We answer your questions

This year, the Christmas market will take place from November 20 to December 23, 2026.

The Christmas market is open daily from 11 am to 9 pm.

Notwithstanding the above:

• November 22, 2026 (Remembrance Sunday) from 6 to 9 p.m.
• December 12, 2026 (long Christmas market) from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
• December 23, 2026 (last day) from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Further information about the Aachen Christmas Market can be found on the official website of the Aachen Christmas Market.

Information on how to get to the Aachen Christmas Market can be found on the official website of the Aachen Christmas Market.

We recommend that individual guests travel by public transport or use the Park+Ride parking spaces, as the volume of traffic in Aachen city center is very high during the Christmas market period. You can find information on our travel page.

For coaches, the Bendplatz is available free of charge as an official parking lot with drivers' meeting point and toilets. From there, a shuttle bus will take you to the city center, the walking distance is approx. 1.2 km. Please drive directly to Bendplatz and use the shuttle bus, as the traffic volume in Aachen city center is very high during the Christmas market season. The coach stops in the city center may be closed at short notice by the traffic authorities.

Further information on how to get to the Aachen Christmas Market can be found on the official website of the Aachen Christmas Market.

There are public toilets both in the city center and at the Aachen Christmas Market. The latter are marked on the information flyer.

There will be a shuttle bus to the Christmas market, which will take you from Bendplatz (bus parking lot) to the city center and back every 15 minutes.
Christmas market bus stop: Templergraben (opposite Super C)

This costs €3 per person (return journey). Travel times are daily from 09:30 to 18:30.

Tickets for individual customers cannot be purchased in advance.

Bus companies can order the desired number of tickets in advance from the shuttle company. Payment is then made by invoice.
Please contact: Info@willms-reisen.de

Yes, this is not a problem. There is a ramp for wheelchair users with a maximum load capacity of 200 kg.

Not all stands accept card payments. Card payment is possible at large catering stands. However, many stalls only accept cash. There are many opportunities to withdraw money from ATMs around the Christmas market.

You can get tickets at the following link: André Rieu Vrijthof Concerts in Maastricht | Maastricht

The journey from Aachen is via Line 350 – Maastricht Station : 350_arriva.pdf (avv.de) 

Last possible return journeys from Maastricht to Aachen are:
Sunday–Friday at 11:16 p.m. / Saturday at 11:46 p.m. by bus (line 350) or at 11:52 p.m. by train (RE18) from Maastricht station.

However, the official end of the concert is expected to be around 00:30. You can plan your trips here: Reisplanner: plan je bus- of treinreis | Arriva

Alternative means of transportation are car and cab.

Sights and lots more information can be found at our colleagues from the "Maastricht Marketing": Discover Maastricht | Visit Maastricht

Our diverse city tours are a great option for a supporting program in Aachen.

If you are still looking for a hotel, please take a look at our accommodation page or send us an e-mail with the following details and we will be happy to send you a non-binding hotel offer.

Information required: Number of persons and rooms, date of travel, mode of travel (car, train, etc.), billing address, special requests.

Please note that the occupancy rate of the Aachen hotels and the room prices are high at the time of the Rieu concerts.

From January 1, 2026, the city of Aachen will levy an accommodation tax of € 2.50 € per person andd per Üovernight stay.

In principle, all persons of legal age who stay in hotels, guesthouses, vacation apartments or similar establishments for a fee are liable to pay the tax. accommodation establishments overnight stays.

Exempt are:

• Children and young people up to and including the age of 17
• Persons who already pay a visitor's tax
• Persons staying overnight as part of school trips or similar youth trips

The accommodation tax is not included in the stated accommodation price or in our package tour prices.

The accommodation tax is levied by the accommodation provider; payment at other locations (e.g. tourist information or payment machines) is not possible.

A hotel, inn, guesthouse, guest room in a private household, private apartment, youth hostel, vacation apartment, motel, campsite, motorhome site with special sanitary facilities and similar establishments are considered accommodation.

Yes, business travelers are also liable to pay the tax.
Exemptions are only possible under the aforementioned conditions.

For accommodation establishments outside the city of Aachen, no accommodation tax is levied by the city of Aachen.
However, some municipalities, especially in the Netherlands, may charge their own accommodation tax. The exact amounts will be indicated at the time of booking.

The statutes on the levying of the accommodation tax in the city of Aachen can be found here.

Tickets can be purchased online (payment by credit card or Paypal) on our website or at our Tourist Info (cash or card payment). Tickets for public tours cannot be reserved or canceled.

The meeting point is shown on your ticket. You will receive this by e-mail when you order online or it will be printed out for you when you buy it at the Tourist Information.

Most of our guided tours start at our Tourist Information at the Elisenbrunnen.

Themed tours or neighborhood tours may have a different meeting point. You will find the exact address of the meeting point on the ticket.

Reservations are not possible as we cannot block the availability of guides.

To secure an appointment, we recommend booking directly. Cancellation free of charge is then possible up to 7 days before the date of the service.

You will receive the invoice for your booked group tour in a separate email at the same time as the booking confirmation.

Exception: the "Sweet Aachen" tour will only be invoiced after the tour. You will receive the invoice from us by e-mail.

The meeting point for your booked tour can be found on the booking confirmation you received by email. For public tours, the meeting point is stated on the ticket.

For group tours, the meeting point "Tourist Information am Elisenbrunnen" is usually chosen. If you would like an alternative meeting point, please indicate this in your booking request. The meeting point must be in the historic old town.

Cancellation of ats guided tours is possible free of charge up to 7 days before the service is performed.

Cancellation is only possible during ats business hours and must be communicated in written or electronic form. It is best to send us an e-mail.

Further information can be found in our Terms and Conditions for Group Tours(German) / Terms and Conditions for Group Tours (English).

