Ten days we have spent at the Ruhr District or at the „Pott“ as it is called in the local dialect. The good old Pott. Everywhere pounding and steaming heavy industries. Coal, coke, gas and steel. Men with blackened faces which work under physical strain. The air is thickened with coal dust and smells awkward. TV-Superintended Schimansky rules in Duisburg and campaigsn for the miners with a famous sentence.
Cut!
![Der Skywalk durch den alten Hochofen Phoenix in Dortmund Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Dortmund-Hochofen-Skywalk-Phoenix_1815.jpg?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1)
That is history. Today everything is different. We asked ourselves before arriving: „Ten days at Ruhr District? What an earth can we do there?“ The answer: Pretty much. And. It still does have to do with coal, coke, gas and steel.
But nowadays it is nice.
![Seaside Beach Baldeney in Essen im Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Essen-Seaside-Beach-Strand_1974.jpg?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1)
We stayed in Essen at the Welcome Hotel. From there we drove to the other towns.
Here are our experiences:
One day in Bochum
![Freizeit & Erholung am Kemnader See in Bochum, Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Bochum-Kemnader-See_1529.jpg?resize=800%2C487&ssl=1)
One day in Dortmund
![Der Skywalk durch den alten Hochofen Phoenix in Dortmund Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Dortmund-Hochofen-Skywalk-Phoenix_1880.jpg?resize=800%2C534&ssl=1)
One day in Duisburg
!["Tiger & Turtle" - Kunstwerk auf der Halde in Duisburg im Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Duisburg-Halde-Tiger-Turtle_2131_2_3_4_5.jpg?resize=800%2C501)
One day in Essen
![Seaside Beach Baldeney in Essen im Ruhrgebiet](https://i0.wp.com/meurers.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Ruhrgebiet-Essen-Seaside-Beach-Strand_2044_HDR.jpg?resize=800%2C531)
We only have seen a very small part of the Ruhr District. We could have done much much more in each town. But I think you can get an impression how beautiful the ‚Pott‘ is today and how much quality of life and recreation areas it has to offer. The old picture from the dirty Ruhr District does not exist any more.