from €250.00 per group
Private bike tour for groups of up to 15 people
Discover the city’s largest murals by bike, guided by the curator who helped bring many of them to the streets
Düsseldorf is famous for its museums and galleries. Some of the city’s most impressive artworks, though, aren’t found in exhibition spaces at all. They cover entire building facades, scattered across different neighborhoods and perfectly reachable by bike. The Urban Art Ride takes your group to Düsseldorf’s most spectacular murals.
Perfect for
Art beyond the white cube
Urban art grew out of graffiti, but it has long since become more than that. Many people know it as street art, and that’s part of the story, though not all of it. Urban artists work in studios, exhibit in galleries and show their work in museums. For them, though, the street is not a side stage. It is an essential part of their artistic concept. Their work goes where everyone can see it, free and accessible, no ticket required. It’s about democratizing art, shaping the urban environment and inviting everyone to take part in it.
Urban art XXL
While the Urban Art Walk focuses on small and medium-sized works in the city center, the Urban Art Ride is all about scale: facade-sized murals that define entire streets. These works take days or weeks to create, painted from lifts and planned closely with building owners and the city, and they permanently change the face of a neighborhood.
What you’ll see
On a 2-hour bike tour through Bilk, Friedrichstadt, Oberbilk and Flingern, your group will see murals by:
Between the big walls, it pays to look closer: along the way you’ll spot PDOT’s iconic ghosts, plus sticker art and paste-ups by local and international artists.
Stories behind the walls
Who painted this, how do you create a picture this big, and why on this particular facade? You’ll get background on the artworks and the artists, on how large-scale murals are planned and painted, and glimpses into Düsseldorf’s urban history. Some of this is stuff you won’t find on any plaque, and plenty of it sparks conversation long after the tour.
Your guide
Klaus Rosskothen is a curator, screen printer and urban art expert. Since 2007 he has run Pretty Portal, Düsseldorf’s leading gallery for urban contemporary art. With the gallery, he has organized many of the urban art interventions in Düsseldorf, so your group will hear the stories behind the works first-hand. He has been leading the Urban Art Walk since 2018 and the Urban Art Ride since 2021.
Bikes not provided: please bring your own or a rented bike!
