Germany · The Southwest · Travel guide
What two or three days in the city on the Neckar really cost, how you get there from Basel in an hour and a half, and why the castle at 8 am is a different place from the castle at noon.
Photo: Iryna Shapoval / Pexels
Adjust the values to your trip: the calculator updates live (EUR, converted from CHF estimates).
Estimates for orientation, not booking prices. Getting there means train or car from Switzerland, return, per person. Hotels vary strongly by season: current prices are behind the links below.
Money & payment: You pay in euros (EUR). Germany is fonder of cash than Switzerland: bakeries, kiosks and small restaurants often say "cash only", though cards work almost everywhere from about EUR 10. Tip 5 to 10 percent by rounding up and naming the total when you pay. Getting there: By train (DB), car or plane, 1 to 8 hours depending on the destination.
Nine options in three price ranges, each among the best-rated on Booking.com.
Budget
Small, family-run hostel in a side lane of the old town, three minutes from the Marktplatz and the Old Bridge. Dorms and a few double rooms, shared kitchen, living-room atmosphere. For solo travellers and couples on a small budget, the best location in town.
Chain hotel right at the main station with the usual small, clean rooms. Tram into the old town in ten minutes, S-Bahn to Schwetzingen and Speyer on the doorstep. The most practical address for day trips and early trains.
New build in the Bahnstadt behind the main station, rooms plain and well soundproofed, breakfast bookable cheaply on top. No atmosphere, but a fair price, parking and 20 minutes on foot to the old town.
Mid-range
Neoclassical villa right on the Neckar bank next to the Marstall, 20 rooms, quiet despite the old-town location, breakfast in the vaulted cellar. Two minutes from the Old Bridge, ten from the castle. For couples who want to stay central and quiet.
Traditional house right at the gate of the Old Bridge; Goethe supposedly wanted to stay here and was turned away. Small rooms, some with a view of the bridge and the Neckar, restaurant on the ground floor. Location beats comfort.
Larger hotel between the main station and Bismarckplatz with pool, sauna and underground car park. Rooms modern and spacious, old town in 15 minutes on foot. A good choice for families and for anyone arriving by car.
Luxury
The city's grand hotel, family-owned since 1865, on the edge of the old town by Bismarckplatz. Inner garden, rooftop spa, Kurfürstenstube restaurant, old-school service. For anniversaries and for anyone who wants to experience Heidelberg the way it sees itself.
Boutique hotel in a late 19th-century villa on the Neckar bank opposite the old town, furnished by Michele Bönan, suites with a view of the castle and the Old Bridge. Its own boat for river trips, breakfast on the terrace. The finest view in the city, at a price.
An inn since 1472, once the duelling venue of the student fraternities, today a suite hotel at the foot of the Philosophers' Walk. The Le Gourmet restaurant is among the best in the region, the Mensurstube is the historic alternative. Quiet, green, ten minutes on foot to the Old Bridge.
If you book through these links we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
The castle courtyard with funicular costs CHF 10 (about EUR 11), the interior tour CHF 6 extra and takes an hour. Go before 10 am or after 4 pm; in between, courtyard and barrel belong to the coach parties. With the Pharmacy Museum and the garden, allow two to three hours.
Two hours through the Hauptstrasse, Universitätsplatz, the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Studentenkarzer, the student prison where students were locked up until 1914 for disturbing the peace and painted the walls. Guided from CHF 15, on your own the Karzer costs CHF 4.
Free and the best view of castle and old town: up the steep Schlangenweg from the Old Bridge in 20 minutes, then on to the Thingstätte and St Michael's Monastery on the Heiligenberg in another hour. Go in the morning, then the sun is in the right place.
Two railways one above the other, the upper one from 1907 with wooden carriages, around CHF 15 (about EUR 16) return including the castle courtyard. At the top, the Tinnunculus falconry with flying displays (CHF 8, usually 11 am and 3 pm) and views as far as the Palatinate Forest. Back down on foot in an hour and a half.
With the Weisse Flotte an hour and a half upstream to the town of four castles, CHF 20 (about EUR 21) return, April to October. Out by boat, two-hour castle circuit, back by S-Bahn in 15 minutes. The round trip around the old town for CHF 15 is the short alternative.
