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Lonely Planet lists Bonn among top 10 destinations

October 22, 2019

The Lonely Planet travel guide has placed Germany's former capital, Bonn, among its top 10 cities to visit in 2020. Austria's second city, Salzburg, topped the list, ahead of Washington, DC.

Figures of Beethoven in Bonn
Image: Getty Images/I. Fassbender

The western German city of Bonn was selected for fifth place by the Lonely Planet guide to the top 10 cities for tourists in 2020.

The city was chosen mainly for its cultural heritage — especially as the birthplace of the composer Ludwig van Beethoven.

Read more: Take a stroll with young Beethoven

Bonn celebrates the 250th anniversary of the birth of its most famous son next year, with a ramped-up version of festivities that are held annually in Beethoven's honor.     

The city topping the list also comes from the German-speaking world. The Austrian city of Salzburg was chosen for a similar reason that Bonn was: its classical music heritage. The Salzburg Festival, which also celebrates theater and opera, marks its 100th anniversary this year.

Washington clinched second place, followed by the Egyptian capital, Cairo, in third and the Irish city of Galway in fourth.

Rounding out the top 10 were La Paz (Bolivia), Kochi (India), Vancouver (British Columbia, Canada), Dubai (UAE) and Denver (Colorado, USA).

Each evening at 1830 UTC, DW's editors send out a selection of the day's hard news and quality feature journalism. You can sign up to receive it directly here.

Richard Connor Reporting on stories from around the world, with a particular focus on Europe — especially Germany.
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