Aachen; Saturday, 29 August, 2020

Given the checkin time for my hotel in Aachen I had intended on having a bit of lie in and taking a late morning train over. However, the bell ringers of Cologne Cathedral had other ideas and at 7am they started up a full peal that lasted nearly 30 minutes – by the time they finished there was clearly no point in trying to get back to sleep so instead I was able to get my breakfast time moved forward, and was out of the hotel much earlier than planned.

I got the train over towards Aachen and walked down to the hotel in the hope that at the very least I’d be able to leave my bag there for a couple of hours before checking in. In the end it turned out that my room was ready so they were able to check me in. I dumped my stuff in my room and after freshening up I headed out to go for a walk in the hills.

On the edge of the city centre, just beyond the ring road, the Lousberg rises. This 264m hill (height above the centre of Aachen rather than sea level) is the highest point in the city and from the top there are good views over Aachen. Of course the downside to this is that you do need to slog up 264m to get to the top.

It also helps if you get the right path to begin with and don’t slog up the 200m or so to the top of the neighbouring hill which has a very pretty chapel, but no views. I descended back down about 50m to meet the path going up the correct hill and continued on up the Lousberg.

The hill was used as a quarry for centuries before being converted into a park in the late 18th Century and today is an area that’s popular with people going for walks. As you climb there are a number of attractions along the way including the faux acropolis about three quarters of the way up. I eventually made it up to the summit and the Obelisk that has been placed there.

The slog up did turn out to be worth it as the views over Aachen were good – particularly of the Cathedral, which you really can’t take in the size of when your down enclosed in the town. From the Obelisk I continued on walking through the park, taking in several of the other viewpoints, including ones that look across to the Vaalserberg – the highest point in (continental) Netherlands.

The route I took back down the hill looped around the back of it and eventually came out near to the Ponttor. This is one of only two surviving city gates and is the more impressive of the two for the barbican and fortifications that still remain.

After taking in the Ponttor I followed the main road in from the gate, which naturally enough, led to the Marktplatz and Aachen’s stunning Rathaus. I had a wander around the Marktplatz area, eventually stopping at one of the restaurants for what I originally intended on being a light snack, but ended up being a full meal as the portion size was enormous.

An early dinner completed I continued walking through the narrow alleys and over to the Cathedral. I headed inside to have a look around. The previous couple of times I’ve come to Aachen – always as day trips from Cologne – parts of the inside and outside of the cathedral have been shrouded in scaffolding, but in 2020 the repairs have either finished, or moved to areas that don’t have scaffolding everywhere and it was possible to admire quite how spectacular this cathedral is, albeit more for how small it feels inside given how imposing it is outside.

From the cathedral I continued wandering through the backstreets of the old town, but by now the light was starting to fade and my feet were really starting to hurt, so I headed back to my hotel to put my feet up, have a drink from the bar (you have to take it back to your room – no socialising in the bar during pandemic times) and then turn in for a well deserved sleep.