A day trip to Heidelberg

Warning: this is a photo heavy post because Heidelberg is stunningly amazingly beautiful. And for the Germany geography geniuses out there, yes Heidelberg is a very long way from Bad Salzdetfurth. About 6.5 hours by bus. I would know because I've done it. I got a night bus. I would love to be able to say that the night bus was amazing, because I fell asleep in Hannover and woke up in Heidelberg. However, it was more like 'I fell asleep in Hannover and then woke up from semi-sleep at least every 20 minutes the entire way to Heidelberg as we stopped for fuel/a break/to change driver'. Because why would anyone choose sleep when energy tablets and coffee work just as well?!

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The number of times I arrive in a new city with no idea where I'm going and when tourist info is closed is alarmingly high. This is what happened when I arrived in Heidelberg at 6:15am, hopping of the night bus into the unknown. Because my phone is incapable of loading maps I resorted to looking at the bus routes and working out from those which way I needed to walk to get to the old town.

Heidelberg // Brückentor

Being 6:30am, the Altstadt [old town] was fairly deserted so I had a nice solitary wander though the main square, the high street and across the Alte Brücke [Old Bridge] towards the Philosophenweg. I do love a good cobbled city centre. After breakfast in Starbucks, selected because it was open and had a toilet, I set off to Heidelberger Schloss [Heidelberg Castle].

The funicular was closed and the alternative was a replacement bus service (no thank you) so walking up the very steep steps was the best option. All 310 of them. But there was a gorgeous view waiting at the top, over the old town and along the Neckar valley. You could see the paths snaking up the hill on the opposite side of the valley (which were explored later in the day).

Aside from the view, the castle itself is spectacular. It was built around 1300 but the sections vary hugely in style and age, having been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times over the centuries. The castle was resigned to being a ruin forever when it was struck by lightning in 1764. Incidentally, this was the second time it has been struck by lightening... what's that saying about lightning not striking twice...

I returned to the castle and castle gardens in the evening to watch the sunset. The evening light brought out the reddish glow to the castle walls. It is easy to understand why these romantic ruins of a castle are world famous.

Heidelberg Schloss // Rathaus // Broken Turret // The Ruins // Schlangenweg // Sunset // Heiliggeistkirche

The other main feature of my day in Heidelberg was the Philosophenweg [Philosopher's Walk]. This was reached by walking up the Schlangenweg (literally snaking path), which unsurprisingly is a very wiggly path carved into the side of the valley. At the top of this path you join the Philosophenweg, so called because it was popular amongst philosophers. Maybe it was inspirational or something. In any case, it provides stunning views of Heidelberg. I spent most of my day sitting down and admiring the view (although this was probably helped by the weather: sunny and 20°C).

There were various points to stop and watch the world go by. A stunning view, a blossom tree and a wall to sit on... idyllic.

Heidelberg is the Oxbridge of Germany, so there are plenty of university related buildings dotted about and lots of students. It has a feeling of academia to it. On the high street I found a fabulously cluttered second-hand bookshop. Inside, you could hardly move for books. The floor to ceiling shelves were full, and the overflow books were stacked in haphazard piles on the floor. I had an academic moment and bought myself an old copy of Wilhelm Tell as a souvenir of the day.

So my verdict on Heidelberg: beautiful, peaceful, tranquil, picturesque... the list goes on. As you may have gathered from this blog, I'm not usually the 'sit down and watch the world go by' sort of traveller (my reputation is for excessive amounts of walking) but here sitting and watching was the thing to do. And to be fair, I was tired. Energy tablets and coffee cannot replace sleep.

At the end of my day trip to Heidelberg I got back on a night bus. This time I managed to get a bit more sleep (at the expense of my neck) but was still zombified when I arrived in Hannover at 4:50am. I was pleased I'd opted to get the bus from the airport, because at least there were plenty of other people around. Back to Starbucks for more coffee...

Ice cream and sunshine