Things to do in Leipzig

Leisure

Leipzig has a lot of green areas for a major city with many public parks.

• closest option: very small public park "Flossplatz-Park", just 300m walk from hotel, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• recommendation: public park "Clara-Zetkin-Park", 950m walk from hotel, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• Botanic Garden (de), 1.5km walk from hotel, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• Zoo Leipzig, 2.4km walk or 7 tram stops from hotel, 1.1km walk from main station, is one stop of the hop on/hop off busses (see below), Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, rated #1 zoo in Germany and #2 zoo in Europe (Wikipedia)

City tours

Leipzig grew around one small historic city center with around 500 meters radius. You can easily explore the most important places by walking--just as you leave the main station and cross the road you enter the city center inside the inner city road ring. Use the bus tours to get a wider view of the greater city:

• https://leipzig-erleben.com/en/group-tours/sightseeing-tours/
• 18 EUR/adult
• stop nearest to main station: Goethestr., <500m walk from main station
• stop nearest to hotel: Karl-Liebknecht-Str./Suedplatz, 500m walk from hotel

Excursions (all in city center, all <2km walk from venue)

Observation platform on skyscraper "City-Hochhaus"

• highest building in Leipzig
• nice view over most of Leipzig for 3 EUR/person (coins required!)
• right on the walk way from main station to the hotel
• Google Maps, OpenStreetMap

Historic sites

Leipzig played a key role in the Peaceful Revolution that lead to the reunification of Germany in 1989/1990. It is also known for some of most famous German musicians that worked here and the history of trade with its trade fair since the 12th century.

• "Runde Ecke": former "Stasi" headquarter (German for "state security", secret police of East Germany state GDR), central memorial place of peaceful revolution in Leipzig and Germany (Wikimedia Commons), Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• Thomaskirche (de) church: from 12h century, known for composers Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Wagner, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, with regular concerts (Wikipedia), Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• Nikolaikirche (de) church: where the Peaceful Revolution in Leipzig began and Bach and other musicians worked, too (City of Leipzig website, Wikipedia), Google Maps, OpenStreetMap

Museums

• "Museum der bildenden Kuenste" (short "MdbK", German for "Museum of fine Arts"), Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
  • with soon ending exhibition "role models--women in the MdbK's collection"
• "Grassi Museum", 1.2km walk from/to main station, Google Maps, OpenStreetMap with different departments:
  • Museum of musical instruments (Leipzig is famous as city of music for its composers as well as instrument makers)
  • Museum of applied arts
  • (Museum of Ethnography is currently CLOSED!)

Architecture

The city has some iconic pieces of architecture from different times and styles and multiple districts completely preserved from one era. Although the city had some hits by bombs in World War II luckily it was not as devastated as other cities, e.g. Dresden.

Inside city center:

• huge New Town Hall in historicism style and with a working Paternoster lift (not officially available for the public but you can sneak in)
• Old Town Hall from 1556/57 with elements from 1230
• lovely arcarde galleries, German "Passagen", historically used for carting goods and now very nice to walk through, with beautiful roofs and many distinguished stores

Very close to city center:

• many well preserved Gruenderzeit buildings in districts Musikviertel and Waldstrassenviertel
• impressive court building of Federal Administrative Court, German "Bundesverwaltungsgericht", from 1888 Wikimedia Commons

A bit off city center but very remarkable and visible from the afar, e.g. from the train: Monument to the Battle of the Nations

• 91m tall monument
• can be accessed by elevator or >500 steps to the top viewing platform
• 3.8km walk or 30min tram ride from hotel
• 4.5km walk or 23min tram ride from main station (Grassi Museum is on the way)
• Google Maps, OpenStreetMap
• is one stop of the hop on/hop off busses

See also: Wikipedia: Architecture of Leipzig