Leipzig holidays

How to reach Leipzig

Flight time: Flights to Leipzig from London take around 1 hour 45 minutes.

Transfer time: Leipzig-Halle airport, 18km north of the city, is linked to the centre by S-Bahn and Intercity trains, which take about 15 minutes. Buses are also available, taking around 30 minutes.

Price:

• A train ticket from the airport to the city centre costs around €5

• A bus about €3.50

• A taxi about €35

Best time to visit Leipzig

This will depend on what you want to do during your trip; some events are seasonal, and the weather may also play a part in your decision.

April to June: Spring brings milder temperatures of around 10°C to 18°C, though expect plenty of rain, so bring a jacket. You’ll enjoy around 6–7 hours of sunshine a day.

July to August: High season, so expect larger crowds - especially for the Leipzig Bach Festival - and slightly higher accommodation prices. It’s warm and sunny, with temperatures around 22°C to 25°C. You can expect 7–9 hours of sunshine daily and limited rainfall (40–60mm).

September to November: Cooler but still very pleasant weather, with temperatures ranging from 10°C to 20°C. This is the best time to explore Leipzig’s many cultural assets, but do expect the city's museums to be busy.

December to March: Winter in Leipzig is cold, with temperatures ranging from -2°C to 6°C. However, the Christmas markets are a real highlight, adding a festive charm to the city. Snowfall is likely, especially in January and February, so pack well.

Practical information

• Spoken languages: German is the official language, but English is widely spoken throughout the city.

• Local habits and customs: When tipping in a café, round your bill up to the next €0.50 or €1 and give the total directly to the waiter; at restaurants, you should leave around 10 percent of the bill. When you are in a group, you should wait until everybody has their drink and only start drinking after clinking glasses. When clinking glasses, it is essential to look into each other's eyes.

• Currency: Germany uses the Euro (€), with credit and debit cards accepted in most places.

• Getting around: The S-Bahn from Hauptbahnhof stops beneath the central Altstadt. Most tram routes pass outside the Hauptbahnhof; other transport hubs are Augustusplatz east of the Altstadt and Wilhelm-LeuschnerPlatz south. A single ticket costs €3.00, a day card €8.40.

• Electricity and plug types: Germany uses 220 volts, and UK travellers will need an adaptor for continental-style two-pin round plugs.

• Time zone: Leipzig is in the Central European Time zone (CET), which is 1 hour ahead of GMT.

Best things to do in Leipzig

The dynamic trade-fair city that led the peaceful overthrow of the GDR regime has channelled its energy into a vigorous contemporary art scene and boisterous nightlife.

Viewpoints and panoramas

• Panorama Tower (City-Hochhaus Leipzig): Zip up to the 120m-high viewing platform, bar and restaurant of this GDR-era skyscraper, beside the Gewandhaus.

• Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal): If you’re up for climbing the 500 steps to the top, this monument, which commemorates Napoleon’s defeat in the Battle of Leipzig in 1813, offers awesome views.

The best districts

• Plagwitz: If you want to tap into the energy of Leipzig’s contemporary arts dynamo, Plagwitz, a former industrial area 3km west of the Altstadt, is the place to come.

• Augustusplatz: Nowhere in central Leipzig is so redolent of the GDR aesthetic as Augustusplatz. On either side is the regime’s Oper Leipzig opera house to the north and the glass-walled Neues Gewandhaus concert hall, inaugurated in 1981, to the south.

Museums

• Bachmuseum: This modern museum strives to reveal the great composer’s Zeitgeist and methods, alongside exhibits such as his household iron chest.

• Museum für Angewandte Kunst (Museum of Applied Arts): Innovative presentation brings life to one of the richest collections of its type in Europe, ordered within permanent exhibitions themed as “Antiques to Historicism”, “Asian Art” and “Art Nouveau to the present”.

• The Mendelssohn-Haus: This elegant house showcases his life and work including, upstairs, his original apartment which has fully furnished 19th-century rooms, one holding Mendelssohn’s travel trunk.

Parks and gardens

• Clara-Zetkin Park: Leipzig’s largest green space - actually a series of parks - features vast meadows, shady trees and walking paths along the river, as well as cafés and beer gardens for the occasional pit stop.

Historical monuments

• St. Thomas Church: Famous as the home of Johann Sebastian Bach, and it is for this very reason that this enormous Gothic church is one of Leipzig’s most important landmarks.

• The Hauptbahnhof: Leipzig’s massive Hauptbahnhof is a sight in its own right: the grand 1915 building from the golden age of rail is one of the largest rail termini in Europe, with 21 tracks and a 300m-wide facade.

• Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum: A Baroque portal of a cherub who proffers a cup to an Ottoman Turk under a coffee tree announces Europe’s oldest coffee shop, Zum Arabischen Coffe Baum (1711).

• Leipzig University Library (Bibliotheca Albertina): Founded in 1409, Leipzig University is one of the oldest in Germany; its library is a particularly stunning piece of architecture, while the university’s museum offers keen insight into its rich academic heritage.

Day trips in the area

• Dresden: After marvelling at the glorious architecture and dazzling artistry, go bar hopping in one of the most enjoyable Szene neighbourhoods in Germany.

• Chemnitz: From a tourist’s point of view it is a curio worth a detour partly because of its glimpse at a Soviet past that’s all but absent from Leipzig, but also because of a brace of modern art galleries and museums.

Activities for families in Leipzig

Families certainly won’t be short of things to do in Leipzig, with some terrific activities on offer.

• Adventure parks: Divided into eight themed adventure zones around a lake, Belantis has all the requisite thrills – a log flume down Europe’s largest pyramid, roller coasters and a swinging pirate ship – plus gentler pleasures like a Segway course, a kids’ zoo and canoes to paddle on the “Belantis Pacific”.

• Leipzig Zoo: The city’s zoo is home to over 850 species of animals, including elephants, tigers and monkeys, but the real highlight is the Gondwanaland tropical hall, where you can take a boat ride through a rainforest environment.

Free things to do in Leipzig

There are plenty of free things you can do on your Leipzig holidays that don’t require spending very much at all.

• Art installations: There’s plenty of free art to get excited about in Leipzig, not least the Panometer, the world’s largest panoramic painting, which wraps around the inside of a former gas storage tower. The 360-degree panorama – over 100m long and 30m high – changes every 15 months.

• Leipzig University Library: You can wander around the stunning Bibliotheca Albertina and explore its historical collection without spending a penny. The library is not just a great spot for book lovers, but also a peaceful place to relax.

Nature and outdoor activities in Leipzig

The city and its surroundings offer a decent selection of activities that make the most of the beautiful Saxony countryside.

• Watersports: The Weisse Elster River and Karl-Heine-Kanal among parkland and renovated old industry west of the city are a pleasant spot to lose a sunny afternoon. Bootshaus Klingerweg has boat and canoe rental and tours, but for more high-octane stuff there’s Kanupark Markkleeberg, Germany’s premier whitewater canoeing and rafting facility.

• Cycling: Leipzig is a bike-friendly city with a well-developed network of cycling paths, making it easy to explore on two wheels. Nextbike rental stations can be found across the city.

• Hiking: Stretching along the Elster, Pleiße and Luppe rivers, the Auwald Forest presents miles of scenic hiking trails.

Local dishes in Leipzig

One of the real delights of holidays to Leipzig is sampling Saxon cuisine, and while meat dominates most menus, there’s much more besides.

Some typical dishes

• Leipziger Allerlei: A colourful vegetable medley consisting of peas, carrots, asparagus and morels, all sautéed in butter and often served with crayfish or prawns.

• Quarkkeulchen: Small potato pancakes made with quark (a type of fresh cheese), eggs and flour, then fried until golden - a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon or a side of apple sauce finishes it off nicely.

Meat dishes

• Saxon bratwurst: The Saxon version of this famous sausage is made with finely ground pork and grilled to perfection.

• Schweinshaxe: A huge crispy knuckle which could have graced a medieval banqueting table, usually served with potato dumplings or sauerkraut.

Street food

• Leipziger Lerche: A delicious tart filled with marzipan, nuts and jam, and topped with a lattice of pastry.

• Brezen (Pretzels): A staple of the streets, these pretzels - covered in salt crystals - are far superior to their American counterparts.

Sweets and desserts

• Baumkuchen: Baked in layers on a rotating spit that creates an appearance resembling tree rings, this popular cake is rich, buttery and sometimes coated in chocolate.

• Eierschecke: A layered cake made with a yeast base, a quark (curd cheese) filling and a custard topping.

Local drinks

• Gose: A Leipzig speciality, this sour wheat beer is brewed with coriander and salt, giving it a distinct flavour.

• Leipziger Allasch: A traditional liqueur flavoured with caraway seeds, Leipziger Allasch has a distinctive herbal taste. It’s often enjoyed as a digestif after a meal and has been a part of the city’s culinary tradition for centuries.

• Saxon wines: Leipzig is located in one of Germany’s smaller wine regions, with vineyards along the Elbe River producing excellent Riesling and Müller-Thurgau wines.