Aachen

Aachen is a historically important city, spa and university centre in North Rhine-Westphalia, situated at the "three lands corner" where the borders of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. Known as Aix-la-Chapelle in French and Aken in Dutch, the city has played a prominent role in early Medieval Europe, when it became the favoured residence of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Emperor who created the Carolingian Empire in the late 8th and early 9th century and built the city's impressive cathedral, where he is now buried along with a succession of later German rulers, many of whom were also crowned in the city.

Apart from its medieval significance and a wealth of preserved artifacts, Aachen is also known for its springs, which have been attracting visitors since the Ancient Roman times and continue to do so today, with a number of historic baths and hotels sprinkled around the city. Contributing to the city's wealth and prominence is also the technical university, which made Aachen a hub for modern technologies and provides a sizeable student population (over 40,000 of the total 250,000 inhabitants in 2020). With all this, Aachen is now a multi-cultural, popular tourist destination.

Historically this spa-town was a prominent city, the place where the German Kings were crowned, and a famously favoured residence of Charlemagne who still lies buried in the impressive cathedral he himself had built. The city is packed with historic sights that remind of those days, including medieval buildings, city gates and beautiful fountains.



Understand
Aachen was the preferred residence of Charlemagne, "Roman" Emperor from 800 to 814 AD and king of an empire covering much of modern-day Italy, France, Germany and the Benelux. Additional information can be found at the Route Charlemagne Aachen website.

As Aachen is a legally recognised spa, it could call itself Bad Aachen, but refuses to do so, as it then would no longer be first in almost all alphabetical lists.

The city lies at the borders of Germany with Belgium and the Netherlands, forming the economic region called the Euregio Maas-Rhein. There are several Euregios in Europe, but regionally speaking just of "the Euregio" is understood to mean the one centred on Aachen.

By plane
Aachen shares its Maastricht-Aachen airport with Maastricht. It is located some 40 km outside the city centre, in the Netherlands. Maastricht-Aachen airport is connected to only a limited number of international destinations and served by budget carriers. Transit to and from the airport via public transportation is only possible via the city of Maastricht.

The nearest major international airports are Düsseldorf and Cologne-Bonn. Both airports can be reached by train (via the Düsseldorf and Cologne central stations respectively) or car in an hour. Another major airport within close proximity is Brussels. It can be reached by train with a change either in Liège, Leuven/Louvain, or Brussels.

Smaller airports within reasonable distance are Weeze in Germany, Eindhoven airport  in the Netherlands, and "Brussels" South Charleroi Airport  in Belgium. All three airports are bases for low-cost airlines. They can be reached by car in roughly 1h30, or by lengthy train journeys with several changes. Also, Liège (Lüttich) airport (( in Belgium is 45min by car and has some charter flights. Finally, https://www.antwerp-airport.com/, also in Belgium, requires a 90-minute car ride. Aachen is probably unique in having 9 airports in 3 countries within 150 km.

If for some reason none of the nearby airports are feasible or affordable, the airport in Frankfurt, Germany's main hub, has a direct ICE connection and offers a number of trains to Aachen with one interchange or less. For some airports the rail&fly programme the German railways offer together with several airlines might be an option. For more on that see rail air alliances.

By train
is the main railway station. Aachen has four other minor stations: Aachen Rothe Erde, Aachen Schanz, Aachen West and Aachen Eilendorf. In case of doubt, Aachen Hauptbahnhof is the most convenient station as it is served by all trains going to and through Aachen regardless of destination and it is closest to the city center.
 * Eurostar and ICE trains directly connect Aachen internationally with Liège, Brussels and Paris. ICE trains also provide direct connections every two hours from Frankfurt via Cologne, and daily connections from Berlin via Hanover and occasional connections to Hamburg.
 * Flixtrain serves the city.
 * There are also local trains from Liège every two hours.
 * Local trains (Regionalexpress) from Siegen via Cologne and Hamm via Düsseldorf run every half hour and take around 55 minutes from Cologne, 85 to 110 minutes from Düsseldorf.
 * Regional trains from Maastricht serve Aachen via Heerlen, Landgraaf and Herzogenrath (1 hr, )
 * Nightjet, the Austrian Railways' sleeper train, runs twice a week from Brussels via Aachen to Vienna, Munich and Innsbruck. It calls at Cologne, Bonn, Koblenz, Frankfurt airport, Würzburg and Nuremberg where the train divides: one portion runs via Linz to Vienna, the other via Munich to Innsbruck.

