10 reasons you will love my favourite city of Heidelberg,Germany

In 2013, I moved to the city of Heidelberg,Germany for a period of 6 months, and lost my heart to it. Such a beautiful city it is! In fact, this blog was started after being inspired by the city, and the very first entry was a poem I had come up with. Since then, I have often recommended Heidelberg as an option whenever anybody asked me about travel ideas in Germany, or asked me what my favourite place was. To visit the city, the nearest airport is Frankfurt, while the nearest major junction is Mannheim. If you’ve never been to the city, here are 10 things to do in Heidelberg and why you will love it there!

But, first: a bit of backdrop. After hearing numerous stories from me, a friend of mine from Switzerland got really interested in checking out the city for herself. So, we decided to visit and explore Heidelberg during a weekend in September 2015, and I chose the one when the Castle Illuminations were scheduled to be held. It was such a strange feeling to be back in the city I love and live in a hostel, like a tourist.I was a bit skeptical about how the hostel right near the station would be, but it turned out to be quite good!  In a way, I would be re-exploring the city, and was excited about taking my friend to all the places I loved, and perhaps come across new interesting things too! I’m glad we joined a walking tour, even though I had been to all those places earlier, as I got to know some more historical facts and stories that I wasn’t aware of. While taking her around, I was making a mental list of all the lovely things that the city has to offer, and I thought of sharing it with all you folks. So, here it is!

1.Heidelberg is surrounded by lush green hills, making it every nature lover’s or hiker’s paradise!

Heidelberg is a small but beautiful city in South Germany, and is perfect for nature lovers. If you like hiking or biking, you will enjoy yourself for sure.The 330 meter high Heligenberg, opposite the Heidelberg Castle, makes for great views, hiking trails and if you go higher up, ancient relics too! Half way up the Heiligenberg is the famous Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s Walk), that has inspired several poets in the past.Walking up the ‘Schlangenweg'(winding path) though wasn’t that easy for a non-hiker/exercise enthusiast like me.

 

2. The fairy-tale like castle and the illuminations will leave you mesmerized.

In the words of Mark Twain,”Nature knows how to garnish a ruin to get the best effect.” The castle or ‘Schloss’ is located up a hill, and you could choose to walk up to it or take the old,historical funicular railway. Thrice a year in the summer, the Castle also gets illuminated , commemorating it’s destruction by the French back in the 1600’s. A brilliant display of fireworks can then be seen, which are more of a tradition from the time King Friedrich V of Germany got married to Queen Elizabeth Stuart of England. I’d suggest going about an hour early and getting a spot either on the banks of the river, right opposite to the castle, or going up the Philosophenweg to get a clear view of the castle illuminations. The castle also houses the ‘Heidelberg Tun’, said to be the world’s largest wine barrel(it could hold 220,000 litres of wine!)  and the Deutsches Apotheke (pharmacy) museum.

 

3.You can use the 125 year old funicular railway to get to the top of the city and get breathtaking views!

The Heidelberger Bergbahn or funicular railway can take you right upto Konigstuhl (“Kings seat”), the 1,863 ft high hill in the Odenwald Mountains , from where you can get panoramic views of the city of Heidelberg and beyond. The funicular also stops at two stations prior to this; the Castle and then Molkenkur. You can also choose to hike or bike up instead; you will certainly meet several enthusiasts who would choose not to take the railway. Plus, once on top, you can pause for a drink, watch a bird (falcon/eagle)show  and walk around in the forest. I think I’ve always taken my friends and guests up the funicular and around the forests, whenever they visited me!

From the top of Heidelberg: Koenigstuhl . Picture:Heidelberg Marketing

4.The rich history,museums and stories of the city will take you back in time.

If you love old towns, stories or museums, Heidelberg has a lot in store for you. Whether you choose to go on a walking tour of the old town, or explore it yourself, you’ll love walking through the old streets, visiting the graffiti covered student prison(yes,the Uni had a prison for rebellious students!), the old churches, museums,galleries, the Mensa/Uni cafetaria(which used to be the stables of a King at one point)etc. You can also spot a plaque commemorating Martin Luther, near the Universitatsplatz. Whenever I think of the student prison and that time period, I wish I could catch a glimpse of the sword fighting that students used to pursue seriously in the Castle gardens!Oh,and by the way, if you don’t understand German, ask someone to translate some of the poems written on the walls of the ‘StudentenKarzer’. A whole bunch of talented folks proudly spent time there for sure!

