Aachen sits in the far west of Germany, in the corner where the German, Belgian and Dutch borders meet, with about 250,000 people and a very large student population from its technical university. For a few decades around the year 800 it was the most important place in western Europe, because Charlemagne made it his principal residence and the seat of his court.
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What survives from that is the cathedral, and it is extraordinary. The octagonal Palatine Chapel at its heart was built around 796 to 805 on Byzantine and Ravennate models, with marble and columns brought from Italy, and it is still intact inside the Gothic additions that grew around it. Charlemagne is buried here. Thirty-one German kings were crowned in this building between 936 and 1531. In 1978 it became the first site in Germany on the UNESCO World Heritage list, and one of the first twelve anywhere in the world.
The city exists because of water. Aachen has hot sulphur springs, the hottest in central Europe, which is why the Romans settled here and called it Aquae Granni and why Charlemagne chose a place with a bath he could swim in. The springs still run, you can smell them at the Elisenbrunnen, and there is a working spa on them.
And it is a border city in a way that shapes daily life: Belgium is about five kilometres west, the Netherlands about the same north, and local buses cross both routinely.
What you pack is set by cool, wet Rhineland weather and a cathedral interior that is cold in every month.
The Cathedral, the Treasury and the Rathaus
An eighth century chapel, one of Europe's great treasuries, and a town hall built on a palace.
The cathedral is free to enter but the interesting parts are not: seeing the upper gallery, Charlemagne's marble throne and the chancel properly requires a guided tour, which runs several times daily and in English at least once, and it is worth building the day around rather than fitting in. The Barbarossa chandelier, the gilded shrine holding Charlemagne's remains, and the mosaics are the things to look at. Photography rules are strict and enforced.
The Cathedral Treasury next door is one of the most important church treasuries in Europe, holding the Cross of Lothair, a bust reliquary of Charlemagne and the Persephone sarcophagus he may have been buried in. It takes an hour and it is quieter than the cathedral.
The Rathaus, the town hall, stands on the site of Charlemagne's palace hall and reuses its foundations, with the Coronation Hall upstairs holding nineteenth century frescoes of his life and replicas of the imperial regalia. The market square in front of it is where the city sits in summer.
The Elisenbrunnen is a neoclassical colonnade over two drinking fountains of the thermal water, which you can taste and which smells strongly of sulphur. The Carolus Thermen on the edge of the park is the modern bath complex on the same water, with indoor and outdoor pools and a large sauna area, and a note worth having in advance: the sauna section is textile-free and mixed, which is standard in Germany and surprises visitors who have not met it.
For printen, the hard spiced gingerbread that is Aachen's own, the old bakeries around the cathedral are the places; it is sold year-round and is genuinely hard, so the soft chocolate-covered version is the easier introduction.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Three Countries, the Eifel and the Christmas Market
A border trip, forested uplands south, and one of Germany's better markets.
The Drielandenpunt at Vaals, where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet at a single marker, is about twenty minutes by bus and is a genuinely odd and pleasant outing: a hill with a viewing tower, a maze, and a boundary stone you can walk around in three countries. Maastricht is forty minutes by bus and Liege about an hour by train, both of which make easy day trips and both of which are different countries.
South of the city the Eifel begins: forested volcanic uplands with the Hohes Venn, a high raised bog on the Belgian border that is one of the largest in western Europe, crossed by boardwalks. It is a protected landscape and the boardwalks exist because the bog is fragile and because walking off them is both damaging and genuinely risky. Monschau, a slate-roofed half-timbered town in a narrow valley, is the postcard trip, about forty minutes.
The Aachen Christmas market runs through Advent around the cathedral and Rathaus and is among the better-regarded in Germany, which in a country with a great many is a real distinction. It is also the reason the city is fully booked in December, so plan accordingly.
Getting around: the old town is compact and walkable, buses cover the city and cross both borders, and the Hauptbahnhof puts Cologne at under an hour and Brussels or Paris on the high-speed line. There is no tram or U-Bahn.
When to Go
May to September for the weather, December for the market. It rains a great deal here.
