Duren is a medium-sized city on the northern edge of the recreation area „Eifel“, being centrally located between Aachen and Cologne. The town calls itself “the gate to the North-Eifel”, is crossed by the river “Rur” and is embossed by more than 1.300 years of changing history as well as today’s industry.
The fertile „Jülicher Börde“ as part of the Rhine bay is situated northwards and in the South you can find the “Rureifel” inclusive of Germany’s second largest water dam as well as the famous recreation area “Eifel”.
The city of Aachen is approximately 30 kilometers to the West and Cologne can be found in 45 kilometers distance to the East.
Duren is as well crossed by several bike trails, primarily the "RurUfer-Radweg", and there are plenty interesting castles to be visited in the entire region.
Recognizing its own history, Duren as the paper industry city has re-opened the paper museum again in September 2018 after full refurbishment; the cultural offer is completed by the museum "Leopold-Hoesch" - the frontage of this building is often considered to be the town's landmark - the arena "Kreis Duren", where the home matches of the federal division volleyball- team called "Powervolleys" as well as a lot of shows of well-known German comedians and artists are taking place, and last but not least the theatre in the "Haus der Stadt".
The city has gained reputation to be a city of marketplaces - three times a week a local market is taking place, where fresh regional products are offered, and - depending on the season of the year, you can visit the beer market, the feast market, the "Anna"-market and the May market, just to pick a few examples.
The entire region around Duren is minted by the brown coal mining, becoming famous lately through the symbol "Hambacher Forst", which brought the subject environmental protection on top of the discussion lists in politics and society. In order to get an own idea of this topic, you should visit the recultivated areas "Sophienhöhe" and the lake "Blausteinsee" as well as the still actively prosecuted surface mine "Inden" with an helicopter view from the "Indemann" look-out.
If you keep going northwards, you will reach a beautiful town called Julich; the local recreation park "Bruckenkopf" from the era Napoleon and the citadel are popular sights nearby, and especially when planning a bike tour, this is a nice route....