Heidelberg: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

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Heidelberg became the symbol of German Romanticism because of a ruin: the castle of the Electors Palatine, blown up by French troops in the 1690s and left roofless on its hill. Poets and painters came for it, and Mark Twain spent pages on it in A Tramp Abroad. This walk climbs to the castle, comes down through the old town, crosses the river and goes up the far bank to see it all from the Philosophers' Walk. About three hours with the castle visit; take the funicular up and your legs down.

A short history of Heidelberg

In 1907 the jaw of an early human, about 600,000 years old, was found in the nearby village of Mauer, and the species "Homo heidelbergensis" takes its name from it. The city itself grew up in the Middle Ages on the River Neckar and was the capital of the Palatinate, one of the most powerful principalities in Germany. Its university was founded in 1386 and is the oldest in present-day Germany. The red castle above the city was destroyed by the French army in 1689 and again in 1693, and in 1764 lightning struck it and burned what had been repaired. It has stood as a ruin ever since, and the Romantics of the 19th century turned it into a symbol. In the Second World War the city was hardly bombed, and afterwards it housed the headquarters of the US Army in Europe until 2013.

The ten best sights in Heidelberg

1
Heidelberg Castle
The ticket includes the funicular up and the Great Tun; the ruin itself is the sight
2
Church of the Holy Spirit
Climb the tower for the roofs of the old town and the castle across them
3
Old University
The Great Hall upstairs is open to visitors on the same ticket as the student prison
4
Student Prison
Every wall is covered in graffiti by the inmates; around the corner from the Old University
5
University Library
Free exhibitions of medieval manuscripts in the lobby
6
Kurpfälzisches Museum
Riemenschneider's carved altar and the jaw of Heidelberg Man; an hour is enough
7
Haus zum Ritter
The Renaissance façade opposite the church; best seen from across the square
8
Old Synagogue Square
A small memorial square in the old town, off the Hauptstraße
9
Friedrich Ebert Memorial
Free; the birthplace of Germany's first democratic president, a few steps off the main street
10
Schwetzingen Palace
20 minutes west; the gardens are the point, and in spring the town's white asparagus

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What is an audio walk?

Tours in Heidelberg →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Heidelberg:

Free walking tours in Heidelberg

The ruin and the river

Heidelberg Funicular · The lower line from the Kornmarkt to the castle opened in 1890. The upper line to the Königstuhl, opened in 1907, still runs its original wooden cars and is one of the oldest electric funiculars in Germany.
Heidelberg Castle · French troops blew up the towers in 1689 and 1693 during the War of the Palatine Succession, and a lightning strike in 1764 burned what had been rebuilt. In the cellar is the Great Tun, a wine barrel of 1751 holding about 220,000 litres, guarded by a statue of Perkeo, the court jester said to have drunk it dry.
Haus zum Ritter · A Huguenot cloth merchant, Charles Bélier, built the house in 1592 after fleeing France. When the French burned Heidelberg in 1693 it was one of the very few buildings in the old town to survive, so its carved Renaissance front shows what the whole street once looked like.
Church of the Holy Spirit · Its galleries once held the Bibliotheca Palatina, the greatest library in Germany, until Catholic troops took the city in 1622 and the library was sent to the Pope in Rome; most of it is still in the Vatican. From 1706 to 1936 a wall split the church between Protestants in the nave and Catholics in the choir.
Old Bridge · The stone bridge was built in 1786–88 for Elector Karl Theodor, the ninth on this spot after floods and ice took the wooden ones. The bronze monkey at its town end holds a mirror: touch it for wealth, and touch his fingers to make sure you come back.
Philosophers' Walk · The path along the sunny slope of the Heiligenberg got its name from the university professors who walked here to think. The south-facing slope is so warm that exotic plants, from bamboo to palms, grow in the gardens along it.

The oldest university in Germany

Elector Ruprecht I founded the university in 1386, which makes it the oldest in today's Germany, and the town has been run by and for its students ever since. Duels, drinking societies and a private prison for misbehaving students were all part of student life here into the 20th century. This walk stays in the old town around the University Square, about two hours. Weekday mornings are best, when the buildings are open and the students are in class.

Old University · The baroque building went up in 1712–35 after the French burnings. Its Great Hall was redecorated for the university's 500th anniversary in 1886 and is still used for ceremonies.
Student Prison · Until 1914 the university, not the police, punished its own students, and sent them here for noise, drunkenness or fighting. Sentences could be up to four weeks, and the prisoners were allowed out to attend lectures; they covered the walls with drawings and their names.
University Library · Its greatest treasure is the Codex Manesse, a 14th-century book of medieval German love songs with 137 full-page pictures of the poets. It came back to Heidelberg in 1888 after centuries abroad; a facsimile is usually on show.
Jesuit Church · The Jesuits arrived when Catholic electors took over the Palatinate in the late 17th century, and built this church to win the Protestant town back. Its museum of sacred art keeps the treasures of Catholic Heidelberg.
Kurpfälzisches Museum · It shows a cast of the jaw of Homo heidelbergensis, found in 1907 in a sandpit at Mauer, ten kilometres away, and some 600,000 years old. Upstairs is Tilman Riemenschneider's limewood Altar of the Twelve Apostles of 1509.
Friedrich Ebert Memorial · Friedrich Ebert was born in this small flat in 1871, the son of a tailor, and became the first president of the Weimar Republic in 1919. The memorial tells how a saddler's apprentice rose to head Germany's first democracy.

