Things to do in Gießen
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Gießen
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall. Warm enough for Lahn, Schiffenberg and castle days, full term energy and festivals without Stadtfest prices.
Summer is also good, with Kultursommer and Stadtfest in August, though parts of the student city quieten in the semester break.
Early autumn brings Krimifestival readings and the Herbstmesse, a better cultural bet than the weather suggests.
Christmas market around Kirchenplatz from late November, best on weekday evenings and paired with a theatre night.
Winter low. Grey Lahn weather, climbing forest and canoes closed, but museums and theatre emptiest and hotels cheapest.
What's on
- Stadtfest Gießen Third weekend of August
One of central Hesse's largest town festivals since 1985, with live stages across the Innenstadt.
- Gießener Kultursommer Late August
Open-air concerts on the Kloster Schiffenberg stage over about ten days, with national headliners.
- Musikalischer Sommer June to early August
City musical summer of regional bands and groups across the season.
- Kultur im Park Mid-June weekend
Open-air culture weekend in Stadtpark Wieseckaue.
- Krimifestival Gießen Late September to October
Crime fiction festival of readings and venues, running since the early 2000s under a yearly motto.
- Gießener Herbstmesse Late September to early October
Traditional funfair with rides and stalls, a fixture of the early autumn calendar.
- Weihnachtsmarkt Gießen Late November to December
Christmas market around Kirchenplatz and the centre squares at student-city prices.
Best things to do in Gießen
Mathematikum
The world's first interactive maths museum, with over 200 hands-on exhibits that absorb adults as fully as children.
Liebig-Museum
Justus von Liebig's original laboratory and lecture hall, preserved as the birthplace of modern chemistry teaching.
Botanischer Garten Gießen
Germany's oldest botanical garden on its original site, founded in 1609, a free and peaceful hour in the centre.
Museum für Gießen
The city museum in the Altes Schloss and Leib'sches Haus, telling Gießen from foundation to bombing and rebuilding.
Kunsthalle Gießen
Free contemporary art hall in the town hall with ambitious rotating exhibitions, best when the current show suits you.
Gießkannenmuseum
A tiny volunteer museum of over 1000 watering cans, each donated with its owner's story, a joke Gießen made sincere.
Stadttheater Gießen
A 1907 three-genre theatre for opera, drama and dance, with a programme far beyond what a city this size should have.
Alter Friedhof
A park-like historic cemetery with mature trees, professors' monuments and the grave of X-ray discoverer Röntgen.
Where to stay in Gießen
Innenstadt / Seltersweg / Marktplatz
first trip, all-round base
All sights, the market and dinner lanes are on foot, in mostly mid-range chains and independents.
Berliner Platz / Südanlage / Theater quarter
culture trips and a quieter centre
Greener avenues around the Stadttheater and Kunsthalle, a short walk to the Seltersweg.
Aulweg / university and clinic quarter
university, hospital and conference stays
Residential and leafy by the university and Alter Friedhof park, trading a short walk for quiet and parking.
Wieseck / Wiesecker Weg
value, families and longer stays
Residential district toward the Stadtpark with apartment-style hotels, easier parking and lower prices.
Schiffenberger Tal / south-east
drivers and Schiffenberg access
Green valley road toward the monastery hill and the motorway ring, quiet, with dinner reached by bus or car.
Think twice about
- Hauptbahnhof forecourt and first blocks of Bahnhofstraße
The roughest-feeling base in a safe city, with visible street drinking, rough sleeping and fast food frontage. Arrive here, do not base here.
- Anlagenring traffic-island hotels
Central on the map but noisy and fume-adjacent on the multi-lane ring. Inside the ring on the Seltersweg side is a different stay.
- Motorway and Linden business-park hotels
Clean and cheap car-based beds in districts dead at night, a drive from every sight. Fine for drivers, false economy for leisure.
Best restaurants in Gießen
HOTEL & RESTAURANT heyligenstaedt
Seasonal modern European cooking in an elegant villa room, the destination dinner locals book for special occasions.
Knossos
Fine Greek restaurant with a serious fish kitchen, deep wine list and white-tablecloth service in a lively room.
Sudwinde
Small warm Mediterranean room in the centre doing fish and southern European plates with unusual care.
Gianoli
Long-running Italian of record near the Seltersweg, the group dinner answer where nobody in the party loses.
Justus im Hessischen Hof
Canonical Hessian Gasthaus named for Liebig, with regional classics, house butchery heritage and Liebig-themed rooms.
Hawwerkasten
Traditional German Gasthaus of hearty Hessian plates and generous portions, full of regulars and free of any concept.
Restaurant Schlosskeller
German classics in a vaulted castle-cellar room at Brandplatz, the most atmospheric dining room in the rebuilt centre.
