Trip to Boot Dusseldorf, Germany - 16th - 19th January 2025

We had flown out  from Manchester on Thursday to have a spare day for sight-seeing in Düsseldorf. After a morning walk to orientate ourselves, we had a hearty breakfast at Jimmy’s Brunch in the main market (Carlsplatz Markt), which didn’t disappoint.

From there, we walked back through the old town (Altstadt) to the city’s maritime museum (Schifffahrtsmuseum). The Schifffahrtsmuseum is a circular building overlooking the Rhine, so as we explored its floors, we had great views over the river and its impressive tidal flows. Dave and Alison had a go at helming freighters on the museum’s simulators, and we all had fun trying out the 3D photographs (stereoscopic photography) from Victorian holidaymakers.

Leaving the Schifffahrtsmuseum, we jumped onto a train (it turned up this time!) to head out of the city to Classic Remise. A centre for vintage cars, Classic Remise is a commercial establishment rather than a museum. It offers secure car storage, garages, workshops, and specialists for classic car and motorbike owners. However, they permit the public to explore the facility. And what a facility it is! The boys swiftly disappeared into car and motorbike heaven and it was several hours before they emerged again.

Making the most of our travel card, we departed Classic Remise in search of a local bus to return to the hotel. It was then time to freshen up, make the most of the hotel’s happy hour – with thanks to Alison, Loz, and Sue for getting an order in with one minute to spare! – and back out again to the Altstadt (old town) for a delicious dinner at a German BBQ grill.

Saturday and Sunday we visited the show. With 214,000 visitors from 120 countries and more than 1,500 exhibitors from 67 nations on 220,000 square metres in 16 exhibition halls, boot Düsseldorf is the largest yacht and watersports show in the world. And we couldn’t wait to visit! We always knew the show was going to be big, but it is hard to do justice to the shear scale of what that means in this trip report. There was a SCUBA diving tower, a try-dive pool, a large dingy sailing pool with a double-deck wall of industrial sized fans to provide a breeze, a waterboarding run, a kayak/canoeing river. Plus, the exhibitors of course. The superyachts are so large, there is an overhead walkway to provide a better view. We couldn’t visit all the halls in our time in Düsseldorf (Dave and I missed at least two or three of the motorboat halls), but everyone made it to the equipment/accessories hall, marine art, diving, dive holidays, sailing holidays, dinghy sailing, cruiser and racing halls. Plus, we all went to the largest of the superyacht halls just to take in the sheer opulence of the mega yachts.

 

Loz wins an award for talking his way onto a mega yacht, with Loz, Alison, and Sue being fortunate enough to have an escorted tour around the gem-encrusted helm of an Italian Explorer Yacht. Sue clearly had the look of a serious buyer about her, and spent the weekend being plied with alcoholic beverages as people tried to tempt her to make a purchase. Whilst Dave and I made do with a cup of instant coffee and a mint. We clearly weren’t visiting the right vendors!

Our group was fluid, breaking up to head to different halls throughout the day and comparing notes as we crossed paths again. We spent eight hours at the show on Saturday. It was only for shear exhaustion that we eventually departed.

After a quick refresh at the hotel, we returned to the Altstadt (old town) again and had the most wonderful of dinners at a traditional German dinner called Ham Ham. A brilliant find on Dave’s behalf for a famished group!

Sunday morning, we wanted to capture some pictures of the Rhine in all its glory before departing. We caught the train to the riverside (no walking today – lots of sore feet!). The fog wasn’t lifting however, so our sunrise photos weren’t to be. We found a lovely bistro/café to have breakfast in instead, before returning to the hotel to collect our bags and check out.

It was then back to boot for day #2. Everyone had lots of things they wanted to do. Some of us wanted to follow up on stalls we had visited the day before (more holiday options were top of the list for most of us). Dave and I had yet to see any of the motorboat halls so wanted to try and visit one of those. And Alison and Sue were both looking for sailing and SCUBA gear. We agreed a time to regroup then split up. It was like something out of Supermarket Sweep as everyone ran off in different directions through the crowd with the cut-off time in mind!

Too soon, our day was up. We regrouped at the cloak room to collect our bags and jump on one of the waiting airport busses. In no time at all we were checked in and savouring a drink at the airport ready to return to Manchester.

Trip Report by Clemmie