When I tell people I lived in Essen for a year I tell them it’s close to Dortmund. Everyone knows the Dortmund soccer/football team. Unlike my home city, Essen is not a tourist hotspot. Yet It’s not all doom and gloom and if you are planning on travelling to Essen this post will provide you with ideas on where to take the best photos. Photos of Essen which are Instagram worthy.

Villa Hügel

This stately mansion once belonged to the mining mogul Alfred Krupp and his family. Krupp industries played an integral part in the industrial sector of Essen. The Villa Hügel is a testament to the influence and economic muscle of the Krupp’s. There is more than one house on the property and the main residence has 269 rooms. Villa Hügel is part of a 20-hectare property. I loved the surroundings and the old world glamour of the villa. It’s also a stone’s throw away from Baldeneysee. Apparently, Krupp had fully grown trees brought in and planted along the lake because he loved trees so much.

The grounds of Villa Hugel

Ariel view Image Credit: Villa Hügel: 360degreeAerial / shutterstock

My ticket

Maria looking at a painting inside of Villa Hugel

Back of Villa Hugel

Maria and I at Villa Hugel

Baldeneysee

The crystal clear lake Baldeneysee is surrounded by trees. It has various walking, running and bike trails. An activity area and a more private beach section which comes with white beach and beach chairs. Essen is landlocked so I can understand the method behind the madness of creating a man-made “beach” There’s also a little restaurant which overlooks the lake so you can have cake and coffee whilst watching the boats sail by. Click here for more information on Baldeneysee Lake, just use google translate as the page is in German: https://www.baldeneysee.de/

Baldeneysee Lake Essen

The now clean Baldeneysee Lake in Essen

View from the train platform of Baldeneysee Lake below

Alte Synagogue

The Old Synagogue, Alte Synagogue is a cultural meeting centre and a memorial centre. It is located in the heart of Essen in Edmund-Körner-Platz 1, close to Essen’s city hall. The memorial centre was founded in 1980. The building is one of the biggest, best preserved and architecturally most impressive testimonies to Jewish culture in pre-war Germany. When I visited entry was free the staff were all very friendly and the exhibits were interesting. Click here to find out more:https://www.essen.de/rathaus/aemter/ordner_45_9/alte_synagoge/Start.en.html

Old synagogue Essen

Old synagogue with my roommate Gwen listening to the audio guide inside the synagogue

Old synagogue Essen

Old Town Kettwig

Kettwig used to be a separate town until 1975. Today it is part of Essen. Essen was heavily bombed during WWII as it was a major steel and coal-producing region. However, Kettwig was fortunate as it didn’t house large industries. This means that the medieval old town still intact as most of Kettwig remained intact. Kettwig is a short train trip away from the city centre of Essen about 44 minutes making it easy to travel to. And the old town is what I had imagined Germany would look like. I was guilty of stereotyping and Essen was far more modernised than I pictured it would be. If you want to include postcard-like posts on to your Instagram then you must go to Kettwig

Engel Haus in Kettwig historic house

fachwerk houses in Kettwig

Me in Kettwig essen

Gruga Park

This botanical garden is super cute. It has flowers, plants and trees which are well maintained. A pond with ducks included and there are other animals such as horses and goats which you can go see. A tower where you can see an ariel view of Essen. There’s an interesting building which looks like it was inspired by Russian architecture. During winter it hosts Parkleuchten which is the Gruga Park’s light show where the park is illuminated by numerous interesting light exhibitions which I posted about previously. It also hosts carnival rides at a special event during summer. And you can also take a cute tiny train around the park to different sections if it’s hot and you don’t feel like walking. It is hands down the best park in Essen and there are lots of spots to take an instagrammable pic. Click here for more information:https://www.nrw-tourism.com/a-grugapark-in-essen

