Heidelberg

Travel and Tourist Information

ABOVE: Heidelberg Castle overlooks the old town, where a stone bridge crosses the Neckar River.

Heidelberg has a long history of welcoming English-speaking travelers. One of the earliest (and most celebrated) was Mark Twain, who spent several months in Heidelberg with his family in 1878 and described the experience in A Tramp Abroad.

Thanks to a long history of Anglo-Saxon infatuation with Heidelberg, the city was off-limits to Allied bombing in World War II--which is why you'll still see heavy, historic buildings of red sandstone in the Altstadt or Old Town: buildings that look genuinely old, not restored or rebuilt from ruins.

Heidelberg's attractions include a romantic castle, Germany's oldest university, a hillside "Philosopher's Walk," boat trips on the Neckar River, and countless taverns, cafés, and restaurants where you can sample local wines and the comfort-food gastronomy of Germany's Palatinate (now incorporated into the state of Baden-Württemburg, which lies in Southwestern Germany near Switzerland and France). Heidelberg is easily worth a visit of several days--or, better yet, a week--and because English is widely spoken in the town, it's a great place for first-time visitors to Germany who aren't comfortable with the language of Goethe, Heine, or Run Lola Run.

Next page: History and background

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