MY WIFE and I gazed down from the 722ft Florian Tower, across a beautiful panorama of woods, waterways and greenery. As we enjoyed the Arcadian scene, it was hard to believe that we were in the heart of the area known as "the forge of Germany", the industrial Ruhr and Dortmund, its largest city.

Then again, Dortmund is a place of surprises. If you are after a truly alternative break away from the tourist trail then Germany's seventh-largest city is ideal.

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Our principal reason for visiting was to watch a concert by one of our favourite singers Esther Ofarim who is now based in Germany and most famous in Britain for her 1968 No.1 Cinderella Rockefella, which she sang with her then husband Abi. As we had never visited the Ruhr, we decided to stay on and explore.

Our base was the friendly Hotel Konigshof, just a few hundred yards from the city's central station and on the ring road which follows the old city walls.

Its industrial importance meant Dortmund was heavily bombed in the Second World War with 93 per cent of its buildings destroyed in Allied air raids.

The legacy of this is some stunning modern architecture, including the state library with its glass rotunda opposite the station.

More venerable buildings do remain, however. In fact, it's this mixture of the 21st century and the decidedly retro that gives Dortmund its charm.

The city, as we soon discovered, is a shopper's paradise too.

Independent stores such as the wonderfully old-school tobacco shop Rainer Vollmer, off Hansastrasse, and quaint Adler Apothecary on the Alter Markt sit alongside department stores.

After a delicious meal of fresh asparagus, buttered potatoes and pork in breadcrumbs for less than E10 in Le Buffet on the store's fifth floor, we visited St Reinoldi church.

One of three exquisite churches in the centre, its fabulous stained glass windows came alive as the organist prepared for a service.

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Dortmund, like most German cities, has a cheap and efficient public transport system. We took the U-Bahn, the underground railway, to Hafen, Europe's largest canal wharf.

The hexagonal Old Harbour Master's Office marks the entrance with an exhibition telling the history of the port, which was opened by Kaiser Wilhelm II in 1899.

The wharf is no museum piece however. Standing on City Harbour bridge we watched as giant cranes loaded huge containers on to barges to make their way up the Dortmund-Ems canal.

Back in the centre of town we stopped for coffee and cake at the 108-year-old family-run Caf© Kleimann, where we met one of Dortmund's most famous characters. Nearly 50 years old, Acki the parrot has been keeping guests entertained since 1970.

Bolstered by caffeine and Acki's banter, we were ready to sample Dortmund's nightlife.

In 2010, the Ruhr conurbation was a European Capital of Culture and it's not hard to see why. Dortmund not only boasts the futuristic Konzerthaus, built in 2002, where we saw our wonderful Esther Ofarim concert, but also the enormous Westfalen Halls sporting venues, one of which has a capacity of 14,000.

It's also a great place for bars and restaurants. We decided to "go local" and had a delicious meal of rostbratwurst, sauerkraut and mustard in the Hopfendolde bar in Hansastrasse.
The following day, with the sun shining, we made our way to the Alter Markt to see the centre covered in a sea of yellow and black.

No, it wasn't a huge swarm of bees, but supporters of Borussia Dortmund, reigning German champions. Sadly we couldn't get tickets for the match with Hannover so made our way to one of Dortmund's many open spaces, the 173-acre Westfalen Park.

Here we enjoyed our tower climb, with its stunning views.

Dortmund is not a city where you'll find many tourist shops and because tourists are relatively rare the locals are genuinely interested in having a chat and asking where you come from.

It was, as my wife and I reflected, one of the friendliest places we had ever visited. We are already planning our return trip to this most underrated of European cities. An industrial revelation, you might say.

GETTING THERE

Dertour (020 7290 1137/ dertour.co.uk) offers three nights in Dortmund at the NH Dortmund Hotel from £229pp (two sharing), B&B. Price includes return flights with easyJet from Luton to Dortmund. Hotel Koningshof (dialling from the UK: 0049 2315 7041/ hotel-koenigshof.biz) offers doubles from £73 per night (two sharing), B&B Dortmund tourism: 231 189 990/dortmund-tourismus.de German National Tourist Office: germany.travel/en