What to do in Aachen

Just across the border, about 100 kilometres from where I live and an unknown city to me, but I don’t really like unknown. In quite a grey weekend in March, I went out to discover this city where Charlemagne once lived and ruled.

About Aachen

Aachen is a city in Germany, near the border of Belgium and The Netherlands. It has its own train station and nearby airports are Düsseldorf, Cologne and Maastricht.

The city is mainly known because Charlemagne lived and ruled there, he had given the order to build the now famous cathedral.

Other than that, Aachen also contains multiple thermal springs, which the Romans already used to bathe.

Some useful things to know

If you go by car to Aachen, you’ll need an environmental sticker! More information about this sticker here.
Museums are free if you’re under 21!
If you’re older than 21 and planning on visiting a few museums, buying the ‘Six for six’ card may come cheaper for you. For 14 euros can visit the Suermondt Ludwig Museum, the Ludwig Forum, the Centre Charlemagne, the Couven Museum, the International Newspaper Museum and the Town Hall. The card is valid for 6 months and can be bought in one of these locations above.
Click here to go to the website of the tourist service of Aachen.

Where I stayed

Already six months in advance we (me and my boyfriend) booked a place to stay, namely an attic apartment in the Relax Aachener Boardinghause.

The apartments already got great reviews, but when we saw the apartment where we were going to stay, it was even better than expected. It was furnished stunningly, had everything we could need, there is a parking garage at five minutes walking and the city centre at 15 minutes walking. It was absolutely perfect.

Click here to find more information about the apartments.

You want another hotel? Sure! Click here to search for something else.

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What I loved

Starting off this category with the overall atmosphere. There is so much history in this city which makes it wonderful to walk around, but it’s also peaceful and relatively quiet. The city isn’t incredibly big so it already feels cosier, and many tourists haven’t discovered it yet. You won’t be the only tourist, but even at the weekend, it’s not crowded at all. A shame perhaps because Aachen is definitely worth a visit, but it’s still nice and quiet when you visit it now.

Centre Charlemagne

The first thing we visited during our stay was the Centre Charlemagne. The city museum where the rich history of Aachen gets explained and displayed in an attractive way. Not a standard, boring museum but by using technology, hidden drawers and a nice look in general, you won’t be bored easily. Plus the history of Aachen is a very interesting one.

We opted for an audio-guide which was a great help. Without it, we probably never understood the meaning of everything displayed in the museum. The whole tour with the audio guide took 2-hours and I wasn’t bored for a minute.

Free Walking Tour

You can wander around in a city for hours, and not knowing anything about the things you’ve seen. With this walking tour, you’re guided around by a local who shows you in an hour and a half what the city has to offer. The obvious buildings, but also fun stories behind monuments, something I’d have never known if I hadn’t taken that tour, and some “insiders” tips. You even get to taste an Aachener Printe, and all for free!

Of course, it’s the goal that you give a certain amount of money to your guide, but how much you give is completely up to you.

I can’t remember the name of our guide, but it was a very enthusiastic woman and following her tour was such a great experience. Now I also understand what those people are doing with their hands on all the photos on the website of the company that organises these tours. 😉

Elisenbrunnen

One of the most famous tourist attractions in the city I reckon, which means for me immediately that I’m not very looking forward to visiting it. The Elisenbrunnen (brunnen = springs) surprised me though. As I said earlier there aren’t that many tourists in Aachen so it wasn’t busy there at all, maybe the unpleasant smell of sulfur kept some people away. It is a beautiful building, but the real surprise lays in the water that flows out of the lion mouths. It was about 10 degrees outside, and as I wanted to reach out to the water I expected almost ice-cold water, but in contrary it was almost 50°C.

If you think about it it’s not such a surprise because the water comes out of one of the thermal springs of Aachen which heats up the water naturally. Still a nice surprise though, definitely in winter.

Printenbäckerei Klein

Printen are some typical “cookies” from Aachen. They’re not really cookies but I don’t know how to describe them in another way. In the shop of this bakery in the Krämerstraße, two lovely, already a bit older ladies were working there. While we were looking around on which size and packaging and all we wanted our souvenirs to be, these ladies offered us to have a taste of the different kinds of Printen. Also after we paid and kindly refused a plastic bag, the lady reassured us that it really wasn’t a problem to give us a bag if that would be easier. My backpack was big enough though to carry everything so the environment was happy too, the kind gestures of the ladies in the shop were lovely though.

Salvatorkirche

An unexpected discovery on our way to the top of the Lousberg, a hill next to the city. We came across this church and while I wanted to continue our hike, my boyfriend wanted to give this church a closer look. Luckily we did, because not only is this church stunning on the inside and about 1200 years old (it started as a chapel in 840), it also protected us from quite a rain shower. If we weren’t in this church, we were probably soaking wet.

If you’re in need for a place to hide from the rain or need a place to rest on your way to the top of the Lousberg, this church is the perfect spot. Even if you’re not looking for any of this, the church is beautiful enough to visit without any reason.

Katzencafé

Maybe this is even my favourite place of all, the cat cafe where all (crazy) cat ladies (and men of course) can enjoy the company of four adorable cats.

