North Rhine-Westphalia · Germany
Where to stay in Aachen
Aachen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, home to about 264,000 people. This guide covers 1 hotel and 1 aparthotel in Aachen, with about 124 rooms between them. 1 of them carries a published guest score, and the list below is ordered by it.
- Places to stay in this guide
- 2
- Best months
- May and September
- Nearest airport
- MST27 km · Maastricht Aachen Airport
- Currency
- EUReuro
- Time zone
- Europe/Berlin
- Language
- German
About
About Aachen
Aachen is the 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 264,000 inhabitants. It is the western-most major city in Germany, lying approximately 61 km (38 mi) west of Cologne and Bonn, directly bordering Belgium in the southwest, and the Netherlands in the northwest.
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.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Aachen
See
- Aachen Cathedral
- Aachen Cathedral Tour
- Cathedral Treasury
- Rathaus
- Elisa Fountain
- Couven-Museum
- Grashaus
- Haus Löwenstein
- Ponttor
- Marschiertor
- Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum
- Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst
Do
- Lousberg
- Market place
- Frankenberger Viertel
- Spring: Carnival
- Summer: Pinkpop festival
- Summer: CHIO equestrian championship
- September: September special
- November - December: Aachen Christmas Market
- Spa Carolus Thermen
- Hangeweiher outdoor swimming pool
- Indoor swimming pools
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Where to stay
The best-rated places to stay in Aachen
Ordered by guest score as each operator publishes it, weighted by the number of reviews so a handful of perfect scores does not outrank thousands of very good ones. Scores are shown on their own scale.
| # | Place to stay | Rooms | Guest score |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leonardo Hotel Aachen hotel | 99 | 83/100 3,632 reviews |
1 more place to stay, without a published guest score
| Place to stay | Rooms |
|---|---|
| Aachen Vereinsstraße aparthotel | 25 |
Schematic: the city centre in orange, each place to stay as a dot, distance rings in kilometres.
When to go
The best time to visit Aachen
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Aachen are May and September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 24 °C; July is the wettest, with about 100 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Aachen: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), about 27 km from the city centre in a straight line; Liège Airport (LGG, 48 km) and Düsseldorf Airport (DUS, 74 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
Aachen shares its Maastricht-Aachen airport (MST) 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 (DUS) and Cologne-Bonn (CGN). Both airports can be reached by train (via the Düsseldorf and Cologne central stations respectively) or car in an hour.
Getting 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. Aachen has a city bus system, operated by ASEAG, including a few night bus lines. Most buses run to the central bus station Bushof 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.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
MST · Maastricht Aachen Airport
LGG · Liège Airport
DUS · Düsseldorf Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Aachen
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.
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.
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.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Good to know
Accessibility, parking and families in Aachen
How many places to stay in this guide offer each, in their operators' own words.
of 2 places
of 2 places
of 2 places
of 2 places
of 2 places
of 2 places
Questions
Aachen: questions travellers ask
What are the best-rated hotels in Aachen?
By published guest score: Leonardo Hotel Aachen (83 / 100 · 3,632 reviews · www.leonardo-hotels.com (operator's own guest score)).
When is the best time to visit Aachen?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Aachen are May and September. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 24 °C; July is the wettest, with about 100 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Aachen?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST), about 27 km from the city centre in a straight line; Liège Airport (LGG, 48 km) and Düsseldorf Airport (DUS, 74 km) are also within reach.
Are there accessible hotels in Aachen?
1 place in this guide list accessible rooms.
What currency is used in Aachen?
euro (EUR).
Nearby
Destinations near Aachen
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.