Altstadt
First-timersThe old town: the Hauptstrasse, the market square, the castle above and the river below.
Heidelberg city guide
Things To Do In Heidelberg
A ruined red castle above a river, the oldest university in Germany, and the most photographed view in the country — plus more coach parties than anywhere outside Bavaria.
4
Hostels in the city
9.3
Average, from 7,751 reviews
1386
The university founded, the oldest in Germany
220,000 l
The capacity of the Great Heidelberg Tun
1.6 km
The Hauptstrasse, one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets
Romantic, ruined and extremely well visited
Heidelberg escaped the bombing that flattened most German cities, so the baroque old town is genuinely old — narrow, intact and running for over a kilometre between the river and the hills.
The castle above it is a ruin, blown up by French troops in the seventeenth century and struck by lightning afterwards, and the decision not to rebuild it is why it looks the way it does. Nineteenth-century Romantics adopted it as the image of German melancholy, and Mark Twain wrote about it at length.
The university was founded in 1386 and still dominates the town, which has around 160,000 people and 30,000 students.
It is also extremely touristed. Coach parties arrive through the morning and the Hauptstrasse can feel like a queue by midday. The answer is the same as everywhere: go early, go late, and walk uphill.
One full day, or two at a slower pace. An hour from Frankfurt.
Where to stay
A long old town between a river and a hill, with cheaper beds outside it.
Neuenheim
Quiet and the viewAcross the river: a residential district at the foot of the Philosophenweg, ten minutes from the old town.
Bergheim and the station
Value and transportWest of the old town: cheaper beds, the main station and a fifteen-minute walk or short tram in.
Orange labels are neighbourhoods, dots are the 4 top-rated hostels. Map © MapTiler © OpenStreetMap contributors.
Things to do
Things to do in Heidelberg
Walk the Philosophenweg. It climbs the hill on the north bank and gives the view of the castle, the old town and the river together — the one on every poster. It is free, it takes about forty minutes up through vineyards and orchards, and it is far better than anything you will pay for here.
The castle, about €9 including the funicular, is a ruin and the appeal is precisely that. Inside is the Great Tun, a wine barrel holding 220,000 litres with a dance floor built on top, and the German Pharmacy Museum.
The Alte Brücke, the eighteenth-century stone bridge with its gate towers, is free and is where everyone photographs.
The Studentenkarzer, about €3, is the old student prison — undergraduates were locked up for drunkenness and duelling until 1914, and they covered the walls in graffiti and self-portraits. It is the most enjoyable small museum in Germany.
Then get off the Hauptstrasse and into the side lanes, which empty out entirely.
Free things
Free things to do in Heidelberg
The Philosophenweg is free and is the best thing in Heidelberg — the view of the castle and old town from across the river, reached by a steep path up from the Alte Brücke.
The Alte Brücke itself is free, as is the whole old town, the market square and the Church of the Holy Spirit.
The castle gardens can be walked without a ticket in parts, and the terrace view over the town costs nothing.
The Neckar riverbank paths run in both directions and are free.
The Heiligenberg above the Philosophenweg holds a ruined monastery and a Nazi-era open-air amphitheatre, both free and almost always empty, which after the Hauptstrasse comes as a relief.
Food and drink
Eating and drinking in Heidelberg
Baden food, which is lighter than Bavarian: Maultaschen, Spätzle, Flammkuchen and a lot of asparagus in May and June.
Heidelberger Studentenkuss is the local souvenir — a chocolate and praline wafer invented in the nineteenth century, supposedly so that male students could send something to chaperoned young women.
The Hauptstrasse restaurants are priced for visitors. The side streets and the Neuenheim side of the river are better and cheaper, at €12 to €18 a main.
The student pubs — Zum Roten Ochsen and Zum Sepp'l among them — have been serving since the nineteenth century and are touristy but genuinely old.
Baden wine is the regional drink and good, at €4 to €6 a glass. A beer is €4 to €5.50.
Nightlife
Going out in Heidelberg
Student-driven and concentrated in the lower old town, around Untere Strasse, which has a dense run of bars within a few hundred metres.
Term time, roughly October to July, is when it works. In August the students are gone and the town belongs entirely to day trippers.
A beer is €4 to €5.50 and cocktails €8 to €12.
The historic student pubs are worth one visit for the carved tables and the duelling history, even though they are firmly on the tourist circuit now.
There is little club scene to speak of — Mannheim, fifteen minutes away by train, has the larger nights and a considerably less picturesque city to have them in.
Getting around
Getting around Heidelberg
The old town is walkable end to end — the Hauptstrasse runs 1.6 kilometres and is among the longest pedestrian streets in Europe.
Buses and trams cost about €3 a journey, and the funicular up to the castle is included in the castle ticket.
The main station is fifteen minutes west of the old town by tram or a twenty-five-minute walk, which surprises people who expect it to be central.
Frankfurt is an hour by regional or ICE train at €15 to €30, which makes Heidelberg the standard day trip from there — and the reason the coaches arrive in such numbers.
