Every year around April or May cherry blossom trees bloom in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The city’s cherry blossom street is highly popular. Herstrasse, Heerstraße located in Bonn’s old town Altstadt is a major tourist attraction. Herstrasse even made it onto the top ten list of the world’s most beautiful tree tunnels. The cherry blossoms are delightful to look at. The petals fall frequently which covers everything in these gorgeous light pink petals. Bonn hosts the wildly popular Cherry Blossom Festival once the cherry blossoms bloom and decide to make their grand entry.

History

So why are there cherry blossom trees growing in Bonn? I was surprised because as a South African I immediately associated cherry blossom trees to Japan and to Asia. I never thought I would find cherry blossom trees in Germany.

In 1984 the trees were planted to make the city look better. Industrialisation which started in the 1980s led to more buildings being built across the city. And cherry blossoms were used to counter the harder facade of the district. Kölnstraße and Herrstaβe are two of the streets in Bonn where you can find the cherry blossom trees showing off their beauty.

More about the Cherry Blossom Festival 

The Altstadt section of Bonn in Heerstraße is where you will find this powerfully pink place. This is where the Cherry Blossom Festival is held every year. It’s pronounced Heerstrasse for those of you who don’t speak German. There are street signs showing where the Altstadt is. It’s very easy to find, plus following the large crowds will guide you to it.

The festival hosts a variety of live music acts, a flea market, face painting for kids, and food stalls. I ended up buying a dress at the market for 2 euros, which is about R32. And a delicious pancake for 1 euro roughly R16. So it’s also a good place to bargain hunt. You can follow the festival’s website to check the dates, click here for more information: http://kirschbluetenfest-bonn.de

The Cherry Blossom Festival dates change at times since it’s dependent upon when the flowers bloom. The site is only in German though, so use Google translate to get the information. Do be aware that the street can get crowded too. If you can get there early to skip the crowds. I really liked the fact locals attended the festival too and people were very kind. They didn’t mind it when I stood in the middle of the street to take photos.

How do I get to Bonn and to Heerstrasse?

There’s an international airport which serves Bonn and nearby Cologne (the airport’s IATA code is GCN). At the airport, you can take a bus or train to Bonn. Bonn has a village feel with its cobblestone streets and charming historic buildings. And it is well connected to all the major German cities. Just hop on to a train or plane and you can travel to your next destination.  Cologne, Dusseldorf and Aachen are in the same region and I recommend visiting these cities. Bonn also has a  widespread and well established public transportation network, which is integrated. It is also a lovely place to walk around in just wear sneakers/takkies comfy shoes are a must when treading on cobblestones. To find the location of Bonn on Google maps click the link: click here 

It’s worth visiting, the Cherry Blossom Festival and it’s a free event. You don’t even have to buy anything if don’t want to, you can just take lots of photos of this pretty street. So why not celebrate the start of German springtime by attending. I highly recommend Bonn’s Cherry Blossom Festival, because for some reason I couldn’t stop smiling whilst walking down Heerstrasse. If you need more proof just look at some of the photos on Instagram of Cherry Blossoms in Bonn.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiRvvjmAjML/?hl=en&tagged=heerstra%C3%9Fe

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Happy travels!

xxx Nikki xxx