The maximum number of participants for group tours is 20 people per tour guide. If you would like to bring more people with you, we will be happy to offer you several guides at the same time.

The city tour is not limited to 20 participants. The rule is: 1 guide per bus.

Guided tours of Aachen Cathedral are organized exclusively by the Cathedral Information Office.

You can currently only reach the Cathedral Information Office during opening hours on site at Johannes-Paul-II.-Straße 1 (opposite the main portal of Aachen Cathedral) or by e-mail.

Group tours of Aachen Cathedral must be requested and booked in writing. Please fill out the form and send it by e-mail to: tour@aachenerdom.de
There is currently a long waiting time for a reply.
Reservations for group tours are currently processed max. 4 weeks in advance. Earlier requests will be placed on a waiting list. Remaining tickets can be booked at the Dominformation.

Tickets for public cathedral tours are available at the cathedral information desk (only on the day of the tour itself) or online up to 12 hours before your visit. Tickets for the weekend (Saturday and Sunday) are an exception; these must be booked by Friday at 2 pm at the latest. The dates are always online 8 weeks in advance.

You can find more useful information about Aachen Cathedral here.

A combined tour of the old town and cathedral cannot be offered by one and the same guide.
The aachen tourist service will be happy to book an Old Town tour (1.5 hours) for you. This then ends at the cathedral information desk, where a guide from the cathedral chapter will continue with the cathedral tour (45 minutes).
The aachen tourist service guides do not have the right to speak inside the cathedral and are only allowed to explain interesting things about Aachen Cathedral from the outside.

From April to October, the bus runs every Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10:30 am, 1:00 pm and 3:30 pm (from Elisenbrunnen). From November to December, the bus only runs every Saturday at 1 pm (from Elisenbrunnen). The tour starts directly opposite the Tourist Information Elisenbrunnen on Friedrich-Wilhelm-Platz.

You can get tickets for the bus at our Tourist Info at the Elisenbrunnen or on our website.

You can download our brochures here.

We will be happy to send you brochures and leaflets that are in stock. Please complete the order form. Materials that you cannot select there are not in stock.

Please note that shipping takes about 2-3 working days (abroad significantly longer). We do not send brochures & leaflets within Aachen.

We first ship out our current inventory in its entirety before printing new editions. For this reason, brochures—especially in the first few months of a new year—may show an older date. The basic information is still largely accurate. You can also find up-to-date information on all topics covered in the brochures and flyers here on our website.

Aachen has an environmental zone, which is why a green environmental badge is required within the outer ring. This also applies to the motorhome parking area!

The green environmental badge is awarded to cars whose exhaust emissions meet the relevant guidelines. The environmental zone is intended to help improve the air quality in Aachen city center. You can obtain it from various emissions testing centers or garages by presenting the original vehicle documents (no digital form or copy). It is not necessary to have your car inspected.

Electric cars also require a green environmental badge. Classic cars with an H license plate are exempt from the regulation.

You can find more information here.

You can find a list of Aachen's parking garages and Park & Ride parking spaces here.

Depending on the time of year, there can be a high volume of traffic in the city center. We therefore recommend the Park & Ride parking lots on the outskirts of the city.

Please note our information on traveling by coach.

It is not permitted to stop at the public transport stops at Elisenbrunnen by coach. This prohibition is checked regularly.

If your tour starts at the Tourist Information Elisenbrunnen, the nearest coach stop is on Sandkaulstraße. From there, it is 850 meters on foot to the Tourist Information.

Most parking garages in Aachen have a maximum height of 1.90 meters.

The following parking garages have a greater maximum height:

Luisenhospital multi-storey parking lot (2.10 meters)

Parking garage at the cathedral, Jesuitenstraße 10: 2.00 meters

Tivoli multi-storey parking lot (2.20 meters on the first floor, 1.90 meters on the upper floor)

The Pontstraße parking lot has no height limit, nor do the Park+Ride parking lots (with the exception of the Tivoli parking garage, see above).

All information without guarantee! Please pay attention to the warning signs at the parking garage entrances!

There are currently a number of roadworks in the Aachen city area. You can find an overview in the construction site information system of the city of Aachen.

Theaterplatz is currently closed. Please use the signposted detours.

An overview of the most important events in Aachen and a calendar of events can be found here or on the Bad Aachen website.

Information on musical events in Aachen Cathedral can be found on the Cathedral Music website.

Information on church services can be found on the Aachen Cathedral website.

On our website you will find an overview of the services for which we sell tickets.

For other events (concerts, theater, musicals, cabaret, etc.) you can get your ticket at Medienhaus Aachen.
Sales and advice in the publishing house building at Dresdener Straße 3, 52068 Aachen.
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri 8.00 a.m. - 6.00 p.m.
Sat 9.00 - 12.00

The ticket store in the Elisenbrunnen was operated by Medienhaus Aachen until 2021. The Tourist Information and the ticket store simply shared the premises. Since the reopening of the premises in 2021, a café and the Tourist Information have been located in the Elisenbrunnen.

Click here for the FAQ page of the CHIO Aachen

You can find a list of public toilets here.

There are luggage lockers at Aachen main station. For larger pieces of luggage / groups, please check availability with Deutsche Bahn in advance.

We recommend that overnight guests arrange luggage storage with their accommodation.

Please contact the City of Aachen directly with your request on +49 (0) 241 4320 or by e-mail.

We, the aachen tourist service e.v., are not part of the city administration and have no way of directing you to the right contact person for your request.

The city of Aachen publishes a city map for people with disabilities, on which the most important information can be found. You can download it here or obtain it from the Tourist Information Elisenbrunnen and the city's citizen services.

Further information and contact details for advice can be found on the website of the City of Aachen's "People with disabilities" control center.