Leverkusen travel guide

Leverkusen, Germany

By the Travel Wiki editorial team

Leverkusen

Introduction

Leverkusen sits in North Rhine-Westphalia on the eastern bank of the Rhine, positioned between two larger neighbours: Cologne lies to the south and Düsseldorf, the state capital, to the north. The city belongs to the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan Region, one of Europe's largest urban areas, so you are never far from the wider web of cities along this stretch of the river.

Before you go

Leverkusen is a young city whose story is inseparable from the Bayer chemical and pharmaceutical plants. Until the mid-19th century the area held only smaller settlements, among them today's boroughs of Opladen and Schlebusch. The chemist Carl Leverkus founded a synthetic ultramarine factory near the village of Wiesdorf in 1861, and the workers' settlement that grew beside it took his name. In 1891 the paint and pharmaceutical company Bayer AG moved its production here from Wuppertal-Barmen, and through the 20th century workers and their families kept arriving to staff the ever-growing plants. Wiesdorf gained a city charter in 1920, Schlebusch and other neighbouring settlements were incorporated in 1930 under the name Leverkusen, and Opladen and Bergisch Neukirchen followed in 1975. Bayer remains the city's prime employer, and its huge plants are the dominant, connecting presence across the city. Internationally, Leverkusen is best known for its football club, Bayer 04 Leverkusen, founded as a team of Bayer factory workers and still a fully-owned subsidiary of the chemical company. Long nicknamed Vize-Kusen and Neverkusen by rival fans for its string of second-place finishes, the club finally won the German championship in the 2023–24 season, going undefeated in the league; its only loss that season came to Atalanta in the Europa League final. Expect that football identity to shape how locals talk about their city, and expect the industrial landscape to shape what you see of it.

Getting there

< p >Leverkusen is unusual for a German city of its size: it has no proper central station, so you won't find a single Hauptbahnhof to aim for. Instead, Wiesdorf generally acts as the city centre and is served by Leverkusen-Mitte station, which handles regional trains RE1 and RE5 as well as S-Bahn 6. From there it's about 15 minutes to Cologne and Düsseldorf, and around 30 minutes to Solingen, where long-distance trains stop. The bus station is also at Mitte. The Opladen district is served separately by Opladen station.< /p > < p >If you're flying in, the closest international airports are Cologne-Bonn to the south and Düsseldorf to the north, both reachable by car in roughly half an hour; Düsseldorf Airport also has regional train connections. Dortmund and Weeze are other airports within close proximity. By car, the A1 and A3 autobahns cross here, and the A59 begins at an interchange between the Rhine bridge and the A1/A3 crossing, heading north to Düsseldorf. Note that the A1 bridge over the Rhine was torn down and rebuilt, with the new structure only partially finished in 2024 after years of jokes at its expense. On the north side of that A1 bridge there's a shared foot and bike path across the Rhine.< /p >

Getting around

Leverkusen has no single central station and no traditional city centre; it grew out of a collection of former villages, so getting around means moving between distinct districts. Wiesdorf generally acts as the hub, and that is where you will find both the main station, Leverkusen Mitte, and the bus station — the natural point to change between rail and bus. Two railway lines cross the city from north to south, both carrying regional trains: Leverkusen Mitte sits on the Cologne–Düsseldorf line and is served by regional trains, the Rhine-Ruhr S-Bahn and the Rhine-Ruhr Express, while Opladen station, in the Opladen district, sits on the Cologne–Wuppertal line. Cologne and Düsseldorf are both a short regional train ride away, and Solingen, where long-distance trains stop, is a little further on; if you arrive by long-distance rail you will generally connect through one of those larger cities rather than stopping in Leverkusen directly.

Local buses are operated by wupsi under VRS fares, the same system used in nearby Cologne, so tickets and passes work across operators rather than being tied to one company. Express buses connect Leverkusen with Cologne, Monheim and Bergisch Gladbach, making the bus a genuine option for reaching neighbouring towns. Taxis are available, most reliably around the station and bus station at Leverkusen Mitte, and can be sensible for a direct trip between districts or to an address away from a stop. Walking works well within a district but is less practical for crossing the city as a whole; cycling is realistic, and on the north side of the Autobahn 1 bridge there is a shared foot and bike path across the Rhine. The Rheinfähre Lingel-Hitdorf ferry also crosses the river, between the Leverkusen district of Hitdorf and the Cologne district of Langel, taking pedestrians, bikes and vehicles, with payment in cash or by card; it runs weekdays from early morning until early evening, with shorter hours on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. By car, the A1 and A3 cross at Leverkusen with the interchange in the heart of the city, and the A59 begins between the Rhine bridge and that crossing heading north towards Düsseldorf; note that the A1 Rhine bridge was torn down and rebuilt, with the new bridge only partially finished in recent years, so expect that crossing to be affected.

Where to stay

Leverkusen's accommodation is concentrated in the city centre and around the BayArena, so your choice largely comes down to whether you want to be close to the stadium or closer to the shops and restaurants of the centre. The Lindner Hotel BayArena sits right at the stadium, making it the obvious base if you are in town for a match or an event there.

For a central stay, the Altstadt Hotel and the two Ibis properties put you within easy reach of the city's core, while the Best Western-branded Hotel Leverkusen offers a further option on Am Buchelter Hof.

Food & drink

The source material for Leverkusen's food and drink scene is empty, so there is nothing to describe here.

What to see and do

At Morsbroich Museum, a former water castle turned Rococo chateau, you can explore modern and contemporary art in a municipal museum, with a sculpture park surrounding the building. The Bayer-Kreuz, a 51-metre-high illuminated logo of the Bayer chemical and pharmaceutical company, stands at Friedrich-Ebert-Straße/Willy-Brandt-Ring and is worth a look after dark. For something quieter, the Japanese Garden next to the Bayer-Kommunikationszentrum offers a 3.7-acre Japanese-style landscape, free to enter and created in the 1920s by a Bayer chairman inspired by a trip to Japan. Football fans can catch Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the Bundesliga at the BayArena, a 30,000-capacity ground a short walk northeast of Leverkusen Mitte railway station; the women's team also play in their top tier at Nachwuchsleistungszentrum Kurtekotten. Each year the Leverkusen Jazz Days bring major names to the city, with past performers including James Brown, Ray Charles and Miles Davis.

Three days in Leverkusen

Day one: Start in Wiesdorf, the district at the heart of Leverkusen, and get your bearings around the Hauptbahnhof and Mitte before wandering out along the Rhine. The city's identity is bound up with Bayer, and the works and the name of Carl Leverkus are part of the fabric of the place, so take your time with the central districts rather than rushing onward. In the evening, look for somewhere in Mitte to eat and settle in.

Day two: Head south through the city to Opladen and Schlebusch, two districts with a more residential, everyday feel than the industrial core. Opladen in particular rewards a slow morning of streets and squares. If you want a change of scene, Cologne and Düsseldorf are both within easy reach, and the wider Ruhr Metropolitan Region lies to the north for a longer excursion.

Day three: Use your last day to fill in what you missed, whether that means returning to a district you liked or heading out toward Solingen, Wuppertal or Bonn. Expect the weather to shape your plans: summers here are warm and can be humid, while winters are cold and grey, so keep an indoor option in reserve. Leave via Düsseldorf Airport or Dortmund if you are flying or travelling onward by rail.

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