Aachen is one of the wetter cities in Germany, sitting where Atlantic weather meets the Eifel uplands. Daytime highs run from about 5C in January to 23C in July, rain falls in every month, and the city is cloudier than the German average.
Late spring and summer, May to September, is the window for the city and the Eifel: long days, the market square in use, and the Hohes Venn boardwalks at their best. June and July are the most reliable, which here means a reasonable chance rather than a promise.
Autumn, October and November, is wet and grey, with the Eifel colouring well in October. The cathedral and treasury are indoor propositions.
Winter, December to February, is cold and damp, around 2 to 6C, with the Christmas market running through Advent and filling the city. Snow is occasional in the city and more frequent in the Eifel. The thermal baths come into their own in exactly this weather, which is also when the Christmas market makes standing outdoors for hours worthwhile.
One thing to time around: the Karnival season peaks in February with processions, and Aachen takes it seriously in the Rhineland manner, which means the city is noisy, costumed and drunk for several days.
Is Aachen Safe for Women Travelers
Aachen is a comfortable student city. The FCDO's Germany warnings are terrorism and petty theft.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Germany, and its terrorism wording is the strongest it uses: terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Germany, with restaurants, MARKETS, shopping centres, places of worship, sporting events and crowded public spaces named as possible targets. That is worth knowing in a country where a Christmas market is often the reason for the trip, and the response is awareness rather than avoidance. On crime the FCDO puts German levels on a par with the UK and names theft and pickpocketing at airports, railway stations and in crowded places, with the specific advice not to leave bags unattended. It also gives one unusually concrete warning: exchange currency only at banks and legitimate bureaux, because counterfeit notes are passed to visitors at street kiosks.
The terrorism wording the FCDO uses for Germany is its strongest, and markets are named among possible targets, which is worth knowing in a city whose Christmas market is a principal draw. The practical response is the ordinary one: be aware of your surroundings in a crowd, note the exits, and follow instructions from staff and police if anything happens. It is not a reason to avoid the market.
The theft warning is the one that applies daily: airports, railway stations and crowded places, which here means the Hauptbahnhof, the cathedral square in season and the Christmas market, where dense slow-moving crowds are a pickpocket's ideal. Keep a bag closed and in front of you. The counterfeit-currency point is also specific and easy to act on: change money at a bank, not at a street kiosk.
Day to day the city is relaxed and feels safe. The old town is compact, the student population keeps it populated into the evening, eating alone is unremarkable, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The nightlife around the Pontstrasse is a dense student bar strip and behaves like one: busy, young, cheap and loud, with the usual care about drinks applying there more than anywhere else in the city.
Two things that are cultural rather than dangerous and are better known in advance. German sauna culture is textile-free and usually mixed, which includes the Carolus Thermen's sauna area, and attempting to wear a swimsuit in it will get you corrected. And Karnival in February involves strangers kissing cheeks, costumes and a great deal of drinking, which is good-natured and can be overwhelming if you walk into it unaware.
The physical risks are weather and the bog. Aachen's cobbles and the cathedral's worn marble are slick in rain. The Hohes Venn is a raised bog where the boardwalks exist for a reason: leaving them damages the habitat and the ground genuinely will not hold you in places.
Germany is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free: German healthcare involves patient contributions and the card does not cover repatriation or private treatment, so travel insurance sits on top of it. German hospitals are excellent and English is widely spoken in them, particularly in university cities. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems without an appointment and the duty rota for out-of-hours is posted in the window. Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Dial 112 for an ambulance and 116117 for the non-emergency medical service.
The Aachen Packing List
Base layers, for a cold cathedral and a wet city
The pattern here is persistent damp plus cold interiors: the Palatine Chapel is a tall stone volume that holds winter temperatures well into summer, and the treasury is kept cool deliberately. Merino at 160gsm keeps insulating when damp, which is where cotton fails and leaves you chilled for hours, and it manages the walk-then-stand-still rhythm of cathedral and museum days. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is also the right thing to wear under a coat at a December market, where you stand outdoors for hours.
