Things to do in Ingolstadt
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Ingolstadt
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Best months overall, warm enough for lakes, beer gardens and cycle paths, with a full festival calendar.
Worst stretch apart from the Christmas market season, with short grey Danube plain days and the outdoor programme shut.
Fest zum reinen Bier and the first beer garden weather make April the first prime month.
High summer for lakes and the valleys, with Donau Classic and Fest der Kulturen in July and a quieter old town in August.
Autumn fair season and valley colour, the last reliable outdoor month.
What's on
- Fest zum reinen Bier 24-26 April
The city celebrates its own 1516 beer purity law with historical dress and traditional tapping in the old town.
- Volksfest Ingolstadt 22-31 May
The big spring fair on the Festplatz, rides, tents and beer at local rather than Munich scale and prices.
- Audi Triathlon Ingolstadt 14 June
A big participatory sports weekend centred on the Baggersee swim, with the city half marathon held in May.
- Donau Classic 16-18 July
A major classic car rally based in the Audi city, filling the old town with historic machinery.
- Fest der Kulturen 24-25 July
The city's intercultural festival, food and music from its many communities in the centre.
- Bürgerfest Ingolstadt 18-19 September
The citizens festival turns the centre from Kreuztor to Rathausplatz into a festival mile with multiple stages.
- Christkindlmarkt Ingolstadt late November to 22 December
The traditional Christmas market on Theaterplatz and Carraraplatz, with the Paradeplatz ice arena from mid November.
Best things to do in Ingolstadt
Audi museum mobile
More than a hundred cars tell the story of Audi and the four firms behind the rings, in a glass tower at the Forum.
Audi Forum Ingolstadt
The factory tour walks you close to the press shop and assembly lines of Audi's largest plant, with a guide throughout.
Asamkirche Maria de Victoria
A plain street front hides a great Asam baroque interior, a vast ceiling fresco and the famed Lepanto Monstrance.
Münster Zur Schönen Unserer Lieben Frau
Southern Germany's largest hall church, a soaring late Gothic interior begun in 1425 with a notable high altar.
Kreuztor
The city's emblem and finest surviving gate of 1385, and the natural start of a walk through the whole old town.
Deutsches Medizinhistorisches Museum
Medical history in the Old Anatomy where Shelley set Frankenstein's studies, with a baroque medicinal garden outside.
Bayerisches Armeemuseum
Bavaria's central army museum in the New Castle, from medieval armour to the world wars, in the old fortress city.
Museum für Konkrete Kunst
Germany's museum for concrete art and design in a former foundry, worth it when a strong rotating show is on.
Where to stay in Ingolstadt
Altstadt
first trip and car free weekends
Walk to the churches, beer halls, theatre and market, and use the station only on arrival and departure.
Brückenkopf and south bank
facilities, pool and parking
Across the bridge from the old town by Klenzepark and the congress centre, quieter at night with the easiest parking.
Gaimersheim
spa, golf and Audi trips with a car
A green, drive everywhere base near the Audi plant, chosen knowingly for calm rather than for sightseeing on foot.
Hauptbahnhof area
price and early trains
Safe and well connected by the main station, but a traffic and retail landscape a long walk from the old town.
Think twice about
- Hauptbahnhof and southern ring corridor as a sightseeing base
Traffic dominated and unlovely, with a long walk into the old town. Fine for price or an early train, poor as a first impression.
- Audi plant and Gewerbegebiet north, and the Manching outlet orbit, without a car
Safe but soulless for a pedestrian, with nothing to stroll to in the evening and every trip a drive or a bus ride.
- Industrial east around the refineries
No visitor reason to sleep there at all. Safe, but it is a working industrial landscape, not a base.
Best restaurants in Ingolstadt
AVUS
The city's one fine dining room, an elegant restaurant at the Audi Forum for a calm and polished dinner.
das "Mo" - Neue Galerie
An old town art pub restaurant with themed rooms, a chestnut beer garden and a Bavarian to international menu.
Weissbräuhaus zum Herrnbräu
The Herrnbräu brewery's old town house for wheat beer, schnitzel, pork hock and dumplings from morning to late.
Gasthaus Daniel
The city's oldest inn by the old university, serving old Bavarian roasts and dumplings in a courtyard garden.
