Mitte/ Innenstadt: Promenade and Aasee, Aegidiimarkt, Dom and Prinzipalmarkt, Kuhviertel and Schlossviertel
Via the promenade, a car-free, 4.5-kilometre-long walking and cycling path around the city centre, you can reach Lake Aa from the Ludgeri roundabout in just a few minutes on foot. You should not swim here, but in particularly cold winters the lake sometimes freezes over - then even ice skating is possible. At any time of year, and especially in spring and summer, the lakeside promenade is perfect for long walks or jogging.
From the Aasee you walk along Aegidiistrasse directly into the city centre to the Aegidiimarkt, a small centre near Domplatz with a supermarket, cafés and small fashion shops, which is also the seat of the Adult Education Centre. You also walk along Aegidiistrasse directly towards the LWL Museum of Art and Culture, a modern house with changing exhibitions and an international reputation. Every ten years, the museum organises and curates theSkulptur Projekte Münster, a city-wide art exhibition with an international reputation in the open air. The "Silver Frequency", an impressive light installation by the artist Otto Piene, flashes on the outer façade here at night.
Behind the museum is Domplatz square, where the popular weekly market takes place every week on Wednesdays and Saturdays. A little further on, you're already standing directly in front of the town hall in the middle of the famous Prinzipalmarkt, which, with its cobblestones and impressive house façades, is reminiscent of the appearance of the city before the Second World War - and contributes a large part to the special flair of Münster. In addition, the impressive Gothic St Lamberti Church with its famous iron cages casts its shadow here.
In just a few steps from here you can reach Salzstraße, Ludgeristraße with the Münster Arkaden and - running parallel to it - Stubengasse. Alongside Prinzipalmarkt, these three are the city's most important pedestrian zones and attract many shops, bakeries, restaurants and cafés. You can easily reach everything here on foot or - carefully - by e-scooter or bicycle, because not only Prinzipalmarkt, but the entire city centre is closed to cars.
If you continue along Prinzipalmarkt past St. Lamberti's Church, it's a bit of a downhill walk to the Großer and Kleiner Kiepenkerl, two of Münster's best-known old-established restaurants serving typical regional cuisine. From here you can also reach the Münster Theatre in just a few steps, which is located in parallel on Neubrückenstraße. Behind it is another residential area close to the city centre, which is also dotted with cafés, restaurants, bistros and small owner-operated shops. After the two Kiepenkerlen, Prinzipalmarkt merges into Spiekerhof. Continue straight ahead via Rosenstraße and Rosenplatz directly into the Kuhviertel, Münster's residential district with probably the most pubs. Here, for example, you'll find Münster's only remaining Altbierbrauerei Pinkus and the legendary student pub from the 1960s, the "academic beer house" Cavete.
Back at Spiekerhof, at the foot of an alley called Spiegelturm, you'll see the large Liebfrauen Überwasserkirche. Behind it is the Überwasserkirchplatz and - parallel to the University and State Library of the University of Münster - the Frauenstraße, on which you walk directly towards the Schlossplatz and the castle. The Westphalian Wilhelms University is located in this impressive building.