By bus
Aachen is connected by four bus operators for regional and long distance connections:

The buses call at three different locations depending on the operator:

By car
Being on major routes from the Netherlands and Belgium to Germany, easily reachable via the A4 and A44.

Parking in the town centre costs around per hour. There is also park and ride available around the outskirts of the town.

If you don't have your own vehicle, car-sharing is a possibility. Car-sharing is very common in Germany, but you should of course be cautious when booking a trip nonetheless. blablacar.de and mitfahrgelegenheit.de are good resources for finding rides to Aachen, although you're less likely to be successful if you're looking to book far in advance. Payment is expected.

By hitchhiking
There are several conventient possibilities to hitchhike to and from Aachen. More details and recommendations are available in the Aachen article at hitchwiki.

Get around
The old town is best explored on foot and orientation signs can be found all around. Apart from the centre, Aachen at a whole is a fairly large city.

By bus
Aachen has a city bus system, operated by ASEAG, including a few night bus lines. Most buses run to the central bus station near the city centre. You can get tickets from the bus driver. On arrival in Aachen, it may be worth visiting the ASEAG Customer-Centre opposite the main bus station. Here, you can pick up timetables for all bus routes run by the company and you can of course speak to an adviser as well. There are no timetables available for services run by Veolia, such as the number 50 to Maastricht, or for bus services run by Deutsche Bahn, such as the number 66 to Monschau.

By train
Aachen does not have a tram, U-Bahn or S-Bahn network like many other large German cities. It is still possible to travel through the city by train. The euregio-Bahn is a local line that stops at the stations Aachen West (not far from RWTH Aachen University), Aachen-Schanz, Aachen Hauptbahnhof (the most convenient for the city centre) and Aachen-Rothe Erde. Ticket machines are available at all stations.

By car
The city centre is mostly blocked for car traffic. A car can come in handy in the outskirts. Parking can get expensive, especially in the center of town.

By bike
While being hilly and not the most biker-friendly town in Germany, there are a number of bike routes and getting around on bike is increasingly popular. As in other German cities, some bike thefts have been reported so reasonable caution is adviced. Bike parking with surveillance is possible in "fahrrad station", near the central train station. You can rent a bike at the "fahrrad station", near the central train station.

By e-scooter
Several e-scooter rental systems such as Tier and Voi are active in Aachen in a similar fashion to other German cities.

By taxi
Are readily available on the streets as well as on fixed locations, e.g. near Aachen Hauptbahnhof station, Aachen Rothe Erde station and in Pontstraße. The same conditions as in the rest of Germany apply.

Architecture
RWTH Aachen University (Rheinisch-Westfälische Technische Hochschule Aachen) If you are interested in architecture, you can find all building styles from 1900 till today concentrated at the city-campus around Templergraben with the exception of the Uniklinik requiring a short bus ride.
 * Main building
 * Kármán Auditorium
 * Audimax
 * Mogam
 * Super-C The reception building of the RWTH-Aachen. Build to resemble the letter C. Nicely illuminated at night. The lower half of the C is underground, so the letter looks more like a super Tau т.
 * Reiff Museum
 * Rogowski building
 * Department of mining
 * Semi 90
 * Heizkraftwerk (now lecture halls)

Events
Some of the most popular events are listed below. The city events website and the city magazine Klenkes list other events by calendar.