5. Medieval and Celtic ruins await your visit

Since the 5th century BC, the Hellginberg mountain has been quite important for the region. If you go higher up, you will come across the Keltenweg (Celtic trail), where you can visit ruins from the Medieval, Celtic and Roman times, including an ancient monastery.

Another structure you could visit, is the Thingstätte, an open-air amphitheatre built in 1935 by the Nazi party. It has astounding acoustics, which lets you hear people from the stage normally even if they are, say, 200 metres away.

6.Get ready to be inspired by one of the oldest universities of Europe

The Heidelberg University was founded nearly 630 years ago and is the oldest one in Germany, while being the fifth oldest in Europe.The main building and the ‘Aula'(auditorium)  are open to public, and I’d definitely recommend going in there; a good dose of inspiration is out there for us!While the staircases showcase names of all the Nobel Prize Winners from the city, the Aula, with depictions of each faculty, on its ceilings, makes you marvel at their ideas and creativity. I was also thoroughly impressed by the look of the Uni Library. It’s grand entrance looks marvellous and spending time inside somewhat reminded me of Hogwarts!

7.The city quite well denotes love and remembrance

Heidelberg is said to be one of the most romantic cities in Germany. But, apart from the Neckar flowing across the Castle and the beautiful hills around, you can spot other icons of love and remembrance in the city too. One such thing to look out for, is the presence of ‘stolperstein’ or small cobblestone-sized memorials on the streets, commemorating the lives of several Jewish victims of the Holocaust. Such memorials have also been placed for other people who opposed the Nazis.

 

Also, when you are walking by confectionaries or stores, you might come across the red-boxed ‘Heidelberg’s Student Kisses’ chocolates. These sweet treats are typical for Heidelberg alone and used to be exchanged as a way of showing affection for the recipient. They were made by a popular confectioner at the Cafe Knösel, which you can visit even today.

 

8.The delectable food..and drinks!

I could go on and on about this! Having lived in the city and visited it numerous times, I have a mental list of places I love to eat at, and you’d have to bear with me while I summarize my food love here 🙂 So, let me tell you about the BEST Falafel wrap I’ve ever had..and it’s been at Arbil Restaurant at Bismarckplatz, right opposite to Galleria. Another of my favourite places to eat is the Raja Rani Restaurant, that serves lip-smacking Indian food, which is very reasonable too. I cannot recall the number of times I’ve gone there to satiate my taste buds, sometimes with friends and sometimes, alone. While there, try out their Mango Lassi too!You can read more of my suggestions for food in Germany here.  You can also check out Mr.Woo for Chinese food and many of my friends loved Sahara for African cuisine. Besides, I’ve had great ice-cream and on another occasion, peppermint tea at Cafe Extrablatt. I cannot comment on the sausages that may be quite good too, as I’m vegetarian. But, if you have a sweet tooth, try out the amazing Snow balls that you can find at a store on the main shopping street.I loved the ones filled with cinnamon and I think, nougat too.

 

For drinks, wine from the region is very famous. So, you can try some out, apart from the Heidelberger Wheat beer. You can find this at Perkeo for sure. This restaurant is named after the caretaker of the biggest wine barrel in the Castle, who lived several hundred years ago. In the summer though, I love Hollanderblutenschorle , mixed with Sekt or something else.

9.You can look forward to soothing your eyes with the greenery all around, even while cruising on a solar-powered boat.

There is immense natural beauty all around the city, and you can see a lot more of the surrounding area even while taking a boat ride on the Neckar. The ‘Neckarsonne’ is a solar-powered boat that takes you across the city for about 50 minutes.They also serve refreshments and beverages.

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10.The beautiful houses,lively atmosphere and lovely people will make you want to stay longer in the city!

During my 6 month stay, I absolutely loved coming out to the city center and walking along the river banks to refresh my mind. But, I also realized that it is the people who make the biggest difference, irrespective of how great or miserable a place might seem to be.I’m so glad to have met some very inspiring and loving people, and feel deeply attached to the city till date. Also, let me take this opportunity to tell you how much I love the pink flowers growing on all balconies, making it seem like all the houses in the old town were specifically planned that way! I personally would love to stay in such a house, overlooking the river, with these gorgeous pinks and reds peering down the balcony! Would you?

 

So, I hope you enjoyed seeing glimpses of my favourite city! If you happen to visit Heidelberg, do let me know !

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Picture:Heidelberg Marketing

A big thanks to Heidelberg Tourism for helping me re-explore the city and for allowing me to use some of these fabulous pictures!If you visit the city,I’d recommend considering the Heidelberg Card for using all public transport and getting discounts:)

This post is linked to the Weekend Wanderlust and City Tripping linkups.

 

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