Paderborn travel guide
The Pader springs, the Three Hares window and Charlemagne's palace
An old bishopric in eastern Westphalia, built over the springs of Germany's shortest river, with a great cathedral, Charlemagne's palace site and the world's biggest computer museum. Visit in late July for Libori or from May to September for the springs park; stay one or two days. Prices are high, and many nationalities enter Germany visa-free.
Paderborn grew up around water. More than 200 springs bubble up right beside the cathedral, and together they make the Pader, which runs only a few kilometres before joining the Lippe at Schloss Neuhaus. It is the shortest river in Germany, and the town's name comes from it. In 799 Charlemagne received Pope Leo III here, a meeting that led to his coronation as emperor the following year, and the excavated palace beside the Dom still tells that story.
Church history shapes the centre. The cathedral of St Liborius, built between the 11th and 16th centuries, has the city's best-known puzzle in its cloister: a window where three hares share only three ears between them. A few steps away stand the 11th-century Bartholomäuskapelle and a Rathaus with the triple gables of the Weser Renaissance.
The modern city is a university town in eastern Westphalia with an unexpected tech heritage, since Heinz Nixdorf built his computer company here; his name now hangs on the world's largest computer museum. Come in late July for Libori, the nine-day festival in honour of the cathedral's patron saint. One or two days is right.
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A cathedral, a Carolingian palace site, river springs in the middle of town and a computer museum.
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Best time to visit Paderborn
Month by month, so you can pick the weather and the crowds you want.
Highs of 18C in May to 24C in July; late July brings the nine-day Libori festival, so book beds early, and July and August are also the rainiest months at around 90 mm.
Days of 9 to 14C, quiet streets and April as the driest month at about 53 mm; the Frühlingsfest and the smaller Herbstlibori fall in these seasons.
During Libori the inner city turns into a fair with a procession of the saint's relics, so hotel rooms within walking distance of the Dom sell out months ahead.
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Getting there
Paderborn/Lippstadt express bus and the Hauptbahnhof IC stop
The local airport, Paderborn/Lippstadt, lies about 15 km south-west of the city among farmland. It handles a small schedule, with flights to Antalya and seasonal holiday routes to Mallorca and the Canary Islands; the Munich service ended in June 2026. Express bus S60 links the terminal with Paderborn, and a taxi is the quicker alternative. Many visitors instead fly into Düsseldorf, Dortmund or Hannover and finish by train. Paderborn Hauptbahnhof sits on the western edge of the centre and sees several intercity trains a day on the line between Düsseldorf and Weimar, along with regional services towards Hamm, Bielefeld and Kassel. From the station the Dom is roughly a 15-minute walk, or a few stops by bus. Drivers come in on the A33, which links the city with Bielefeld and the A44.
- Paderborn/Lippstadt Airport (PAD)
- Express bus S60 into Paderborn; taxi is faster
- Paderborn Hauptbahnhof
- Intercity trains on the Düsseldorf to Weimar route several times a day, plus regional trains
- By road
- A33 motorway, with an exit near the football stadium north-west of the centre
- The PAD flight list is short and seasonal; compare with Dortmund before booking, as the train from there is straightforward.
Where to stay
Around the Dom, the Kamp or Schloss Neuhaus
Stay inside the former town wall, where a room anywhere puts the cathedral, the Pader springs and most restaurants within a few minutes' walk. The Dom and springs area has the most atmosphere, the Kamp has cafés on the doorstep, and hotels near the Hauptbahnhof are 15 minutes away on foot. Book early for Libori.
- Dom and Pader springs
- The most atmospheric base, with a hotel in one of the city's oldest buildings and a youth hostel on Meinwerkstraße; noisy and fully booked during Libori
- Kamp and the shopping streets
- Restaurants and cafés on the doorstep; lively in the evening and convenient for brunch
- Near the Hauptbahnhof and Westerntor
- Plain chain hotels, handy for trains and buses, a 15-minute walk from the Dom
- Schloss Neuhaus
- Quiet district round the Renaissance castle and its gardens; good for cyclists, but you will need the bus at night
- Campers have Lippesee Camping on Hermann-Löns-Straße and a second site north of Sennelager.