From Heidelberg to the ShUM towns

Jews lived in Heidelberg from the Middle Ages, and the Rhine towns just west of it, Speyer, Worms and Mainz, were among the great centres of Ashkenazi learning, known by their Hebrew initials as ShUM. In 2021 UNESCO listed their synagogues, ritual baths and cemeteries. This route starts at the site of Heidelberg's burned synagogue and drives out across the Rhine plain to Speyer and Worms, by way of the palace garden in Schwetzingen. A full day by car; check opening days at the Jewish sites, several close on Mondays or in winter.

Old Synagogue Square · Heidelberg's synagogue stood here until it was set on fire on the night of 9–10 November 1938. On 22 October 1940 the remaining Jews of Heidelberg were deported with the Jews of Baden to the Gurs camp in France; the square now marks the building's outline.
Heidelberg Centre for Jewish Studies · The Central Council of Jews in Germany founded this college in 1979 to train rabbis, teachers and scholars, the first such institution in post-war Germany. It works closely with the university next door.
Schwetzingen Palace · In the garden stands a mosque, built between 1779 and 1795 by Nicolas de Pigage as part of a fashion for the East; it was never meant for worship, though it is one of the oldest mosque buildings in Germany. Mozart played here as a boy of seven in 1763.
Speyer Cathedral · Begun in 1030, it is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world, and eight German emperors and kings are buried in its crypt. In 1084 the bishop of Speyer invited Jews to settle in the town and gave them a walled quarter of their own.
Judenhof, Speyer · Behind a plain door are the ruins of the synagogue consecrated in 1104 and a mikveh from around 1128, whose stairs lead some ten metres down to the groundwater. It is one of the oldest ritual baths in Europe that can still be visited.
Rashi House, Worms · Rashi, the great commentator on the Bible and Talmud, studied in the yeshivas of Worms in the 11th century. The synagogue next to the museum, first built in 1034, was burned in 1938 and rebuilt from its own stones in 1961.

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Getting to Heidelberg and getting around

Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof · West of the centre; a tram or bus to Bismarckplatz takes five minutes
Bismarckplatz · The hub for trams and buses, and the start of the pedestrian Hauptstraße
Mannheim Hauptbahnhof · The nearest big ICE hub, 15 minutes away, with fast trains to Frankfurt Airport

Cheap eats in Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a student town, so it eats cheap and fast: falafel, currywurst and bakery sandwiches along the Hauptstraße, the longest pedestrian street in Germany. The regional table is Palatinate cooking, Saumagen, a stuffed pork stomach that was Chancellor Kohl's favourite, and in spring white asparagus from Schwetzingen with butter or hollandaise. To finish, the town's own sweet is the Studentenkuss, a chocolate the students could give instead of a kiss.

Café Knösel · A Studentenkuss about 2-3 euros, coffee and cake about 7
Mahmoud's · Falafel and shawarma off the Hauptstraße, about 6-9 euros
My Currywurst · Currywurst and fries standing up, about 5-8 euros
Gundel · Old bakery-café on the Hauptstraße; a pretzel or sandwich about 2-5 euros
Le Pain Mantei · Bakery just over the Old Bridge in Neuenheim; bread and coffee about 3-6 euros
Vetter's Brauhaus · House beer about 4-5 euros, sausages with bread about 9-12

Museums in Heidelberg

German Pharmacy Museum · Inside the castle, included in the castle ticket
Kurpfälzisches Museum · Heidelberg Man, Riemenschneider and Romantic paintings of the castle
Prinzhorn Collection · Art by psychiatric patients; changing exhibitions
Student Prison · Graffiti from a century of locked-up students
Friedrich Ebert Memorial · Free; the story of the Weimar Republic's first president

Holy places in Heidelberg

Old Synagogue Square · A memorial on the site of the synagogue burned in 1938
Heidelberg Synagogue · Active community; visits by arrangement
Heidelberg Centre for Jewish Studies · Public lectures in term time; check the programme
Church of the Holy Spirit · Tombs of the Electors and the tower climb
St Michael's Monastery ruins · Forest ruins above the Philosophers' Walk

Things to do in Heidelberg with kids

Heidelberg Zoo · Elephants and big cats by the Neckar; a half-day
Fairy-tale Paradise · Small rides and fairy tales at the top of the funicular
House of Astronomy · Planetarium shows; check the public programme
Bridge Monkey · Touch the mirror and the fingers; find the mice around him
Heidelberg Funicular · Old wooden cars up to the Königstuhl

Where to eat in Heidelberg

Zum Roten Ochsen · The classic student tavern; German food and beer
Schnookeloch · Old student inn by the river; hearty dishes
Weisser Bock · Refined regional cooking in a wood-panelled room
Kulturbrauerei · House beer and a beer garden; good for groups
Vetter's Brauhaus · Evening beer by the Holy Spirit church

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Frequently asked questions about Heidelberg

What is there to see in Heidelberg?

The top sights in Heidelberg are Heidelberg Castle, Church of the Holy Spirit and Old University. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Heidelberg?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Heidelberg without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Heidelberg?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Heidelberg, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The ruin and the river.

How do you get to Heidelberg and get around?

The main ways are Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof, Bismarckplatz and Mannheim Hauptbahnhof. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Heidelberg, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Heidelberg that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

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