10 Best Museums in Dusseldorf

Aquazoo Löbbecke Museum Dusseldorf is an aquarium and natural history museum that showcases the fascinating evolution of life with exhibits, interactive stations and about 500 animal species. The animals are split between 25 themed rooms, letting you learn all about these fascinating creatures in aquariums, terrariums and a tropical hall.

The natural history exhibits number around 1,400, with models and interactive stations to visit too. You can see it for yourself in Stockum along the eastern bank of the Rhine a short distance northwest of the city centre.

Schloss Benrath is a baroque-style pleasure palace (maison de plaisance) that offers valuable insight into 18th-century history with plenty of pieces and exhibits from the time period. The building itself is part of the museum, as it was originally built for Elector Palatine Charles Theodor and Countess Palatine Elisabeth Auguste of Sulzbach, his wife.

Visiting this museum lets you explore a variety of artistic pieces as well as furniture and decor from the time period all set up to evoke the feeling that you're walking through this palace 3 centuries ago. It's located south of the city centre past District 9.

Museum Kunstpalast is an art museum that holds a vast collection of art from around the world dating all the way back to classical antiquity. The collection includes paintings, photographs, sculptures, drawings and more.

Among the collection, you can explore works dating back to the 3rd century BCE from locations around the world like Iran and Japan. Italian baroque graphics are particularly prevalent too, with 14,000 on display. You can see it for yourself just north of Altstadt near the D-Victoriaplatz/Klever Str. U metro station.

The Neanderthal Museum is a stunning museum built near the site where modern humans first discovered Neanderthals with numerous exhibits about them inside. Several exhibits showcase the Neanderthals as well as human evolution and how we're related to our historic cousins.

On the original Neanderthal discovery site, you'll find a well-preserved archaeological park to explore, and the museum also hosts a Stone Age workshop. Plus, all signs and audio here are in both German and English. It's located in the suburb of Mettmann, about 10 miles east of the Dusseldorf city centre.

Kunstsammlung is a stunning art museum with a wide range of artworks created by big names from the 20th century focusing on classical modernism. Among its collection, you'll find works by legendary artists such as Piet Mondrian, Paul Klee, Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse.

This museum even has a collection of postwar American art with works by Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg and Jackson Pollock. You can explore it all for yourself near the city centre in Dusseldorf-Carlstadt.

Classic Remise Düsseldorf is a classic car museum with about 300 cars on display dating back decades that you can see and admire up close. While a lot of the cars are firmly in the possession of collectors or exhibitors, some of them are for sale, so keep that in mind if you want to bring home the ultimate Dusseldorf keepsake.

Admission to the museum is free, and it's open every day, so it's remarkably easy to fit this experience into your itinerary. It's located on the north side of Wersten, which is a short distance south of the city centre.

K20, Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen is an art museum that focuses on modern and contemporary art with works from the 20th to 21st centuries on display from global artists. While most of the works are European, some of the collection includes work from American artists.

One of the most impressive aspects of the collection is its display of German expressionist works, as it's among the largest in Europe. Surrealism and contemporary German art are quite common here too. It's located in the old town of Altstadt north of the city centre.

NRW-Forum Düsseldorf is an art museum that tends to attract a younger crowd with exhibitions on photography, contemporary art, pop culture and digital media. Film screenings, festivals and symposiums are commonly held here giving voice to the most important issues of our time.

The social consciousness of the works here is at the forefront of everything this museum displays. Because of this, the museum is also conveniently accessible while also being positively entertaining. It's located just north of the city centre past Altstadt along the Rhine.

Filmmuseum Düsseldorf is a comprehensive museum that shows off the history of film set within a reconstructed film studio making visitors feel as if they've been transported to Hollywood. The exhibits offer insight into the technology and techniques behind film and how they have changed over the past century.

During your visit, you may want to stop by the Black Box cinema that's part of the museum building. Nothing complements your deep dive into history quite like a screening of a classic film or thematic retrospective. Find it all on the city centre's west side along the Rhine's eastern banks.

The Schifffahrtmuseum Düsseldorf is a maritime museum focusing on the fascinating history and art of shipbuilding as well as the ecology of the river Rhine. While you'll find historical artefacts on display here, much of the museum is presented in the form of film, pictures and archives.

The museum has several floors, but the top floor is particularly adept at driving home the overall theme. From the top floor's observation viewpoint, visitors can take in the sight of the Rhine itself and all the ships travelling through it. It's located along the banks of the river in Altstadt inside the last remaining tower of a 16th-century castle.