Travel Information

Short overview:

Here we have collected tips on how to reach Aachen Main Station (Aachen Hbf) and Herzogenrath Railway Station (Herzogenrath Bahnhof) from the popular airports.

For next steps of you travel to Rolduc Abbey, see the Location page.

If you arrive at a German airport and you want to use the train for further travelling, you are able to use the Rail&Fly offer from the German-Rail-Company.
This offers travelling from airports to any city center, a direct connection by ICE to Frankfurt International (FRA), Düsseldorf (DUS) and Cologne/Bonn (CGN), as well as city transportation to other major airports.
The price is 25€–77€ (ICE includes reservations for the train). For further information and booking use the following link: http://www.bahn.de/i/view/USA/en/prices/germany/rail-and-fly.shtml

For more information concerning planning your travel by train and local buses in Germany, please use
http://www.bahn.de/i/view/overseas/en/index.shtml.

An alternative short overview of some connections from airports to Aachen

Reaching Aachen Central station:

From Frankfurt Airport (FRA):

The trip from Frankfurt Airport to Aachen resp. Herzogenrath takes approximately 2h–3h with one change of trains at Cologne Central station. The price ranges from 51€–74€. From Cologne Central station you can take the regional train to Aachen Central Station, which leaves every 30 minutes. The price is 15€–25€. For more information, please see the website of the Deutsche Bahn. You can buy tickets, with either cash or by credit card, at the train office in the airport. We advise you to buy the Rail&Fly ticket, or the Quer-durch-Deutschland-Ticket (Travel through Germany -Ticket) if you are more than one person.

From Düsseldorf Airport (DUS):

The trip from Düsseldorf Airport to Aachen resp. Herzogenrath takes approximately 1.5h. Some connections require a change of trains at Düsseldorf Central station or Cologne Central station. The price ranges from approx. 18€ to 28€. Note: there are trains, going directly to Herzogenrath (the way through Cologne and Aachen is much longer).
From Cologne Central station you can take the train to Aachen Central station, which departs every 30 minutes. The price is 15€–25€. For more information, please see the website of the Deutsche Bahn. You can buy tickets, with either cash or by credit card, at the train office in the airport. We advise you to buy the NRW (Nordrhein-Westfalen, North Rhine-Westphalia) Ticket or the Rail&Fly ticket or if you are more than one person the Quer-durch-Deutschland-Ticket (Travel through Germany -Ticket).

From Cologne/Bonn (Köln/Bonn) Airport (CGN):

The trip from Cologne/Bonn Airport to Herzogenrath takes approximately 1h–1.5h, with a change of trains at Cologne Central station and either at Rheydt or at Aachen. The price is 16€–26€. We advise you to buy the NRW (Nordrhein-Westfalen, North Rhine-Westphalia) Ticket or the Rail&Fly ticket or if you are more than one person the Quer-durch-Deutschland-Ticket (Travel through Germany -Ticket).

From Paris Charles-de-Gaulle Airport (CDG):

Regional RER Line - Charles de Gaulle Airport is linked by the RER B service to Paris and the suburbs. This service runs to and from Aeroport Charles de Gaulle 1 which is closest to the terminals 1 and 3. Thus you can take the train from Aeroport Paris-Charles de Gaulle RER to Paris Nord and change trains there to get to Aachen Central station.
The transfer will take approximately 3h and costs 50€–105€.

From Brussels Zaventem Airport (BRU):

The airport train station is located below the terminal (basement level-1). Up to 4 trains an hour connect the airport to Brussels North, Brussels Central and Brussels Midi stations.The trip from Brussels Airport to Aachen Central station takes approximately 1.5h–2.5h, with a change of trains at Bruxelles-Nord (Brussels North) station. The price is approximately 25€–40€. For further information, please see the website of the Deutsche Bahn. You can buy tickets, with either cash or by credit card, at the train office in the airport. Click here to find the timetables of the Belgium trains which leave at Brussels Airport.

From Brussels South Charleroi Airport (CRL):

Every 30 minutes a shuttle coach leaves the airport to take you to Brussels main railway station (Brussels Midi) (price approx. 13€). From here you can take the train to Aachen Central station, this will cost approx. 30€ and take 1h–2h. For more information, please see the website of the Deutsche Bahn. You can buy tickets, with either cash or by credit card, at the train office in the airport.

From Amsterdam Airport Schipol :

The trip from Amsterdam Airport to Aachen Station takes approximately 3h. From the airport you walk 2 minutes to Station Shiphol. From there you get on the (Dutch) Intercity train, direction Heerlen Station. From here on you can take the (German) RB train, direction Stolberg, to Aachen Central Station. Again if you wish there is the possibility to leave the train at Herzogenrath Station. Alternatively, you can take the bus 44 from the Bus stop Busstation/NS, Heerlen, which is 3 minutes away from Heerlen Station, to Aachen.

From Maastricht Aachen Airport (MST):

There is a shuttle bus from the Airport to Aachen Bushof (Aachen Central Bus Station), which also stops at Aachen Westbahnhof (Aachen West Station). The transfer takes 45 resp. 35 min. From Aachen Westbahnhof one can take a regional train to Herzogenrath, from Aachen Bushof one can take a bus, see location page for details on further travel.
Also, there is a shuttle bus from the Maastricht Aachen Airport to Maastricht Main Bus Station. The transfer takes about 20 min and costs about 4€. The bus stop is in front of the passenger building; the shuttle will wait for passengers in case of flight delay.
From Maastricht Main Bus Station to Aachen Central station you can take the bus nr.50 which costs about 4.20€.

From Eindhoven Airport Vliegveld:

The trip from Eindhoven Airport to Aachen Station takes approximately 2h 10m. For further information, please visit the website of Eindhoven Airport . There is a bus station at the airport. From there you can take the bus nr.401, direction Eindhoven, to Eindhoven Station. From Eindhoven Station you take the (Dutch) Intercity train, direction Heerlen, to Heerlen Station. From here on get on the (German) RB train, direction Düren, until Herzogenrath. Then follow the way from Herzogenrath to Rolduc.
Alternatively, from Heerlen (from the bus stop "Busstation/NS, Heerlen", which is 3 minutes away from Heerlen Station) you can take the bus nr.29 to the bus stop "Kerkrade, Hoofdstraat" (it takes 30 minutes) and from there, the bus nr.30 to the bus stop "Kerkrade, Rolduc" (it takes 3 min).