Aachen

Introduction

The Money fountain, Aachen.

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Aachen is a historic German city in the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen. It is the westernmost city of the country, located 65 kilometres west of Cologne, close to the borders with the Netherlands and Belgium. It has well over 250,000 inhabitants.

Neighbourhoods

Sights and Activities

• The Aachen Cathedral - a Unesco World Heritage Site
• The Aachen City Hall - dating back to the 14th century
• Markt and Katschhof, the two central places in Aachen
• The Grashaus - late medieval house at the Markt and one of the oldest buildings, also the previous city hall
• The Elisenbrunnen - eoclassical hall covering one of the cities famous fountains
• The 19th century Theater
• City gates: the Ponttor and the Kleinmarschiertor
• Many churches and monasteries

Events and Festivals

Weather

Aachen's climate is comprable to the average climate of Germany. Summers last from June to early September when it is mostly between 20 and 25 °C during the day and between 12 and 14 °C at night, though highs over 35 °C have been recorded as well. Winters are from December to February when it's mostly a little above zero during the day and slightly under zero at night. Most winters see some snow, but it is usually not that much.
Most of the precipitation falls during the months of October to March, though heavy showers in summer are possible, especially after hot weather.

Getting There

By Plane

The Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST) is shared with the Dutch city of Maastricht. Ryanair flies to/from Alicante, Pisa and Girona, Sky Airlines flies to/from Antalya, Transavia to/from Dalaman (Turkey), Faro, Heraklion (Crete), Kos, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Malaga, Palma de Mallorca, Rhodos and Tenerife-South, and Amsterdam Airlines to/from Ankara and Kayseri.

The airport is about 40 kilometres away from the city. The airports near Düsseldorf (80km away) and Cologne/Bonn (90km away) are also decent options, with much more intercontinental flights as well.

By Train

Deutsche Bahn provides frequent services to Cologne, taking about 1 hour and also has other connections in the region, including cities in the Ruhr area, like Düsseldorf and Dortmund. ICE high speed trains from Brussels via Cologne to Frankfurt and Thalys trains from Paris to Cologne also stop at Aachen, and there are regional trains to Heerlen in the Netherlands and Liege in Belgium as well.

By Car

Aachen is easily reached by taking the A4 from Cologne or the A44 from Düsseldorf. The smaller A544 connects from the A4, almost reaching the city proper.

By Bus

By Boat

Getting Around

By Car

By Public Transport

Bus tickets for travel within the city cost a flat €1.45. All of Aachen and the adjoining Dutch communities of Vaals and Kelmis can be covered with a Zone 1 ticket for €2 (day pass €5.50). Drivers sell tickets.===By Foot===

By Bike

Eat

Drink

Sleep

Work

Learn

• RWTH Aachen University

Keep Connected

Internet

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

Post

Germany's postal system is very efficient, their logistics branch DHL is one of the best companies in this field world-wide, with domestic post or within a radius of 400 kilometres, send within a day. The website of Deutsche Post has an online calculator for postage fees as well as a post office finder. Within Germany, sending postcards costs €0.45 and standard letters €0.55, within Europe it is €0.65 for a postcard, standard letters to places in Europe cost €0.70. Outside Europe, the prices for sending a postcard or standard letter are €1 and €1.70 respectively. Although you will find the old post offices (mainly in the city centre), most of the smaller neighbourhood post offices are part of a small tobacco shop or grocery store.