Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [513]
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Getting There & Away
Tiny Maastricht Aachen Airport (MAA; 0031-43-358 9999 in Holland; www.maa.nl), about 35km northwest of the city, is served once daily by easyJet from Berlin. Flights are met by the Airport Shuttle (per trip €10) with service to the centre.
Regional trains to Cologne (€14.40, 70 minutes) run several times hourly, with some proceeding to Dortmund and other Ruhrgebiet cities. Trips to most cities south of Aachen require a change in Cologne.
For drivers, Aachen is easily reached via the A4 (east–west) from Cologne and the A44 (north–south) from Düsseldorf. The B57, B258 and B264 also meet here.
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Getting Around
Bus tickets for travel within the area bounded by Alleenring cost a flat €1.55. All of Aachen and the adjoining Dutch communities of Vaals and Kelmis can be covered with a Zone 1 ticket for €2.30 (day pass €6.30). Drivers sell tickets. For bike hire, try Cycle ( 408 363; Heinrichsallee 66; per day €9.50).
For a taxi, call 344 41.
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EIFEL NATIONAL PARK
Established in 2004, the Eifel National Park ( 02444-951 00; www.nationalpark-eifel.de) is North Rhine–Westphalia’s only national park. It protects about 110 sq km of beech forest, rivers and lakes along with plenty of plant- and wildlife, including wild cats, beavers, kingfishers, bats and owls. In spring, a sea of wild narcissus floods the valleys. It’s hard to imagine now that, until recently, Belgian troops used much of the area for military exercises.
A focal point of the park is Vogelsang ( 02444-915 790; www.vogelsang-ip.de; admission free, parking €3; 8am-8pm Apr-Oct, 10am-5.30pm Nov-Mar), a vast complex built by the Nazis as a party leadership training centre and later used as military barracks by the Belgians. It’s being converted into Forum Vogelsang and will soon have exhibits on the national park and the Eifel region as well as a documentation centre about the indoctrination and educational system in the Nazi state. For now, German-speakers should join a guided tour (adult/child €4/free; 2pm, also 11am Sun) to learn more about the place, its history and architecture.
Vogelsang is also a good starting point for hikes in the national park. Staff at the visitor centre ( 10am-5pm) hand out suggestions and maps. Information is also available inside the Kall train station ( 02441-777 545; Bahnhofstrasse 13; 6am-6pm Mon-Fri, 8am-6pm Sat, 9am-5pm Sun).
The park is some 50km southeast of Aachen and 70km southwest of Cologne near the border with Belgium. From Cologne, regional trains make the trip to Kall several times daily (hourly on weekends), where you can switch to the Nationalparkshuttle bus SB82 to Vogelsang (€9.60, 90 minutes). From Aachen, bus SB63 also goes to Vogelsang, but only at weekends from Easter to October (€7.10, 90 minutes). The park website has full details and timetable information.
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THE RUHRGEBIET
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When the decision came down that the Ruhrgebiet – a metropolitan beehive of 53 cities and 5.3 million people – would be Cultural Capital of Europe in 2010, eyebrows were raised around the land. What kind of ‘culture’ could there possibly be in this region that, until not long ago, was primarily known for its belching steel works and dusty coal mines? Plenty.
Old Masters? World-class opera and drama? Great architecture from Gothic to Bauhaus to postmodern? Music festivals that draw visitors by the hundreds of thousands? Check, check, check and check again.
After the demise of the coal and steel industry in the 1960s, the Ruhrgebiet had to completely reinvent itself. These days, information technology, biomedicine, robotics and logistics are among the engines of the regional economy. Rather than eschew its heritage, though, the people have embraced it. Many of the dormant