Aachen in 1 day

A ready route for 1 day in Aachen: the main sights grouped by area, so you don't walk back and forth. Each day opens on the map with all its stops.

Cathedral Quarter & Altstadt · Museums & Pontviertel · Parks, Spa & New Town

6 places · about 5,5 h of sightseeing · 1,3 km between them

Morning

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum about 1 hour and 15 minutes
Aachen's principal fine-art museum — medieval sculpture, Old Masters and a notable Rhenish religious-art collection in a grand 1901 villa.
8 min on foot
Domschatzkammer (Cathedral Treasury) about 1 hour
One of the most significant church treasuries in Europe — the Cross of Lothair, the Bust of Charlemagne, and the Persephone sarcophagus.

Lunch break nearby — your plan suggests 3 places to eat right there, in different budgets

Afternoon

Aachener Dom (Aachen Cathedral) about 45 minutes · heart of the city
Charlemagne's UNESCO-listed Palatine Chapel, his burial place, and Germany's first UNESCO World Heritage Site (inscribed 1978).
5 min on foot
Centre Charlemagne (Neues Stadtmuseum Aachen) about 1 hour and 15 minutes
Aachen's modern city-history museum, built directly over Charlemagne's palace courtyard between the Dom and the Rathaus.
5 min on foot
Aachen Rathaus (Town Hall) & Krönungssaal (Coronation Hall) about 1 hour · heart of the city
Built on the foundations of Charlemagne's palace hall; the great Coronation Hall upstairs hosted 30 royal coronation banquets.
5 min on foot
Elisenbrunnen about 15 minutes
A neoclassical colonnaded pavilion over Aachen's sulfurous thermal spring — the city's most photographed landmark after the Dom.

Route of the day: Google Maps Apple Maps

Good to know

When to go

Spring and autumn are the most pleasant for the cathedral and the old town.

Book ahead

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum, Domschatzkammer (Cathedral Treasury), Aachener Dom (Aachen Cathedral), Centre Charlemagne (Neues Stadtmuseum Aachen), Aachen Rathaus (Town Hall) & Krönungssaal (Coronation Hall), Elisenbrunnen

Closed days

Suermondt-Ludwig-Museum — closed: Monday
Centre Charlemagne (Neues Stadtmuseum Aachen) — closed: Monday

Want times, places to eat and a plan for your own dates?

In your own plan:

exact times for each day, checked against the opening hours on your dates
places to eat near every stop, in three budgets
your flights, hotel, kids and pace taken into account

Make my plan for Aachen