Getting around
PaderSprinter buses and the Pader cycle path to Neuhaus
The centre is compact enough to see on foot: the Dom, the Pader springs, the Rathaus and the Kaiserpfalz are all within a few hundred metres of each other, and the main shopping streets of Westernstraße and the Kamp are pedestrianised. For anything further, city buses run by PaderSprinter fan out from the centre; buy tickets from the driver, at machines or through the operator's app. Cycling is the local habit, helped by gentle terrain and by the path that follows the Pader downstream from the springs to Schloss Neuhaus. Bikes can be hired in town, and the tourist information on Marienplatz runs guided city walks.
- PaderSprinter
- City bus network, including routes to Schloss Neuhaus and the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum
- Pader riverside path
- Walk or cycle from the springs to Schloss Neuhaus, where the Pader meets the Lippe
- Tourist information
- Marienplatz, for maps and guided city walks
Know before you go
Paderborn has the three-hares window and a spring-fed park.
Why travelers love it
- The Pader springs park, where clear water wells up between lawns and bridges just below the cathedral.
- The Three Hares window in the Dom cloister, three running hares that somehow share three ears.
- The Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum, tracing computing from cuneiform tablets to robots.
Good to know
- Libori week fills every hotel in late July; book months ahead or stay in Bad Lippspringe.
- Most of the centre is pedestrian; leave the car at the edge or at the hotel.
Trip fit
BookingMentor editorial ratings out of 5, based on a first-time visitor's experience.
Weather in Paderborn, month by month
Damp Westphalian weather is typical in Paderborn, and May to September is best for the springs park, with Libori in late July. Long-term monthly averages appear when you tap a month.
Climate figures are approximate long-term averages for Paderborn (World Meteorological Organization, via Wikipedia).
Three Hares, Charlemagne's palace and the springs by Paderborn's Dom
One day covers Paderborn's old town on foot. See the Dom with its Three Hares window and the crypt of St Liborius, the Museum in der Kaiserpfalz on Charlemagne's palace site, the Bartholomäuskapelle and the Pader springs. In the afternoon, follow the Pader to Schloss Neuhaus, and add the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum on day two.
Start at the Dom as the morning light comes through. The cathedral grew from the 11th to the 16th century, and its massive west tower dominates the old town. Go round to the cloister for the Three Hares window, then down into the crypt where St Liborius, whose relics came from Le Mans in the 9th century, is buried.
Just north of the cathedral, the Museum in der Kaiserpfalz sits on the excavated foundations of Charlemagne's palace, where he met Pope Leo III in 799. Next to it, the small, tall Bartholomäuskapelle of 1017 is often called the oldest hall church in Germany; stand in the middle and listen to the echo.
Walk down the slope to the Paderquellgebiet, the springs park, and follow the water past old mills and footbridges. Cross back to the Rathaus with its three Renaissance gables and the half-timbered Adam-und-Eva-Haus on Hathumarstraße, now a local history museum.
In the afternoon, take a PaderSprinter bus or walk along the Pader to Schloss Neuhaus, the former residence of the prince-bishops, set in gardens laid out for a state garden show. Next day, give three hours to the Heinz Nixdorf MuseumsForum on Fürstenallee, then climb a tree at the PaderKletter Park or book a glider flight from the Haxterhöhe airfield on the hill south of town.
Pickert, Paderborner Pils and brunch on the Kamp
Paderborn eats plain eastern Westphalian food. Try Pickert, a yeasted potato cake fried and eaten with butter, liver sausage or sugar beet syrup, and drink Paderborner Pilsener on draught. Sunday brunch is a ritual on the Kamp west of the Dom, and during Libori in late July the stalls around the cathedral take over.
Eastern Westphalia eats plainly and well. The dish to try is Pickert, a heavy, yeasted potato cake from the Lippe country next door, fried in a pan or baked in a loaf tin and eaten warm with butter, liver sausage or sugar beet syrup. It is farm food, filling and slightly sweet, and best in the cooler months.
