Hotels in Aachen

Aachen: Carolingian Capital at the Three-Border Corner

Aachen sits at the point where Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands meet, roughly 65 km west of Cologne. The city rose to continental prominence in 794 AD when Charlemagne made it the capital of the Frankish Empire. His Palatine Chapel — the octagonal core of what is now Aachen Cathedral — was consecrated in 805 and became the first German site added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1978. Thirty Holy Roman Emperors were crowned here between 936 and 1531, a run that no other European city matches.

Where to Stay and Getting Around

Most hotels cluster within a short walk of the Altstadt ring, placing guests steps from the cathedral and the medieval Marktplatz. The Pontstraße quarter, north of the market square, draws students from the city's large technical university and fills with bars and independent cafés after dark. Aachen's compact centre is walkable; trams connect the main station (Aachen Hauptbahnhof) to the Altstadt in under ten minutes. Cross-border rail links reach Liège in 40 minutes and Maastricht in about 35 minutes.

Practical Tips

• Best time to visit: May–September for outdoor café culture; December for the Aachener Weihnachtsmarkt around the cathedral.
• Local specialty: Aachener Printen, a protected gingerbread variety sold year-round in the Altstadt.
• Currency: Euro (EUR); Belgian and Dutch euros accepted across the border without exchange.
• Language: German; Dutch and French are widely understood near the border crossings.