By early evening the market square fills with students drifting past the cathedral and town hall, guitar players set up on the paving, and people carry drinks out from the small diners around the square to sit and watch the city go by.
Aachen's nightlife is shaped by its large student population and its position on the border with the Netherlands and Belgium. It suits people who want an informal, walkable evening: a meal, then a few bars, with the main student strip a short walk from the historic centre. It is not a city of large clubs, and much of the appeal is in sitting, drinking and talking rather than moving between venues.
Where to go out in Aachen
1. Pontstraße
Pontstraße runs from the Markt, facing the historic city hall, to the Ponttor, part of the medieval city walls. It is the main student hangout and has a large variety of restaurants and bars, from pizzerias to late-night spots, plus a cinema, the Apollo. It suits a casual, high-energy evening with a young crowd, and public fiestas are held here during Karneval and for important football matches.
It is reached by a number of bus lines from Bushof, and if you are driving, parking near the university is the practical option.
2. The area around Ponttor
The stretch near Ponttor, at the end of Pontstraße, has a cluster of bars with different characters. Molkerei is a pub suited to a younger crowd, while Cafe Madrid is a pub and bar better for an older, somewhat posher crowd. Pontgarten offers cheap cocktails and food, and Sowiso/Oceans is a typical student inn.
This suits an evening where you want several options within a few minutes of each other, and can move on if one place does not fit the mood.
3. Egmont, at the Markt end of Pontstraße
Egmont sits at one end of Pontstraße, close to the Rathaus. It is a bar and café that occasionally hosts live music, and food can be ordered from the Lebanese restaurant next door and brought to your table without you having to get up.
It suits an early or relaxed part of the evening, and it opens from 08:00 Monday to Saturday and from 09:00 on Sundays.
4. Büchel and the old town square
Büchel is a street close to the old town square with venues of different kinds. Kiste is a small pub with a wooden interior that plays mostly rock and metal music, and has a discount on a different drink each day. Buddha Bar has food, a non-smoking area upstairs with a restaurant and bar, and a smoking area downstairs.
This suits a mixed group, or an evening that starts with dinner and continues over drinks without a long walk between stops.
5. Between the city centre and Pontstraße
Guinness House sits between the city centre and Pontstraße, with its entrance around the corner on Mostardstraße. It is a stereotypical Irish pub, and one of the few places in Aachen that sells cider, with live music, often traditional Irish, on a regular basis.
It suits anyone who prefers beer or cider to cocktails, or who wants a pub with a familiar format before or after the student strip.
6. The market place
The central market place is a place to sit on a summer evening, watch students stroll by and listen to guitar players, with a beer bought from a small Turkish or Chinese diner nearby. It suits a low-key start to the night, or a break between a meal and a bar.
7. Frankenberger Viertel
The Frankenberg Quarter, an alternative area in the south of Aachen, is somewhere to walk, and to have lunch or dinner in a Turkish or Arab diner. It suits an evening that is more about eating and wandering than about bars.
8. Lousberg
The Lousberg is a recreational area on a hill about ten minutes' walk north of the city centre, with views of the city and the surrounding landscape. It suits the early part of an evening, before the bars fill up, rather than a late night.
How a night out unfolds
The sources describe drinking in Aachen as table service: you take a seat and a member of staff comes to take your order and writes it on your coaster, returns to ask if you want another drink, and you hand over the coaster when you are ready to pay. A small tip is expected, five to ten per cent, typically by rounding up to the nearest euro, and you should say you want to leave a tip before handing over the money. Beyond this, the sources do not set out fixed times for eating, going out or how late venues run; the pattern is a meal in the early evening, then bars, with the student strip around Pontstraße and Ponttor the busiest part of the night.
Festivals and events worth timing a trip around
- Carnival (spring) – the whole city and region becomes an outdoor and indoor party.
- Pinkpop festival (summer) – a large yearly music festival in Landgraaf, just across the border in the Netherlands.
- CHIO equestrian championship (summer) – an annual international horse riding championship and horse show.
- September special (September) – an annual cultural and market event in the city centre.
- Aachen Christmas Market (late November until 23 December) – takes over Katschhof, Münsterplatz and the market square, with traders selling gifts such as cosmetics, jewellery and ceramics, food and drink including Glühwein, and performances at the rear of the town hall. It runs 11:00–21:00 daily, entry is free, and it is lit up at night against the cathedral and town hall. Parking can be an issue on some days, so the Park & Ride system organised for the market is worth using.
Frequently asked questions
Do I order at the bar in Aachen?
No. Take a seat and a member of staff will come to take your order and write it on your coaster. When you want another drink, someone will come and ask; when you are ready to pay, hand the coaster to a member of staff.
Is tipping expected?
Yes, a small tip is expected, five to ten per cent, typically by rounding up to the nearest euro. Make it clear you want to leave a tip before handing the money over, for example by saying "I'll pay €8".
Where do students go out?
Pontstraße, which runs from the Markt to the Ponttor, is the main student hangout, with restaurants, bars, late-night spots and the Apollo cinema. The bars around Ponttor, such as Molkerei, Pontgarten and Sowiso/Oceans, are part of the same scene.
When is the Christmas market on?
From late November until 23 December, daily from 11:00 to 21:00, across Katschhof, Münsterplatz and the market square. Entry is free.
Decide which part of the evening matters most to you, whether that is dinner in the Frankenberger Viertel, a seat on the market square or the bars along Pontstraße, and plan the rest of your night around it.