Aachen

Charlemagne's cathedral, the Coronation Hall and Pontstraße

Two days in Aachen cover Charlemagne's city. Day one is for the cathedral and its octagon from around 800, the Cathedral Treasury, the Centre Charlemagne and the Coronation Hall in the town hall; day two for the Elisenbrunnen spring, the Couven Museum, the Ponttor, the Lousberg viewpoint, the Carolus Thermen and Pontstraße.

Day one, morning. Pick up a ticket for the guided tour at the Dom-Information on Johannes-Paul-II.-Straße, then step into the cathedral. The octagon built for Charlemagne around 800 is ringed by marble columns brought from Italy, and the Gothic choir behind it glows with tall windows. The tour takes you up to the gallery to see the throne.

Afternoon. Visit the Cathedral Treasury next door for the gilded bust of Charlemagne and the jewelled Cross of Lothair. Cross the Katschhof to the Centre Charlemagne for the city's history, then enter the town hall and climb to the Coronation Hall with its copies of the imperial regalia.

Evening. Eat around the Markt or the Fischmarkt, and order a beer in a pub where the waiter keeps your tally on the beer mat.

Day two, morning. Taste the warm spring water at the Elisenbrunnen, then wander Krämerstraße past the Puppenbrunnen and browse the Printen shops. See the Couven Museum for rococo interiors of a merchant house.

Afternoon. Walk up Pontstraße to the Ponttor, one of two surviving city gates, and climb on to the Lousberg for views over the roofs and towards the Netherlands. Later, soak in the Carolus Thermen.

Evening. Return to Pontstraße, where student bars and cheap kitchens stay busy late.

Aachen Cathedral was the first German site on UNESCO's World Heritage List, inscribed in 1978. Its octagon, built around 800 as Charlemagne's palace chapel, saw the coronation of German kings for six centuries.

Printen, Reisfladen and Öcher Puttes on Himmel un Ääd

Aachen's signature food is Printen, a hard spiced biscuit that only bakers in the Aachen area may sell under that name. The local pastry is Reisfladen, a rice-pudding tart shared with Belgium and Limburg, and the savoury classic is Öcher Puttes blood sausage on Himmel un Ääd, with Printen-thickened Sauerbraten as a local twist.

Aachen's signature is Printen, a hard spiced biscuit that is to the city what Lebkuchen is to Nuremberg. Sweetened with sugar syrup in place of honey and flavoured with cinnamon, aniseed and clove, they come plain, nut-studded, chocolate-coated or as soft Saftprinten. Only bakers in the Aachen area may sell them as Aachener Printen. Family firms such as Nobis and Klein sell them fresh from shops around the Markt and the cathedral, and the big Lambertz factory supplies supermarkets across Germany.

The local pastry is Reisfladen, a shortcrust tart filled with creamy rice pudding, sometimes topped with apricots or cherries, a shared taste with neighbouring Belgium and Limburg.

Savoury cooking is Rhineland comfort food. Öcher Puttes, the local blood sausage, is fried in slices and served on Himmel un Ääd, mashed potato with stewed apple. Sauerbraten here gets its dark, sweet-sour sauce from crumbled Printen, a twist you will not find elsewhere.

Pubs follow Rhineland custom: you sit down and the staff come to you, marking each drink on your beer mat until you pay. When a glass is nearly empty, someone will usually ask whether you want another before you have to wave.

For a cheap meal, Pontstraße is lined with grills, pizza places and Syrian and Turkish kitchens that cater to students, and the Frankenberger Viertel has more of the same. Peterstraße near the Bushof has Middle Eastern restaurants too.

The three-country point, Maastricht and Monschau across the borders

Aachen borders Belgium and the Netherlands, so its best day trips cross a border. The three-country point on the Vaalserberg sits on the city's western edge, Maastricht is about an hour by bus or train, Monschau lies about 30 km south in the Eifel, and Liège is about 55 km south-west.

No other big German city sits so close to two foreign borders, and day trips here mean switching languages before lunch.

The Dreiländerpunkt on the Vaalserberg, on Aachen's western edge, is where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet at a single marker. At 322 metres it is also the highest point of the mainland Netherlands. There is a viewing tower, a hedge maze for children and cafés on all three sides. Walk up through the Aachen forest from the city or take a bus to Vaals and climb from there.

Maastricht, about 35 km to the west, is a different world: a Dutch university city on the Maas with the Vrijthof square, the Basilica of St. Servatius and a bookshop inside a Gothic church. Buses and cross-border trains connect the two cities in about an hour.

Monschau lies about 30 km south in the Eifel hills, a small town of slate-roofed, half-timbered houses packed into the narrow valley of the Rur. Regional buses reach it from the Bushof. Go on a weekday, as tour coaches crowd it at weekends and in Advent.

Kornelimünster, a village on Aachen's southern edge, has an old abbey and a calm main square, an easy half-day by city bus.

Liège, the Belgian city on the Meuse, is about 55 km south-west, with the steep Montagne de Bueren staircase and a large Sunday market along the river.