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Welcome to my mini travel guide to Heidelberg, Germany. Keep reading for my recommendations on things to do in Heidelberg, plus where to take photos, places to eat and where to stay.
Heidelberg in southern Germany isn’t a place with a lot of things to do and must-see attractions. This is actually what attracted me to the city in the first place, as I wanted somewhere to just chill for a few days. I spent my days wandering with my camera in hand, and my evenings writing blog posts like this one. This post is really just an excuse for me to share all the pretty photos I took in Heidelberg. Honestly, every time I look at them they make me happy – is that weird? Anyway, here are lots of photos and a little bit of useful information about visiting Heidelberg 😉.
Let’s start with the photos, shall we?
Useful information
Before I get into the good stuff, here are a couple of things to know before travelling to Heidelberg. Firstly, be prepared as cash is king around here. A couple of the cafes/restaurants I went to were cash only and another bakery would only take small change. This surprised me, as card is so popular in other parts of Europe. Secondly, I found most establishments also only had German menus. I just used Google Translate to work it out, but I found in most other cities I’ve visited on this trip that English menus or translations are pretty common.
How to get to (and around) Heidelberg
I arrived in Heidelberg with FlixBus (a.k.a basically the only transport I used in Europe). I travelled from Brussels, but the closest major city to Heidelberg is Frankfurt. So alternatively, you could fly into Frankfurt and get the bus or train to Heidelberg. There’s public transport available in Heidelberg, but it’s a small place so you really can walk between all the locations listed below.
Where to stay in Heidelberg
I stayed at Meininger Heidelberg Hauptbahnhof (that’s a mouthful). It’s not located in the Old Town, but it was easy to walk into the centre every day. It was also walking distance from the train and bus stop. I really liked this hostel – it was modern and clean, with all the amenities you could need and the softest bed (I slept extremely well). The only con for me was the fact I was in a female ‘dorm room’, which was really a family room with two twin beds next to each other and a set of bunks. Fortunately, I had two nights by myself and two with one other roommate, as it would have been very cosy otherwise! But there are single, twin and double rooms available too.
Things to do in Heidelberg (plus the best photo spots)
Like I said, there aren’t a lot of things to do in Heidelberg. But here’s a brief list, with lots of photo recommendations.
Visit Hauptstraβe
Hauptstraβe is Heidelberg’s main street. It’s a very long pedestrian-only street that takes you through the Aldstadt (Old Town). It’s lined with lots and lots of shops, restaurants, cafes and bakeries. Hauptstraβe is truly the heart of the city.
When you’re walking around, take the time to look up the streets coming off Hauptstraβe in both directions. That’s where you can capture something like this.
Heidelberger Marktplatz is the town’s historic market square. It’s where you will find this building.
Around the next corner you will find Kornmarkt, which is where you can take this amazing shot. I love the juxtaposition of the colourful buildings with the historic castle on the hill. Another place to take photos is Karlsplatz just up the road, but I definitely preferred Kornmarkt.
Head up to Heidelberg Castle
To be honest, I wanted to take photos of the castle, not from the castle, so I didn’t visit Heidelberg Castle. But it is naturally one of the top things to do in Heidelberg.
Walk across Old Bridge Heidelberg
This pedestrian bridge was built in 1788 and offers incredible scenic views of Heidelberg, as you can see below.
Although the photos from the Old Bridge are good, you also kind of need photos that include it as well, right? I captured the Old Bridge from both sides of the river (on different days). The autumnal mountainside just makes the photo so much better, don’t you think?
See the amazing view from Schlangenweg
I found this street on Google Maps, as it’s opposite the Old Bridge. It’s a steep climb to get to the main viewpoint, but there are multiple viewing platforms along the way. I definitely used them to take photos and catch my breath! It isn’t the longest climb though and the views were definitely worth it.
Mandatory selfie
Heading down
From Schlangenweg, you can keep walking up and connect to the Philosophers’ Way, another popular path for views.
Walk along the river at Neckarwiese
Neckarwiese is a park on the north side of the river. It’s a nice place to walk and I can imagine it’s even better in summer. From here, you can walk across Theodor Heuss Bridge and connect back to Hauptstraβe and the Old Town. That is the vantage point from which I took these photos.
Told you my list of things to do in Heidelberg was short 🤣.
Places to eat in Heidelberg
Okay, let’s talk briefly about the food in Heidelberg. As I mentioned above, make sure you have cash as many establishments don’t take card. Firstly, if you love bread as much as me, there are lots of bakeries and cafes along Hauptstraβe. I recommend Kamps, which are located across Germany. The pastries are always fresh, delicious and reasonably priced. I may have had a cinnamon wuppi on more than one occasion (it was kind of like a cinnamon scone – so good).
I did consume more than just bread, promise! My hostel was next to Mandy’s Railway Diner, which seemed like a popular date night spot. The food is what you’d expect to find in an American diner, including burgers, pancakes and milkshakes. I went with the steak and cheese sandwich, which wasn’t too bad.
Another place I checked out in Heidelberg was Emma Cafe/Bar along Hauptstraβe. The sign out the front said it had the best pizzas in town, which sold me. Inside, the staff were really nice and there was free WiFi, so it was pretty busy with local students. I went for the rocket and prosciutto pizza, which was wood fired (my favourite). It was delicious and I got the bigger size so I could have leftovers for dinner.
Other than that, I may have gone to Vapiano’s for lunch – I just love their fresh pasta!
I thought this was going to be all photos, but hopefully there is some informative content to help you plan your own Heidelberg holiday as well. Now that I’ve been, I think it’s the kind of place I’ll be telling everyone to visit in Germany!
P.S. For all of my Europe content, check out my archive. It’s where you will find guides to places like Amsterdam, Budapest and Prague.
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Hi, Hayley.
As an adopted hometown, I wrote about Heidelberg and her 38 highlights (thus far).
As Kamps is a commercial chain, might I recommend Cafe Gundel near Karlsplatz or Kleine Gundel at Universitätsplatz. I wrote about their tasty specialties for the Christmas season. And let’s not forget there are many little family-run bakeries in town.
On Untere Strasse, I liked Pop and Cafe Burkardt.
Escaping the dreaded Hauptstrasse to get onto Bauamtsgasse, I liked Schnitzelbank, which was my place to satisfy my schnitzel cravings in town.
Instead of Hauptstrasse, locals know to use Plöck on foot or by bike, and I liked Essighaus (for a cozy sit-down meal).
There’s a farmers’ market every day somewhere in town and while Marktplatz is well-visited, I liked the extra effort to go across the river to Neuenheim’s Martkplatz for the market there (about which I also wrote). If that doesn’t fill the belly, there’s the French bakery La Flamm Boulangerie Pâtisserie.
Did you miss out on the Bergbahn funicular? Most visitors will take it to the Castle ruins, but the 2-stage funicular goes to the summit of Königstuhl for a grand view up top of the Neckar river valley and the Rhine valley beyond. When I lived in town, the funicular was my daily morning commute to work for the first few months.
As it’s been awhile, I need to go “home” again to add a few more to the list of 38 highlights.
Thanks for sharing so many tips, Henry!
Thanks for the tips!
I’m glad you had a good visit in my city – but I have to disagree, there is a lot to do! There is the castle of course, which is a pity you didn’t visit in person. The Kurpfälzisches Museum, which has a great English audio guide, the Pharmacy Museum at the castle, the monastery brewery and farm at Stift Neuburg, the 14th-century monastery ruins on the Heiligenberg (above the Philosophenweg), the trails on top of the Königstühl above the castle, the little castle in Handschuhsheim, and more. Next time hopefully you’ll be able to explore more!