Gutenburger
Independent burger spot at the front of Gießen's crowded burger field, with proper burgers at student prices.
Best coffee in Gießen
Türmchen
All-day café by the church tower for breakfast, lunch and evening cocktails, with outdoor tables on the square.
Outdoor things to do in Gießen
Kloster Schiffenberg
Romanesque monastery of 1129 on Gießen's wooded house mountain, reached by a forest walk and hosting summer concerts.
Kletterwald Gießen
Rope courses and zip lines through the Schiffenberg canopy, the best group and family adrenaline in the city.
Kanutours Gießen
Canoe hire for the Lahn, with an easy half-day paddle from Gießen to Dorlar through boat chutes and a lock.
Lahnwanderweg
Certified long-distance trail along the Lahn through Gießen, working as signed day hikes in both directions.
Dünsberg
The highest hill near Gießen at 498 metres, a former Celtic oppidum with ramparts, reconstructions and the district panorama.
Burg Gleiberg
Free castle above Krofdorf-Gleiberg with a climbable keep, Lahn valley views, restaurants and a beer garden in the walls.
Burg Vetzberg
The ruined second castle of the Counts of Gleiberg on the next cone, rougher and quieter than Gleiberg itself.
Golf-Park Winnerod
18-hole championship course designed by a former Nicklaus associate, plus a 9-hole short course east of Gießen.
Best hotels in Gießen
HOTEL & RESTAURANT heyligenstaedt
Gießen's top address, a villa-style independent by the university quarter known for its restaurant as much as its rooms.
Hotel Tandreas
Family-run four-star with large rooms, a well-regarded restaurant and free parking on the greener Schiffenberg side.
Best Western Plus Hotel Steinsgarten
Reliable full-service hotel with 122 rooms, indoor pool, sauna and strong breakfast, ten minutes from the theatre quarter.
Altes Eishaus, Hotel & Restaurant
Small character hotel in the old ice house on the northern centre edge, with a restaurant locals use without staying.
Residenz Hotel Giessen
Apartment-style hotel with large kitchenette rooms, free parking and 24-hour check-in, best for longer stays and drivers.
B&B Hotel Gießen
Clean budget-chain rooms in the city itself, air-conditioned and soundproofed a short walk from the Kongresshalle.
Trip Inn City Hotel Giessen
Simple, clean and friendly independent budget hotel with an attached restaurant guests rate highly for the price.
SleepySleepy Hotel Gießen
Retro-styled budget hotel with a bar and free parking in Linden, a fun cheap sleep for drivers rather than a centre base.
Is Gießen expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €55 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €105 a person |
| Splurge | €240 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Mathematikum: a few days ahead
- Liebig-Museum: a few days ahead
- Stadttheater Gießen: weeks ahead
- Kletterwald Gießen: a few days ahead
- Kanutours Gießen: a few days ahead
- Golf-Park Winnerod: a few days ahead
- Licher Golf-Club: a few days ahead
- HOTEL & RESTAURANT heyligenstaedt: a few days ahead
- Kletterwald Giessen on sunny weekends and holidays, and check its Easter to autumn season.
- Knossos and the heyligenstaedt restaurant for Friday and Saturday dinner, days ahead.
- Stadttheater premieres, popular opera and dance nights, and Kongresshalle touring shows.
- Giessener Kultursommer headline nights and Stadtfest weekend hotel rooms in August.
Is Gießen safe?
- Giessen is safe by German standards, with a busy student centre late. Awareness at the station forecourt after dark.
- Pickpocket care at Stadtfest, Lahnuferfest and the Christmas market crowds.
- Swim only at designated Lahn bathing spots and respect canoe landing rules at weirs and boat chutes.
- Tap water is excellent. Emergency 112, police 110. The university hospital is in the south of the city.
Gießen travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Do not expect an Altstadt. Visitors picturing Marburg leave harsh reviews of a city that never claimed to be Marburg.
- The Seltersweg chain strip is shopping, not sightseeing. The sightseeing is the people, the Schwätzer and the Elefantenklo.
- Liebig-Museum without a tour is a solid hour, not a half-day. Pair it with the Mathematikum.
- Paid sightseeing products are poor value in a centre this compact.
Getting around Gießen: public transport and more
- Walk the centre. Marktplatz to Mathematikum and to the Hauptbahnhof are each about ten minutes.
- Hauptbahnhof trains: Frankfurt about 40 to 50 minutes, Marburg about 15 by express, Wetzlar about 15.
- SWG city buses hub at Marktplatz. Bus 6 is the Schiffenberg line, check Sunday and seasonal running.
- Cycle in the flat centre, use Nextbike at Elefantenklo / Seltersweg, and park at ring car parks rather than centre streets.
Who Gießen suits
| Solo travellers | Great |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Great |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Gießen your trip
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