To drink, there is Paderborner Pilsener, brewed in the region and poured on draught almost everywhere. On a summer evening the big beer garden on Mühlenstraße by the Schützenplatz is the city's largest, while a tiny bar on Theodorstraße claims to be its smallest.
Sunday brunch is a ritual here as in much of Germany: long buffets of bread rolls, cold cuts, cheese, eggs and cake that run well past noon. The Kamp, a pedestrian street of cafés and restaurants just west of the Dom, is the place to look. Near the Pader, a café-restaurant in a hotel on Bachstraße serves breakfast through to dinner with plenty of organic ingredients and home-made cakes.
During Libori the eating moves outdoors. Stalls around the Dom sell grilled sausages, roast almonds and festival beer for nine days, and the fair crowds stay until late.
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How we research our Paderborn travel guide
Libori festival dates come from paderborn.de, and flights at Paderborn/Lippstadt plus the S60 airport bus from the airport and operator. Train times are checked with Deutsche Bahn, and the German National Tourist Board provides context.
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Checked against trusted sources:
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Paderborn questions about Libori, the Dom and the airport.
Getting there
Express bus S60 runs from the terminal into Paderborn, about 15 km away. Taxis wait outside the terminal.
A few kilometres north-west, reachable by PaderSprinter bus or by walking or cycling the path along the Pader.
General
In the cloister of the Dom. The window shows three hares chasing each other in a circle with only three ears drawn between them.
The world's largest computer museum, covering 5,000 years of information technology from early writing and calculators to modern computers and robots.
At his palace beside the cathedral in 799. The Museum in der Kaiserpfalz now stands on the excavated foundations.
Built in 1017, it is regarded as the oldest hall church in Germany and has remarkable acoustics. It stands right next to the Kaiserpfalz.
At the Home Deluxe Arena, about 15,000 seats, roughly 2 km north-west of the centre near the A33 junction. The club won promotion to the Bundesliga for the 2026-27 season.
The centre is compact enough to see on foot: the Dom, the Pader springs, the Rathaus and the Kaiserpfalz are all within a few hundred metres of each other, and the main shopping streets of Westernstraße and the Kamp are pedestrianised. For anything further, city buses run by PaderSprinter fan out from the centre; buy tickets from the driver, at machines or through the operator's app. Cycling is the local habit, helped by gentle terrain and by the path that follows the Pader downstream from the springs to Schloss Neuhaus.
Timing & weather
Only about 4 km. It rises from more than 200 springs beside the cathedral and flows into the Lippe at Schloss Neuhaus.
Over nine days in late July, in honour of St Liborius. It combines church services and a procession with a big fair across the inner city.
The best time to visit Paderborn is May to Sep. Highs of 18 to 24C for the Pader springs and Schloss Neuhaus park, with Libori in late July.
- Summer and Libori: May - September (Highs of 18C in May to 24C in July; late July brings the nine-day Libori festival, so book beds early, and July and August are also the rainiest months at around 90 mm)
- Spring and autumn: March - April, October (Days of 9 to 14C, quiet streets and April as the driest month at about 53 mm; the Frühlingsfest and the smaller Herbstlibori fall in these seasons)
July is the warmest month in Paderborn, with average highs of 24°C, and January the coolest, with lows of -1°C. July is the wettest month, at about 90 mm of rain; April is the driest. Damp Westphalian weather is typical in Paderborn, and May to September is best for the springs park, with Libori in late July.
Booking
Yes, the airfield on the hill south of the city offers guest flights in gliders, weather permitting.
Visa & documents
As a Schengen member, Germany shares one set of entry rules with most of the EU. Citizens of the EU and of many other countries, including the US, UK, Canada and Australia, can visit visa-free for up to 90 days in any 180-day period; other nationalities need a Schengen visa. The EU's Entry/Exit System (EES) records non-EU travelers' fingerprints and a photo at the border.
Health & safety
Pickpocketing at large stations, Christmas markets and on big-city public transport is the main risk in a very safe country. Carry ID and validate paper tickets where required. Call 110 for police and 112 for fire or ambulance.