Give me a room with cats and I’m happy, give me a room with cats and all vegetarian food and I’m over the moon. On top of that, the sandwich I had (Sandwich Milou if I remember correctly) was delicious. Not a gastronomical miracle, but simple and incredibly tasty. It’s a bit pricy for what you get, but the atmosphere, the cats and the lovely owner are completely worth it.

What was nice

Sights

Aachen Cathedral

If you think of Aachen, you picture the cathedral. Impressive from the outside, but also from the inside. You can’t go to Aachen without having been inside the cathedral. Don’t forget to look up, the ceiling is stunning. Unfortunately, it’s quite crowded inside and only a small part of the cathedral is available to visit. Some places, like where the throne of Charlemagne stood, are only accessible with a guide. Also, a permit to take pictures costs 1 euro.

Small tip: Feel inside the noses of the lions at the door. You’ll feel a difference. This has to do with a legend involving the devil.

Cathedral Treasury

Lots of gold as you might expect with definitely some impressive items. The most famous one without a doubt the reliquary bust of Charlemagne. Nice to have seen all of it.

Pub Domkeller

Located at a cosy square, but most importantly one of the oldest houses in town! The inside gives you an impression of how a house in the 17th century looked like, only now stuffed with tables and chairs. It’s a bit narrow, standing up from your seat when someone is sitting behind you is a challenge, but there’s a nice atmosphere, you have a pretty view and it’s just a bit of an experience being there.

On Monday evenings free concerts take place here, unfortunately, we only stayed during the weekend.

Zeitungsmuseum (Newspaper museum)

I can’t say that newspapers interest me that much, still, I really enjoyed visiting this museum. It’s not only about newspapers, it mainly shows the evolution of spreading news, where newspapers, of course, have a big role to play. Topics like censorship and other issues are also shown.

What made me like this museum the most is that it’s really modern and they use different ways of displaying so it doesn’t get boring. If you’re interested in media then this museum is perfect for you, but even if you’re not, it’s still fun to visit. Make sure you don’t walk past it though, the museum is located in a densely built street and the facade doesn’t stand out that much. Definitely keep your eyes open to look for it and don’t stare at your phone or you’ll walk you past it as we did.

Carolus Thermal Baths

What’s lovelier than relaxing in some thermal baths after a long day of walking around and exploring. As I’ve mentioned before, Aachen was already famous for its thermal springs way back in the Roman time. A visit to these baths is definitely a must.

We went on a Saturday evening, thinking that in the evening there wouldn’t be a lot of people, but as it goes with tourist attractions, there are always plenty of people. It wasn’t too crowded though.

The inside of the thermal baths looks beautiful. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot to do. Of course, you can pay for the spa and a sauna, but the facilities that are accessible for everyone are a bit disappointing, a few pools with different temperatures and 2 outside pools with (warm) thermal water, a relaxation room and a sort of steam room. If you visit the Thermal Baths during the summer you can also enjoy a little beach a terrace outside which do look great on the website.

The cheapest ticket gives you 2,5 hours time in the baths, but we only used about half of that time because we got quite bored.

A little tip if you visit these baths, don’t forget to collect a key right when you enter the hallway to the changing rooms. The coin you get will make it able to take a key, and that key is for your locker. Depending on the number you took you’ll have to go to the changing rooms on another floor. You pay for your visit when you leave.

Lousberg (Lousmountain)

For those who want to escape the city for a bit and go into nature. The Lousberg is a hill right next to the city. At the top, you have an amazing view of the city and the surroundings in general. Do give the Salvatorkirche -where I spoke about earlier – a visit, it’s on your way to the top and it’s an amazing place (also a great shelter for the rain).

Don’t underestimate this hill though, it’s higher and steeper than I expected.

Food

Hanswurst

Typical German food, in a modern setting. Not expensive, friendly staff and also a few choices for vegetarians! The interior looks great and the food is really good. It can be very busy, there were even people who didn’t have a place to sit, so keep that in mind. You can also order a sausage from outside (they have a sort of stall in their facade), which can be a great option if there’s no place anymore inside.

Wei & Wei

A dim sum restaurant, owned by lovely people. I had never eaten dim sum before, so I can’t really say if these were extremely good or not, but they weren’t bad at all. I’m probably not the biggest fan of dim sum in general, but if you are, then give this restaurant a go!

What waisted my time

Town Hall

When visiting the town hall you find at the ground floor a few decorated rooms in the style of a while back. Pretty, but not what I was expecting or looking for. When you take the stairs, you come across this big window with a beautiful view on the cathedral, an ideal place to take photos and for me the highlight of this building. On this first floor, you walk into a big hall. It looked like any moment some kind of conference could start there because a small stage was surrounded by rows of chairs. Against the wall of the hall was a showcase with jewels, also pretty but it didn’t amaze me.

Couven Museum

If you like the home decor in the style of the 18th and 19th century this is your place to be, otherwise, you can better skip it. The museum is located in the house of a pharmacist and now shows how middle-class houses in that time were decorated. The pharmacy on the ground floor was very interesting to see, all the other rooms seemed very similar and got boring after a while.

That was everything for my weekend spent in Aachen! I hope I could help/inspire/amuse you with this blog post. Don’t hesitate to leave a comment with your tips for Aachen or with feedback on this blog post. It’s the first one so I’m still searching my own style a bit.

Many happy travels!

— Anke

#Aachen #Citytrip #Germany