A proper waterproof with a hood
A packable rain jacket for women. Aachen is one of the wetter German cities and rain is frequent rather than heavy, so the thing that matters is having a hood with you every day rather than a heavy coat occasionally.
A warm mid layer, most of the year
A fleece mid layer, needed September to May, useful inside the cathedral in any month, and necessary for the Christmas market.
Shoes for wet cobbles
Walking shoes with grip for the old town's cobbles and the cathedral's worn marble floors, both slippery in rain. Merino wool socks, which keep insulating damp.
If the Eifel or the Hohes Venn are in the plan
Waterproof hiking boots. The Hohes Venn is a raised bog and the surrounding Eifel paths are wet for most of the year, so drainage matters more than ankle support here.
For winter and the market
A hat, gloves and a scarf from November to March. The Christmas market is hours of standing still in a damp cold, which is the kind of cold that gets through clothing rather than the kind that bites.
For the baths
A swimsuit for the pool areas and a towel, with the note that the sauna section is textile-free, so a swimsuit is for the pools only. Flip-flops for the changing areas.
The small things
Cash in euros, because Germany remains more cash-oriented than Britain or France and smaller bakeries and market stalls may not take cards. A European two-pin adapter. A refillable bottle; tap water is drinkable. Something to cover shoulders is not required for the cathedral, though it is a working church and modest dress is appreciated. And your passport rather than just an ID card if you are crossing into Belgium or the Netherlands, which is routine here but still a border.
Essential Resources for Women in Aachen
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Non-emergency police: dial 110 for police in Germany and 112 for any emergency. A theft needs an in-person report, the Anzeige, to produce the document an insurer will require, and the main police station handles visitor reports. Officers in a university city generally speak English.
Main hospital or clinic: the Uniklinik RWTH Aachen is a very large university hospital with a full emergency department and is one of the biggest single hospital buildings in Europe. Dial 112 for an ambulance. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems without an appointment and the duty rota is posted in the window.
Official health authority: the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health body. Germany is in the EU, so a UK GHIC or EU EHIC gives you state-provided care on the same terms as a resident, which is not the same as free and does not cover repatriation
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Berlin. Berlin, with a consulate general in Duesseldorf about an hour away, which is the nearer post
Official tourism authority: the German National Tourist Board. With the Aachen tourist office for cathedral guided tour times, which are the only way to see the upper gallery and the throne, and for the Christmas market dates
Three borders: Belgium is about five kilometres west and the Netherlands about the same north, and local buses cross both. Carry your passport rather than relying on a national ID card, and remember that mobile roaming and emergency numbers differ once you are across.
The Hohes Venn: a protected raised bog crossed by boardwalks. Stay on them: leaving them damages a fragile habitat and the ground will not reliably hold you.
Sauna culture: the sauna areas at the Carolus Thermen and German spas generally are textile-free and mixed. This is normal here and worth knowing before you arrive rather than at the door.
US State Department travel advisory: the Germany advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Aachen is a comfortable, relaxed university city and an easy place to travel alone. The old town is compact and walkable, a very large student population keeps it populated into the evening, eating alone is unremarkable, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The FCDO's theft warning is the one that applies daily, naming airports, stations and crowded places, which here means the Hauptbahnhof, the cathedral square in season and above all the Christmas market, where dense slow crowds are ideal for pickpockets: a closed bag held in front of you handles it. Germany's terrorism wording is the FCDO's strongest and names markets among possible targets, which is worth knowing without being a reason to stay away; note the exits and follow staff instructions. Change money at a bank rather than a street kiosk, which the FCDO specifically advises. The Pontstrasse is a dense student bar strip where the usual care about drinks matters most. Two cultural points are better known in advance than discovered: German sauna areas, including at the thermal baths here, are textile-free and mixed, and Karnival in February means several days of costumes, cheek-kissing strangers and heavy drinking. The physical hazards are small: wet cobbles and worn cathedral marble, and the Hohes Venn boardwalks, which exist because the bog will not hold you.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Germany travel guide for women. For why fine wool is right for a cold cathedral and a December market, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