Wirtshaus am Auwaldsee
Bavarian cooking on a lake terrace at the Auwaldsee, with crisp roast pork the dish regulars name most.
Augustiner Bräu Theresienhof - Illinger Haus
A traditional Augustiner beer house loved locally for sharing boards, hearty salads and Kaiserschmarrn to finish.
Maharani Indisches Restaurant
The best supported Indian restaurant in a city that rates its Indian food highly, with real vegetarian depth.
Safar Falafel
A small falafel house with the city's highest cheap eats rating, crisp, fresh and vegetarian by design.
Outdoor things to do in Ingolstadt
Audi driving experience center
Bookable instructor led driving programmes in high performance Audis on a circuit and dynamic platform near Neuburg.
Golf-Club Ingolstadt
The city's own established parkland course, a convenient guest round in town with advance tee booking.
Donautherme Ingolstadt
Thermal pools, a slide tower and wave pool plus a separate sauna landscape, best on a quiet weekday visit.
Baggersee Ingolstadt
A big free swimming lake with meadows, a lake house and the free Wildpark, the city's summer living room.
Auwaldsee
The quieter floodplain lake east of town, with a bathing strand and an easy circuit of about five kilometres.
Altmühltal-Radweg
Ride a flat, top rated day section of the Altmühl valley cycle route from Eichstätt past cliffs and juniper heaths.
Altmühltal-Panoramaweg
A panoramic circuit above Eichstätt through juniper heath, with views to Willibaldsburg and the Roman fort at Pfünz.
Kloster Weltenburg
Reach Bavaria's oldest monastery by gorge boat from Kelheim, for an Asam church and the oldest monastery brewery.
Best hotels in Ingolstadt
Maritim Hotel Ingolstadt
The city's flagship hotel by the congress centre, with a spa, indoor pool and the strongest review record in town.
Der Heidehof
A quiet spa hotel in Gaimersheim near Audi, chosen for calm, its restaurant and a country break feel with a car.
Altstadthotel Ingolstadt
The best located mid range old town stay, walk everywhere with friendly staff, good breakfast and handy parking.
Hotel Rappensberger
A family run old town hotel whose guests praise the location, the staff and a breakfast described as delicious.
IntercityHotel Ingolstadt
The honest budget pick at the main station, a modern chain hotel with friendly staff and painless early trains.
Is Ingolstadt expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | €65 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | €115 a person |
| Splurge | €210 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- Audi Forum Ingolstadt: weeks ahead
- Stadttheater Ingolstadt: weeks ahead
- Audi driving experience center: weeks ahead
- Golf-Club Ingolstadt: a few days ahead
- Kloster Weltenburg: a few days ahead
- AVUS: a few days ahead
- Wirtshaus am Auwaldsee: a few days ahead
- Reserve the Audi factory tour days to weeks ahead in summer and reconfirm if no confirmation arrives.
- Book AVUS for Friday and Saturday evenings and the Audi driving experience programmes well ahead.
- On Volksfest, Donau Classic and Christkindlmarkt weekends, book old town mid range hotels first because they sell out before the chains.
Is Ingolstadt safe?
- Watch bags in Volksfest and Christkindlmarkt crowds, where pickpocketing is the one realistic risk.
- Lock bikes properly, because bicycle theft is the endemic city crime.
- Swim in designated lake areas and respect high water closures on the Danube plain after heavy rain.
- Emergency number throughout Germany is 112.
Ingolstadt travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Ingolstadt Village is shopping, not sightseeing, and should not trade time with the Asamkirche or Weltenburg.
- The Audi museum alone can feel static for non enthusiasts, so add the factory tour or keep the museum to a brisk hour.
- Do not expect a big city club scene, because venues are few and the centre winds down early on weekday nights.
- Use a parking garage in the old town instead of circling for street parking.
Getting around Ingolstadt: public transport and more
- Walk the old town, where the main sights sit within about 15 minutes of each other.
- Use INVG buses from the ZOB for the Audi Forum, the Baggersee and the Donautherme rather than walking the commercial streets.
- Check whether your train uses Ingolstadt Hauptbahnhof in the south or Ingolstadt Nord by the Audi plant.
- Cycle to the lakes and along the Danube path, the way locals use the river corridor.
Who Ingolstadt suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Great |
| Couples | Good |
| Bachelor parties | OK |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | OK |
Make Ingolstadt your trip
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