Address: Virchowstrasse 167a, 45147 Essen, Germany

Phone:+49 201 8883106

Roses at Gruga Park, Essen during summer

Gruga Park in Essen flowers, summertime

Gruga Park waterfall in summer, Essen

Me standing at a mining boot exhibit in Gruga Park Essen

waterfall gruga park

roller coaster at gruga park

Zollverein coal mine and industrial park

Zeche Zollverein is a defunct coal mine with a twist. It is now a UNESCO World Heritage Since. It is also a point included in the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Part of the mine is a museum and there’s also a restaurant. You can catch a glimpse of Essen from above at Zollverein. During winter there’s an ice rink and a number of events are held at this former mine. Click here for more information:https://www.zollverein.de/

Entry card to the Ruhr Museum part of Zollverein houses the museum

Zollverein in winter

A mini scale zollverein at NRW birthday celebrations

Zollverein summer

Christmas Market

The Christmas market of Essen was one of my favourite things about Germany. Cologne and Bonn’s markets are bigger but also more expensive. Essen’s market wares are cheaper and still feels traditional. All the stalls are made in the traditional German style and look like mini wooden houses. You can go drink Glüwhein which is a warm wine which has winter spices inside of it or go buy handcrafted Christmas ornaments. And the city is light up with fairy lights making it more phenomenal.

Essen Christmas Market

Essen Christmas Market Gluwhein with my classmates

Essen Christmas Market

Essen Christmas Market

Essen Christmas Market with Anastasia

Essen Christmas Market

Schloss Brobeck

This baroque style moated castle was the favoured residence of the Essen Prince abbesses its current facade was created in the 18th century. The park of Borbeck Castle, Schloss Borbeck is one of the first parks to be created in the Rhineland region. The castle was unscathed during the war. It is currently used as an educational venue and it also hosts cultural events. Click here to find out more about the castle: https://translate.google.co.za/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://schloss-borbeck.essen.de/&prev=search

It is open from Tuesday-Sunday from 14:00 pm to 18:00 pm

Castle in Essen

Werden

Another part of Essen which used to be a separate town is Werden. Werden is now part of Essen and also has historic houses, churches and more.

werden

Resturants

Essen in German means food. I love food and sharing photos of food is always great for drawing Instagram followers. I slack on posting food photos but just think about it all of us eat. We all enjoy eating and that’s why sharing food photos is a universal thing. If you don’t believe me click the link to read about the psychology behind foodstagramming: https://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/psychology-foodstagramming

So where can you go to, to snap up awesome foodie pics in Essen? I recommend Fitzpatrick’s Irish bar in Ruttencheid, which offers a great variety of food with a fun karaoke bar in the back. The bar’s atmosphere is also very Irish and is decorated to suit the theme of the bar.

Fitzpatricks Karaoke section

miamamia artsy chandelier

Chocolate mouse at miamamia

Vappiano pasta

Couldn’t take a pretty picture had to drink and eat at miamamia

Laughing at miamamia with Anastasia

And Vapiano it is a restaurant chain, which serves Italian food made to order whilst you watch. The pizzas are rather large and the pasta is delectable.

Then there’s the cute restaurant/cafe’ miamamia I went to the one in Essen Rüttenscheide Stern often with my friends. The decor and the food are both magical. There are two branches of this delightful restaurant. Both of the restaurants are open from 9:00am to 22:00pm daily.

I went to the one at Rüttenscheider Strasse 74a, telephone: +49 20187 42 26 90

Alternatively

miamamia am Park is at Rüttenscheider Strasse 183

To find out more click here:www.miamamia.de

Rüttenscheider Street

Yip the same street where miamamia is located is where you can find cherry blossom trees in full bloom. Lined along the street these pink flowers brighten up the urban surroundings. The cherry blossoms only bloom in early spring and don’t stay around for long early April till around March. If you are around the area at the time and you strike it lucky go take a pic at this street because everyone loves cherry blossom trees.

Essen cherry blossoms, Image credit: Source

This is my list of Instagrammable places in Essen, Germany. As you can see Essen has its highlights for sure and there are pretty spots in Essen. I will be writing a separate post on things to do in Essen some of these places will be included but, there’s much more to do so the list will definitely be longer.

I hope you enjoyed reading this post. Thank you for reading my blog and I really appreciate your comments they make my day so feel free to comment.

Wishing you happy travels through the journey of life!

xxx Nikki xxx