Spring brings with it all kinds of new beginnings, and if you live in Central Europe, it brings with it the will to live again once the sun is finally back in the sky after a long long winter. Dramatic? Maybe. Still true? Absolutely.
My second favorite thing about spring in Europe, besides the very welcomed sunshine, is the gorgeous flowers that start to bloom all around, particularly the unmissable Kirschen Blüte, or Cherry blossom, and one specific place in Germany that is well known for them is Bonn.
The cherry blossoms in Bonnn have become a local sensation with Germans and international tourists alike, all lured in by that postcard perfect image of a certain Bonn street clouded by the fluffy cherry blossoms.
In this post I will tell you all about visiting the cherry blossoms in Bonn, is it worth it, where is the famous street, and alternative street for photos, and more.
Visiting The Famous Cherry Blossoms in Bonn, Germany
Are the cherry blossoms in Bonn worth the trip?
First things first, is it worth it? Do the flowers actually live up to the hype of what we see online?
Nowadays is really easy to make a picture look 100 times better than what the original location looks like, so I was very skeptical about this trip.
We had to drive 2 hours to get to Bonn and I was ready to be disappointed by highly edited photos on Instagram, but, oh my! I’m so happy I got proven wrong, the flowers are indeed absolutely mesmerizing in person!
They are as baby pink as you see in photos and just so so so fluffy! They literally look like tiny pom-poms!
Where is the famous street with cherry blossoms in Bonn?
Now that we got that initial doubt out of the way, where is this famous street with cherry blossom in Bonn really located?
From my research before going there, it seemed like the main street for cherry blossoms admirers is Heerstrasse, it is not the only one, but it is definitely the favorite one for pictures.
The other option you have, which I didn’t see a lot of people mentioning, is Breite Strasse, which is also lined with cherry blossoms but differs from Heerstrasse in some ways:
Heerstrasse
Heerstrasse is the most popular one, from what I experienced I would think that it is that way because the trees here are a little bit bigger and fuller.
Second of all, if you are a bit sporty, this street has two little columns in the middle of the road that you can climb and take pictures from, or pose at the top of them and get someone to take the picture from under to get the shot with the full cloud of cherry blossoms as a background.
Breite Strasse
The upside to Breite Strasse is that by 3 pm when Heerstrasse was incredibly crowded, Breite Strasse was mostly empty, so if you get there later in the day, and one of them is too crowded, try the other one.
Another nice detail about Breite Strasse is that is lined with cute little local shops, whereas Heerstrasse is more of a residential street, and if you have seen pictures of the flowers with the Altstadt sign and wonder where that is, that is also located on Breite Strasse.
When to see the cherry blossoms in Bonn
The timing for the flowers to bloom really varies year by year, naturally depending on the weather and temperatures, but you can normally expect them to start opening up at one point in April.
The year that I visited (2021) it had been a particularly cold spring, so the cherry blossoms started blooming in the middle of April, but since the weather finally turned warm out of nowhere, the flowers stayed on the trees for a little longer.
I went to visit the cherry blossoms in Bonn on the 24th of April and they were still fully open, but slowly starting to fall, which actually ended up creating a magical effect on some photos and videos.
What time of day is best to visit the cherry blossoms in Bonn
As with anything that becomes a highly touristic area it is always better to get there earlier than later, and preferably on a weekday to avoid crowds.
I made this trip on a Saturday since I had to meet a friend in Bonn that day, so I arrived at 9 am—I hate crowds, but also hate waking up early— and it was not bad, there were maybe 10 other people in the whole street (the street is long), but by 10 am you could see the crowds arriving.
If you really want to play it safe and have more time to take pictures or make videos without people in the shot I think 8 am is a great time to get there, on the weekend, I’m sure during the week 9 am is early enough to have more time to yourself to photograph the beautiful flower tunnel.
Bonus tip: Breakfast after shooting the cherry blossoms in Bonn
If you, like us, decide to wake up early to beat the crowds there is a big chance you will be starving by the time you are done shooting, if this is the case, I would highly recommend you stop by C’est la Vie Boulangerie, a little bakery with a local following.
We found this place just around the corner from the cherry blossom street, we noticed the line of people waiting outside the shop before we went to take the pictures, as well as after, and if there is a line of locals anywhere, you know that’s good!
So after getting all those cherry blossom angles, we stopped here for some cappuccinos, a quiche, and a tasty raspberry tart, and it was delicious!
I hope you found this post helpful for your next visit to the cherry blossoms in Bonn. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if you think there are any other details I should add.
May the trees be the fluffiest and brightest whenever you decide to visit! Happy Spring!