9x what to do in Aachen, Germany

Among the honeymooners are a number of hiking enthusiasts who would be willing to take on this 24-km route. Would you? The White Road leads you from Kerkrade to Aachen past small streams, cornflower fields, ancient ruins and cute village scenes. For horse lovers, Aachen is of course a household name, so much of the route runs through the Pferdelandschaftspark, which is home to many stud farms. At the end, you climb the 224-metre-high Lousberg. Then, tired but satisfied, you can settle down in the hammocks and enjoy the expansive view.

Don't feel like walking the 24 kilometres? Then of course you can also cycle the route (and electrically!). To do so, hire an e-bike in Kerkrade using the Velocity app. This costs €1.50 per half hour.

In Aachen, there are points all over the city where you can pick up and return bikes. This is very convenient if you want to explore a different district or get out of town. For example, just cycle across the border to Vaals. From there, walk about 2 kilometres to the Three Country Point where you can take a two-step trip from the Netherlands via Germany to Belgium.

Café Juli is Aachen's first certified organic café. Owner Alex conjures up the most delicious savoury dishes and sweet pastries using organic and, where possible, regional ingredients. She is also a certified dietician. For a person with a whole laundry list of intolerances like myself, this is a gift from heaven. She has an extensive breakfast menu from which she can prepare everything both gluten- and lactose-free. Healthy and honest food in the cosy atmosphere of her living room café.

In the shadow of the 1200-year-old cathedral, Aachen 's organic and regional weekly market takes place every Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm. Here you can buy fresh fruit and vegetables, fish and meat as well as herbs and flowers. Bonus tip: treat yourself to a cup of "happy" coffee from the mobile Café Helmut. In the 1968 Piaggio APE converted into a café, the baristas make the most delicious coffee creations from organic coffee.

Afterwards, be sure to take a look at the Dom, built by Charlemagne over a thousand years ago. As an adolescent girl, I did not appreciate it during the obligatory school trip as I would now. Now it is guaranteed to be on my must-do list for in Aachen.

At the market near the cathedral, you can buy organically grown vegetables at Gut Paulinenwäldchen' s stall. Herbs, lettuce, carrots, courgettes, celery, beetroot and so on. The selection changes seasonally and is all home-grown.

The walking route also takes you along the farm. In the farm shop, you can buy not only vegetables, but also home-produced meat and cheese and other organic products.

Pfannenzauber 's extensive menu features typical meat dishes such as pizza, kebabs and burgers - but 100% vegan. They really pay attention to every little detail to put the tastiest dishes on the table as responsibly as possible. Always plant-based and using fair trade, organic and regional ingredients whenever possible. They also try to have as small a carbon footprint as possible and avoid creating unnecessary waste.

They also stand for social sustainability: at Pfannenzauber, emerging artists can exhibit their work and a place has been created where people with a distance to the labour market can work. Legos are also currently being collected to build a ramp to make the restaurant wheelchair-friendly.

From my first blog about my home town of Kleve, you may know that I am a fan of zero waste shopping. I try to follow a minimalist lifestyle and leave out everything that doesn't add anything. And as Auguste im Bade shows, packaging does indeed often add nothing at all.

In this zero waste shop, you get unpackaged products for your bathroom, such as solid shampoo, soap or toothpaste. The products contain only natural ingredients and no unnecessary junk like microplastics and chemicals so.

Close to the Dom you will find this small but fine shop. Besides German Fair Fashion brands like Armedangels, Blutsgeschwister, DAWN and Wunderwerk, they also have international brands like A-dam from (of course) Amsterdam and Knowledge Cotton from Denmark. Hubert + Therese' s shop looks minimalist and the clothes are sorted by colour (which makes me very happy).

Do you have any old jeans lying around at home? Then take them with you and hand them in to Hubert + Therese. Blue Loop will turn them into new garments. So your old trousers will get a second life.

Even though I'm not much of a cat person myself, I certainly wouldn't miss this place. Here you not only cuddle with four fluffy little balls of fluff, but also enjoy the most delicious vegetarian and vegan dishes. Apart from that, they also serve really good coffee.

Owner Miriam got Balu, Ruby, Klik and Milo from the animal shelter. At the café, they live a lovely domestic cat life. To ensure the animals are not stressed, there is a rest room and house rules for human guests. Besides animal welfare, Miriam is also careful to avoid unnecessary waste and use regional products.