Mannheim is fifteen minutes away and is the ICE interchange for longer journeys.
Costs
What Heidelberg costs
Expensive for its size, because of the visitor numbers. Dorms are €22 to €40, a main €12 to €18, and a beer €4 to €5.50.
A day is €50 to €90.
The best things are free: the Philosophenweg, the bridge, the old town lanes and the Heiligenberg. The castle at about €9 including the funicular is the main entry and the Studentenkarzer at about €3 is the best value in town.
Eating one street off the Hauptstrasse, or across the river in Neuenheim, makes a clear difference.
Frankfurt is an hour away, so basing there and coming for the day is a common approach — though the town is much better in the evening when the coaches have gone.
Safety
Staying safe in Heidelberg
Heidelberg is a very safe town and crime against visitors is minimal.
Pickpocketing occurs on the Hauptstrasse in peak hours and around the castle funicular queue.
The Philosophenweg is steep, partly stepped, and unlit in sections — pleasant in daylight and a poor idea after dark.
The castle ruin has uneven surfaces, worn steps and drops, and the gardens are slippery in rain.
The Neckar is fast and cold with weirs downstream, and the riverbank has open edges by the bridge where people sit and drink in summer.
Emergency number is 112.
Day trips from Heidelberg
A cathedral, a spa town and the Neckar valley castles.
Speyer
A Romanesque imperial cathedral, UNESCO-listed and the largest of its kind surviving in Europe.
Neckar valley castles
Burg Hornberg and Hirschhorn above the river, with a walking path along the valley between them.
Baden-Baden
A nineteenth-century spa town with thermal baths, a casino and the Black Forest behind it.
Mannheim
A grid-planned city with a baroque palace, a good music scene and none of the prettiness.
Strasbourg
A different country, a cathedral and Petite France, and easy from here.
What's on
What is on while you are there
The castle is set on fire, decoratively, three times a year.
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Souad Massi & Youssoupha
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17 May – 25 Oct
Magic Kids Show
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Hostels
Where to stay in Heidelberg
A small scene for a town this visited, so book ahead in summer. Live from Hostelworld.
When to go
April to June and September to October. Avoid the middle of a summer day entirely.
Jan
Cold and quiet. Cheapest, and the castle is empty
Feb
Grey. Students in, town calm
Mar
Improving. Crowds still light
Apr
Excellent. Blossom on the Philosophenweg and manageable crowds
May
Very good. Asparagus season and long evenings
Jun
Warm, and the coaches arrive in force
Jul
Hot and crowded. Castle illuminations on some Saturdays
Aug
Peak day trippers, students gone. The worst month
Sep
Superb. Crowds thin and term restarts
Oct
Excellent. Autumn colour on the hillsides
Nov
Grey and quiet
Dec
Christmas markets across several squares. Busy but pleasant
Bar height is temperature. Colour is how busy it gets:
quiet
busy
peak
Average highs. The crowd pattern matters more than the weather here — the Hauptstrasse between eleven and four in summer is a queue, and the same street at eight in the morning or eight in the evening is a different town.
What your trip will cost
Pick how you travel. Per person per night, in euros.
Transport is low because you walk. The castle at about €9 and the Studentenkarzer at about €3 are the only real entries.
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- Beds—
- Food and drink—
- Getting around—
- Doing things—
Heidelberg travel questions
The ones we get asked most.
What is the Philosophenweg?
A path up the hill on the north bank giving the classic view of the castle, old town and river together. It is free, takes about forty minutes up through vineyards, and is genuinely better than anything you pay for here. Go in daylight — it is steep and unlit in places.
Is the castle worth €9?
Yes, once. It is a ruin — blown up by French troops in the seventeenth century, then struck by lightning, and deliberately never rebuilt — and the ticket includes the funicular, the Great Tun holding 220,000 litres, and the pharmacy museum. The view from the terrace is the other half of it.
How bad are the crowds?
Significant between eleven and four in summer, when the coach parties arrive and the Hauptstrasse feels like a queue. The same street at eight in the morning or in the evening is a completely different town. Plan around the middle of the day rather than around the season.
What is the Studentenkarzer?
The old student prison, about €3. Undergraduates were locked up there for drunkenness and duelling until 1914, and they covered the walls and ceilings with graffiti and self-portraits. It is the most enjoyable small museum in Germany and almost nobody goes.
Can I do it from Frankfurt?
Easily — an hour by train for €15 to €30, which is why so many coaches come. Staying overnight is better though, because the town after the day trippers leave is the version worth seeing.
Why is the old town intact?
Heidelberg largely escaped the bombing that flattened most German cities, so the baroque streets are genuinely old rather than reconstructed. That is unusual in Germany and is a large part of the appeal.
When are the castle illuminations?
Three Saturdays a year, in June, July and September — fireworks and red lighting recreating the castle burning. They are free to watch from the riverbank and extremely crowded, so arrive early for a spot.
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