After the Düsseldorf Marathon: Aachen

The Route: Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof → Aachen Hauptbahnhof (2 nights) → onward or return

Logistics: Direct or one-change regional rail covers the distance in roughly an hour to ninety minutes, straightforward enough to travel with luggage the day after a marathon.

Marathon Month: April

Duration: 2 nights

Düsseldorf (race base)
      |
      | Direct/one-change rail, ~1-1.5 hr
      v
   Aachen (2 nights)
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      | onward rail
      v
Köln Bonn Airport (CGN) / Düsseldorf Airport (DUS)

The Düsseldorf Marathon crosses the Rhine twice on its way to a finish at Untere Rheinwerft below the Altstadt, a course shaped entirely by that one river. Aachen sits in a different world geographically, tucked into Germany's western corner where the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands meet, and reaching it swaps a riverside city for one built around a much older story: Charlemagne made it his capital in the eighth century, and the cathedral he commissioned still stands at its centre.

April in Aachen doesn't call for any specific seasonal claim beyond the practical one that the old town's streets, like much of historic German city centres, are cobbled in places, and a two-night stay allows the more strenuous walking to be scheduled for whichever day the legs feel readiest rather than forced into day one.

Night 1: The Cathedral and the Old Town

Aachen Cathedral, a short walk from Aachen Hauptbahnhof through the old town's narrow streets, is the reason most visitors come. Charlemagne was buried there in 814, and the octagonal core of the building he commissioned is now recognised as one of the oldest cathedrals in northern Europe, a genuinely different scale of history from anything on the marathon route itself. The nave is free to enter; the cathedral treasury, which holds a collection of reliquaries and other objects tied directly to Charlemagne's reign, charges a separate entry fee. Check the current price and opening hours at aachener-dom.de before visiting, since both can change.

The streets immediately around the cathedral are cobbled and slope gently, manageable at a careful walking pace but worth taking slowly on legs still recovering from 42.195km. A hotel within walking distance of the cathedral, in the old town itself, puts the day's main sight within a few minutes on foot and avoids any need for onward transport on the first evening. For dinner, the streets around the Markt, Aachen's old market square, have restaurants serving Rhineland staples alongside the city's own printen, a spiced gingerbread biscuit sold in bakeries throughout the old town and worth trying as a local specialty rather than a generic souvenir.

Night 2: The Thermal Baths

Aachen's other defining feature is its thermal springs, which the Romans used and which still feed a genuine spa culture in the city today. A visit to one of the city's thermal bathing complexes is a reasonable way to spend part of the second day, particularly for legs that have had a full day to settle since the race. Heat exposure straight after a marathon is worth treating cautiously: hydration should come first, and a long soak is better scheduled for the second day of the stay than the first, once any post-race inflammation has had time to ease. Check current opening hours and admission prices directly with the specific bathing complex before visiting, since these vary by facility and by day.

For a second base option, a hotel closer to the thermal baths themselves, a short walk or tram ride from the old town, suits a visitor who wants to prioritise the spa experience over being directly beside the cathedral. Either the old-town base from the first night or a baths-adjacent hotel for the second works reasonably well as a two-night split, or a single well-placed hotel between the two areas can cover both without moving luggage.

Around the City

Beyond the cathedral and the baths, Aachen's old town rewards unhurried wandering rather than a packed itinerary: the Elisenbrunnen, a neoclassical pavilion built over one of the city's mineral springs, sits a short walk from the cathedral and makes a natural point to break up a walking route. The Rathaus, Aachen's town hall, faces the Markt square and is worth a look from the outside even without going in. None of this requires more than gentle, level walking in the newer parts of the centre, with the cobbles concentrated mainly in the oldest lanes closest to the cathedral.

For a second dinner, a restaurant in the streets near the Elisenbrunnen or the Markt offering a Rhineland-style Sauerbraten, a slow-braised, marinated beef dish typical of the wider region, makes a filling, protein-heavy meal appropriate for a runner still eating to recover.

Getting Home

Aachen has no major airport of its own, so the return journey routes through either Cologne or Düsseldorf. Aachen sits on the direct rail line to Cologne, and that hop is typically the shorter of the two, making Köln Bonn Airport (CGN) the more direct option if the return flight can be booked there. For anyone who kept their outbound flight into Düsseldorf Airport (DUS), the return rail journey retraces the original route back through Düsseldorf Hauptbahnhof, taking roughly the same hour to ninety minutes as the outbound trip.