Baroque garden with mosque, bathhouse and rococo theatre, 15 minutes by S-Bahn, admission CHF 8 (about EUR 9) in summer, palace tour CHF 6 extra. Two to three hours, in the asparagus spring with lunch on the Schlossplatz half a day.
The largest Romanesque cathedral in the world is free, the imperial crypt and tower cost CHF 8 (about EUR 9), the Jewish courtyard CHF 4. The Technik Museum with jumbo jet, submarine and Buran space shuttle costs CHF 22 and needs three hours. 45 minutes by S-Bahn, a full day.
The vineyards begin behind the castle: Riesling and Pinot Noir in Schriesheim, Weinheim and Heppenheim, a walk with four to six wines from CHF 30 (about EUR 32), two to three hours. In September and October wine festivals in almost every village, S-Bahn back until midnight.
Around 300 bars and pubs on one square kilometre, student pubs since 1703, brewhouses and the bars of the Untere Strasse. Guided with three to four stops from CHF 30 (about EUR 32), on your own a beer costs CHF 4. Thursday is student night.
If you book through these links we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Heidelberg cooks Palatinate-Electoral style, which means hearty, with influences from the Palatinate across the Rhine and from Swabia to the south: Saumagen, Maultaschen, Dampfnudeln, asparagus in spring, onion tart in autumn. Alongside, wine from the Bergstrasse and beer from two old-town breweries. The best plates are in the student pubs, not in the restaurants on the Marktplatz.
Stuffed pig's stomach: pork, potatoes and marjoram cooked in the casing, sliced and fried, served with sauerkraut and bread. Sounds worse than it tastes; Helmut Kohl served it to visiting heads of state. CHF 14 to 18 (about EUR 15 to 19).
Tip:In the evening from 6 pm, the student pubs are often closed at lunchtime.
Swabian pasta parcels filled with meat, spinach and sausage meat, served in broth or pan-fried with egg and onions. On almost every menu in Heidelberg, a plate CHF 12 to 16 (about EUR 13 to 17).
Tip:Take the fried version with potato salad, not the one in broth.
White asparagus from the sandy soil between Schwetzingen and Hockenheim, April to 24 June, with ham, hollandaise sauce and potatoes. CHF 20 to 26 (about EUR 21 to 28) per plate, a kilo raw at the stall CHF 10 to 14.
Tip:Asparagus with Kratzete (torn pancake) is the Baden version, rare and good.
Steamed yeast dumpling with a crisp salty crust underneath and soft dough on top, with vanilla sauce or wine foam; in the Palatinate also served as a main course with potato soup. CHF 7 to 10 (about EUR 7 to 11).
Tip:Order it as lunch with potato soup, that is the honest Palatinate way and keeps you full all day.
The "student's kiss": nougat on a wafer, coated in dark chocolate, invented in 1863 so that students could give the boarding-school girls a sweet the governesses would not object to. One piece CHF 1.50 (about EUR 2), a box from CHF 8.
Tip:The café is small and full at lunchtime; the chocolate is also sold to take away in the shop next door.
Wafer-thin dough with crème fraîche, bacon and onions from the wood-fired oven, adopted in Heidelberg from nearby Alsace and available in every wine tavern. CHF 10 to 14 (about EUR 11 to 15), enough for one person.
Tip:With a quarter litre of Riesling from the Bergstrasse, not with beer.
Onion tart on yeast dough with onions, bacon and cream, served with fermenting grape must that tastes harmless and is not. September and October, a slice with a glass CHF 8 to 11 (about EUR 9 to 12).
Tip:The new wine keeps fermenting in your stomach, two glasses are enough.
Two breweries brew in the centre: Vetter's with the Vetter 33, one of the strongest beers in the world, and the Kulturbrauerei with Helles and wheat beer in the prettiest beer garden in town. A half litre CHF 4 to 5 (about EUR 4 to 5).
Tip:The Vetter 33 is 10.5 per cent and is served in a small glass, for good reason.
Through markets and eateries with a guide, tastings included.
