We will be driving from Taunus area outside Frankfurt to Aachen but is it feasible to drive first to Monschau and check it out and then on to Aachen for one overnight? Or is it too much and would cut into time in Aachen? I would love the family to see beautiful Medieval preserved Monschau but unsure if it is adding too much.
Posted by
Lexington, KY (formerly Southeast US)
4528 posts
This is one of those questions that I think is a little hard for forum members to answer for you. It is so dependent on what you want out of a stop in Aachen.
Aachen was heavily bombed during WWII. There are some old buildings but a lot of more modern buildings, too, even in the city center. Aachen's Dom and Rathaus are super impressive and were of tip top interest to this history buff. The two-story building that connected the two and allowed newly coronated Holy Roman emperors to walk from the coronation site on Charlemagne's (alleged) throne in the Dom to the Coronation Hall in the Rathaus? The middle portion is a modern building because that portion of the building was bombed during WWII. I discussed my perceived value of the Dom in a previous post of yours. Aachen is a college town and has a nice vibe. I liked it quite a bit.
Monschau is lovely. As you mentioned, it has a nice medieval German town vibe.
If you get an early start on the day, I don't see why you can't do both, but I think that would put you arriving in Aachen mid to late afternoon. There would probably still be time for a "walk through" of the Dom but not time for the English tour. A walk through, though, may be a fair trade off for you to be able to include Monschau. You've probably already taken a look at Google Maps to see driving times with and without Monschau -- that figures into the calculus, too.
Good luck with making a decision! Enjoy your trip to Germany.