Explore Heidelberg

First impressions of Heidelberg

Heidelberg is the quintessential German romantic city — a long, narrow old town squeezed between the Neckar river and the steep wooded slopes of the Königstuhl hill, with the spectacular red-sandstone ruins of Heidelberg Castle looming above. The castle was repeatedly hit by lightning and twice destroyed by the French in the late 17th century; the partial restoration of the 1880s preserved the picturesque half-ruin that English Romantic poets and J.M.W. Turner painted obsessively. Take the Bergbahn funicular (one of the oldest mountain railways in Europe) up to the castle terrace, then continue up to the Königstuhl summit for a panorama over the Neckar valley. Below, the long Hauptstrasse is one of Europe's longest pedestrianised shopping streets, leading to Marktplatz and the gothic Heilig-Geist-Kirche church. Don't miss the Old Bridge (Karl Theodor Bridge) with its monkey statue — rubbing the bronze hand brings luck; the lovely 17th-century Philosophenweg (Philosopher's Walk) on the opposite bank, with the best views back to the castle and town; and the haunting Student Prison (Studentenkarzer), where misbehaving university students were locked up between 1778 and 1914 (their graffiti is preserved on the walls).