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Heidel­berg Sights

Untere Straße Heidelberg

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Untere Straße is loca­ted in the heart of Heidelberg’s Old Town and is a must-see for any tra­ve­ler visi­ting the area. This old, cob­bled street is lined with small stores, and deli­cious restau­rants and cafes. Howe­ver, Untere Straße is best known for its pubs.

Stern­warte Heidelberg

Stern­warte Heidelberg

At the Lan­des­stern­warte Heidel­berg (LSW) you have the unique oppor­tu­nity to observe spe­cial events like the blood moon or the solar eclipse. Due to the accu­rate instru­ments there is a chance to observe the events better.

Heidel­berg Bergbahn

Heidel­berg Bergbahn

What is the Heidel­berg Bergbahn?
The Heidel­berg Berg­bahn is one of the most modern funi­cu­lar rail­roads in Ger­many. By using both moun­tain rail­roads, you can enjoy a rela­xing ascent to the König­stuhl with a unique view of the Neckar valley.

Haupt­straße Heidelberg

Haupt­straße Heidelberg

The Haupt­straße Heidel­berg is one of the lon­gest pede­strian zones in Europe. With its many his­to­ric buil­dings, it attracts many visi­tors from all over the world every year.

St. Peter´s Church Heidelberg

St. Peter´s Church Heidelberg

The Church­The St. Peter's Church is the oldest church of Heidel­berg and the former ver­sion of this buil­ding was first docu­men­ted in 1196. It was a Roma­nes­que church in the middle of a small vill­lage. The city of Heidel­berg was foun­ded in the begin­ning of the 13th...

Heidel­berg Sights

Who does not know it from Berlin, Ham­burg, Stutt­gart etc. In order to visit the most important sights, you often have to travel from one attrac­tion to the other for seve­ral minu­tes by bus or train. This can be quite annoy­ing on some days, espe­ci­ally during rush hour.

In Heidel­berg it is com­ple­tely dif­fe­rent. Of course, Heidel­berg is also much smal­ler than the cities men­tio­ned above, but it is still not to be taken for gran­ted that (almost) ever­y­thing can be easily rea­ched by foot. The most popu­lar sights of the city are all loca­ted in one area, the Old Town of Heidel­berg. Whe­ther you want to go to Heidel­berg Castle, the Old Bridge, the Church of the Holy Spirit and many other buil­dings worth seeing, basi­cally ever­y­thing is within wal­king distance. And if the ascent to the castle is too exhaus­ting, there is still the moun­tain rail­way at the Korn­markt which is also worth seeing. Thus, the sights of Heidel­berg make the sight­see­ing really easy.

Heidelberg Castle
Kornmarkt
Church of the Holy Spirit
Old Bridge
mountain railway
But, of course, there are also some places that one pre­fers to visit by public trans­port or by car. Theo­re­ti­cally, they are acces­si­ble on foot, but you should plan a little more time for that. For exam­ple the Königs­stuhl, respec­tively the vie­w­ing area on the moun­tain, on whose ter­race the Heidel­berg castle is loca­ted. The Phi­lo­so­phers’ Path and the Thing­stätte are loca­ted on the Neu­en­heim side of the Neckar and are also a little fur­ther away from the popu­lar Old Town, but are defi­ni­tely worth a visit.

A bit fur­ther away from the Old Town, in Schwet­zin­gen, you will also find the Schwet­zin­gen Castle with a beau­tiful and large castle garden. Espe­ci­ally the blos­so­ming orna­men­tal cherry trees, which are num­e­rous in the castle garden, are worth a trip in spring.

But if you prefer to stay only in Heidel­berg, you will also not get bored. Because one could say that the Old Town of Heidel­berg is itself one of the sights of Heidel­berg. Due to the old houses and monu­ments that are loca­ted along­side the Haupt­straße (main street), the pede­strian zone is truly pic­tures­que. A little tip: one should never forget the bran­ching alley­ways while strol­ling through the Old Town. As often, the small alley­ways aside from the busy main street are almost idyllic.

Church of the Holy Spirit Hauptstraße
start of the pedestrian zone
Hauptstraße Heidelberg
The reason why there are still so many and espe­ci­ally well pre­ser­ved monu­ments, houses and other buil­dings in Heidel­berg is that the city was not des­troyed in the Second World War. And that as one of a few German cities. As a result, many buil­dings from the 17th or 18th cen­tury are still pre­ser­ved. Many of Heidelberg’s sights were, howe­ver, men­tio­ned much ear­lier in char­ters and other docu­ments, such as poems. For exam­ple the Heidel­berg Castle. Altog­e­ther, there are about 3000 buil­dings in Heidel­berg that are listed as his­to­ri­cal monu­ments. This means that no matter where you look, there is actually some­thing to see on every corner.

Not to be for­got­ten are the muse­ums and of course the Heidel­berg Theatre and the Heidel­berg Zoo. For exam­ple, you will find the cen­tral German Phar­macy Museum in the Heidel­berg Castle and the Kur­pfäl­zi­sche Museum, as well as the Museum Stu­den­ten­kar­zer in the streets of the Old Town. The Heidel­berg Theatre, (or Heidel­berg Theatre and Orches­tra) has seve­ral venues in the Old Town and beyond. In addi­tion to drama, the theatre also offers con­certs, music theatre, theatre for child­ren and young people and its own dance section.

Con­clu­sion

So if you are in Heidel­berg for a visit, you will defi­ni­tely not get bored. If you visit Heidel­berg for the first time, the most famous sights should defi­ni­tely be visi­ted, and a visit to the theatre can also be a recom­men­da­tion for visi­tors who are inte­res­ted in theatre.