachen in October 2023. As usual, we’d driven out, taking the Eurotunnel from Folkestone. We broke the journey up by stopping in Leuven (a gorgeous town in Belgium with a stunning main square) for waffles and Ghent (on our way home) for more waffles!

Accommodation

Yet again, we’d checked into a lovely Airbnb just outside the city of Aachen. The Airbnb was fab – it was well stocked, had plenty of parking, a great play area nearby and a friendly and welcoming host. We settled on Aachen as our base because we felt it gave us access to Bonn/Cologne but was also slightly closer to home (minimising the drive out from the UK).

Quick note that if you’re driving in Germany you’ll need to pre-order your emission sticker – see here for more details.

You can read about our day in Aachen here.

Day two was spent visiting Bonn, an easy 1 hour drive from our Airbnb.

Haribo Factory Shop

Family travel, for us, is all about finding activities that captivate and enthuse the children whatever their age. I also feel that there has to be something for everyone in a family holiday – it has to be fun for us all.

So, our first stop was the Haribo Factory Shop in Bonn. Germany may be better known for its enchanting castles, beer festivals and Christmas markets but it is also the home of the world famous Haribo sweet! If you’re interested you can read about the history of the company here.

For the children this was the absolute highlight of their trip and it’s easy to see why. The selection of sweets was incredible….you’ll see Haribo you didn’t even know existed and you can buy almost every type of Haribo out there in small bags, big bags or from the pick and mix. If, like our son, you only want red gummy bears that’s also fine! It’s worth noting (to avoid disappoint) that this is not a factory tour – you won’t actually see the sweets being made but don’t let that put you off. There is also a cool selection of Haribo merchandise to buy and an even cooler Haribo race car!

Bonn itself

Beethoven’s House, Bonn

I did say that family travel was about doing something for everyone and this is somewhere I had wanted to come for many years (I studied for a Music Degree and spent a whole semester learning about Beethoven!). Beethoven’s house, located in a small side street in the centre of the city, is a small museum that introduces you to this amazing composer, his life and his music. It’s fair to say the children weren’t overly taken with the museum (and I can see why – there wasn’t a child friendly guide or trail for them to follow) but they did enjoy the listening room!

With this ticked off, we spent the rest of the exploring the city.

Exploring the city

Bonn is a fab city, nudging up against the Rhine in western Germany. It is close to Cologne with only about 19 miles between them. The city was once the capital of West Germany but after the country reunified the capital moved to Berlin in 1991 (I didn’t actually know this until we visited – every day is a school day!).

Bonn is a lovely city to explore with kids, it’s easy to navigate and is very self contained. That said, much like other cities in Germany it was heavily bombed in the war so be prepared for an eclectic mix of architecture.

So, having explored Beethoven’s house we spent the rest of the day strolling around the city – soaking up the atmosphere and browsing the shops. If browsing the cobbled streets of the old town, you’ll quickly come across the Altes Rathaus, Bonn’s old City Hall. With its gilded stair railings and a pretty Rococo façade, it’s pretty impressive. When we visited there was a small food market in the square in front of the Hall (apparently it’s on every day apart from Sunday) – it’s always fun to see what’s on offer.

If we’d had longer it would have been nice to take a trip on the river (there are several operators but you’d need to book in advance) or a trip out to Drachenburg Castle – it looks incredible! There are also several museums in the city (they even have a street nicknamed the museum mile!) so there’s plenty to keep you busy!

Instead, we went in search of a pretzel! Germany is big on its pastries and Bonn has some fantastic bakeries. We stopped at a little bakery in Munster square (the largest square in the city – it also has a Beethoven statue that’s worth spotting), admired (and ate!) some pretzels, which come plain, with salt or in various other guises, before heading back to the car.

Another great day!