Does anyone go to Aachen? I'm an appreciator of art history and may make the trip from Brussels. Would it be a good day trip?
Posted by
Nashville, TN, USA
795 posts
Oh goodness, yes. Aachen is a wonderful place to go. The history and architecture predate Charlemagne and is amazing from the Treasury of Aachen Cathedral to the Dome of Aachen, you will be in art history heaven. It is a great day trip or place to stay the night.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8942 posts
I really enjoyed our day visit to Aachen from Frankfurt. The cathedral is stunning! I am a big Charlemagne fan, so coming here fulfilled one of the many things on my wish lists of places to go in Germany.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
I am planning two nights in Aachen for exactly the reasons you described.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
The center of Aachen is interesting, especially the old cathedral. But preserved historical core is pretty small and the rest of the city could just as well be Anystadt, Germany. Aachen is also known for it's thermal baths, so if this interests you, Aachen would be a decent place to explore this unique aspect of German culture.
Nearby Stolberg, Monschau, and the Eifel National Park are worth at least a quick look-see.
Posted by
Windsor, Ontario, Canada
4044 posts
Aachen is a small city with a lot of history (and a lot of institutes of education.) Here is a list of some of the attractions:
http://www.aachen.de/EN/ts/140_museums/index.html
Posted by
phoenix, az, usa
57 posts
The spa in Aachen is also fun if you like water, people with no clothes on, and saunas.
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32740 posts
The spa in Aachen is very mild and I won't return. By contrast with others in Germany it has nice mineral water but the water is only cool, and the swimming pools were too cold for me to enjoy... The bathing areas all require clothing - none are nude - so bathing suits are required. The crowd when I was there was a handful of older people and mostly mothers with small children when I would have expected a mostly mixed crowd.
The sauna area, like all others, requires no clothes be worn. I found the saunas very mild, not sufficiently hot and absolutely nothing to write home about.
If you want a good spa with all the facilities normally expected the Thermae 2000 just a few miles west, halfway between Maastricht and Aachen, in the Netherlands, would tick all the boxes. When I compared the two a couple of years ago the Thermae 2000 was a bit cheaper, too.