Learn


Aachen is home to the highly regarded RWTH Aachen University, which is particularly strong in the field of mechanical engineering. While language courses during semester time are only available to students of the university, travellers may be interesting in applying for the Internationaler Sommerkurs (international summer course) which takes place annually in September and is open to students from some partner universities. Alongside an intensive language course, participants can take advantage of the programme of cultural events offered. To apply, one must be at least 18 years old and have prior knowledge of German at level A1 (the lowest level, roughly equivalent of being able to write a post card) on the Common European Framework for Languages or above.



General needs
Large supermarkets, grocery stores and smaller kiosks are available throughout all of the city. German opening hours have a lessened effect in Aachen, as just across the border in the Netherlands, all shops are open in the small town of Vaals, which can be reached by bus lines 25, 33, 35 and 50.

Sweets and baked goods
Aachen is famous for its characteristic local gingerbread called Printen. Characteristic bakeries can be found in many places around the city center. There are also two large factory outlets for sweets.

Eat
Aachen offers many different cuisines, from traditional German food to exotic cuisines. The centre offers restaurants of all categories, prices being relatively cheap in comparison with other German cities. Students prefer the snack bars and light meals offered at Pontstraße.

Splurge




Drink
There's no need to order your drinks at the bar when in Aachen - simply take a seat and a member of staff will come over to take your order. They'll write down what you've ordered on your coaster. When you've finished your drink, someone will soon come along and ask if you'd like to order another. When you're ready to pay, hand over your coaster to a member of staff. It's expected that you leave a small tip when paying; 5-10% is expected, typically by rounding up to the nearest Euro. You should make it clear you want to leave a tip before handing the money over by saying, for example, "I'll pay ".

The Pontstraße begins at Markt facing the historic city hall and ends at the Ponttor, part of the medieval city walls. Pontstraße is the main student hangout and offers a large variety of restaurants and bars, from pizzerias to late night hangout spots and a cinema (Apollo). A special treat are public fiestas happening at Karneval and important football matches. Don't miss it if you have the chance! Reached by a number of bus lines from Bushof; park near University. Nice pubs elsewhere:



Stay safe
Aachen is one of Germany's safer cities on average, and the casual tourist does not have to worry whilst in Aachen. The city center is usually bustling with life, especially during the school year, though pickpockets can take advantage of people taking a drink.

With that said, the areas immediately surrounding the main railway station (Hauptbahnhof) and the local bus station (Bushof) attract hordes of junkies. Furthermore, a lot of neighborhoods south of the city center can come off as sketchy if you are not accustomed to post-industrial towns. Most areas are usually fine.

As a border town, there is a certain amount of drug trafficking, but unless you are directly involved with this activity, you won't be affected.

Religious services
Here's an overview of Christian churches in central Aachen:

Catholic churches:



For Protestant churches in Aachen see also this website.



Other:



Go next

 * Neupré - World War II Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial, commemorates the American soldiers who died in Northern Europe during WWII
 * Henri-Chapelle - World War II Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery and Memorial. The final resting place for 7,992 American military dead lost during the drive into Germany
 * Dreiländereck- The three-country border of Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. Just a 10 min drive out of Aachen in the general direction of Vaals (Netherlands). Walk on the soil of three different European countries in just about under a second. Free. This is also the highest point of the Netherlands. There is a watchtower you can climb. You can get there best if you take the bus to Vaals and take Veolia Transport line 149 or walk.
 * Cologne - Germany's fourth largest city, with its striking cathedral, is less than an hour away by train.
 * Zülpich is a small town dating from Roman times on the road to Bonn. It has a newly opened museum focusing on Roman baths and bathing culture. It is also a gateway to the Eifel region.
 * Maastricht in the Netherlands with its beautiful city centre is where the Maastricht Treaty of the European Union was signed in 1992
 * Monschau Nicely preserved medieval town.
 * Nationalpark Eifel The youngest nature preservation area in Germany
 * Ordensburg Vogelsang Huge Nazi-built training centre near Gemünd. Served as Belgian barracks after the war, so they're quite well preserved.
 * Hohes Venn Marshlands between Monschau and Eupen