If you book through these links we earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you.
Heidelberg owes its fame to a mixture of destruction and chance. The town is first mentioned in 1196, and in 1386 Elector Ruprecht I founded the university, the oldest on the territory of present-day Germany. The Counts Palatine of the Rhine, later Electors, kept extending the castle above the Neckar from the 13th into the 17th century, until it was one of the largest Renaissance complexes north of the Alps. Then came the War of the Palatine Succession: in 1689 and 1693 French troops blew up castle and town, lightning struck in 1764, and the Electors moved to Mannheim and Schwetzingen. The ruin stayed standing because nobody had the money to pull it down or rebuild it. That is exactly why visitors come today: around 1800 the Romantics around Eichendorff, Brentano and Hölderlin discovered the overgrown ruin above the river as a symbol of transience, William Turner painted it, and in 1880 Mark Twain wrote page after page about the castle and the students in "A Tramp Abroad". The old town with its baroque houses dates largely from the period after the destruction, built on the medieval street grid. In the Second World War Heidelberg was one of the few large German cities to remain practically undamaged; the US Army set up its European headquarters here and stayed until 2013. The university shapes the city to this day: around 30,000 students among 160,000 residents, plus Max Planck institutes, the German Cancer Research Centre and a density of pubs that has hardly changed since the 19th century. That Heidelberg is not a UNESCO World Heritage Site is down to two rejected applications. The city does not seem to suffer for it: it is among the most visited in Germany, and most visitors stay only four hours. That is your chance.
From Basel SBB the ICE runs direct to Heidelberg, 1 hour 40 minutes without changing, saver fares from CHF 20 (about EUR 21) one way if you book two to three weeks ahead, otherwise CHF 50 to 60. From Zurich you are there in just under 3 hours with a change in Basel, from Bern in 2 hours 45 minutes. The Half Fare Card is only valid to the border, but SBB sells saver tickets through to Heidelberg, so compare both apps. From Germany and Austria: Frankfurt is 50 minutes away, Munich a good 3 hours, Vienna 7 hours with the Railjet to Munich and onwards. By car it is 270 kilometres from Basel on the A5, 2 hours 30 minutes without traffic, more like 3 hours 30 on a Friday afternoon. No tolls, no vignette. Once there you do not need the car: the old town is pedestrianised, multi-storey car parks cost CHF 20 to 25 a day, and the park-and-ride sites on the edge of town are the better choice. From the main station, tram and bus take ten minutes into the old town, single fare CHF 3. The HeidelbergCARD for CHF 22 to 25 bundles two days of public transport, the castle ticket with funicular and discounts, and it pays off from the first day.
The castle courtyard opens at 8 am, the coach parties arrive around 10. In those two hours you have the Altan terrace, the Fassbau and the view over the rooftops almost to yourself. The ticket for CHF 10 (about EUR 11) includes the funicular up from the Kornmarkt, the courtyard, the Great Barrel with its 220,000 litres and the German Pharmacy Museum, which is better than it sounds. You only see the interiors on a guided tour, CHF 6 extra, one hour, worth it in bad weather. The castle garden (Hortus Palatinus) is free and accessible without a ticket, also in the evening when the castle is floodlit. Continue on the historic funicular of 1907 up to the Königstuhl at 568 metres, combined ticket there and back around CHF 15: views across the Rhine plain to the Palatinate Forest, the Tinnunculus falconry with flying displays (CHF 8) and a network of hiking trails back down. The castle illumination with fireworks takes place three times a year, in early June, mid-July and early September, always on a Saturday: hotels are full months ahead on those weekends, and the best spot is free on the Neckarwiese meadow on the north bank or on the Old Bridge, if you arrive an hour early.
Heidelberg has high hotel prices by German standards, because there are few beds and many conferences. A mid-range double room costs CHF 120 to 160 (about EUR 128 to 171), and during trade fairs in Mannheim and Frankfurt even CHF 200 midweek. Three areas come into question. The old town between Bismarckplatz and Karlstor is the prettiest and the loudest: the pubs in the Untere Strasse run until 3 am, so ask for a room facing the courtyard. Neuenheim on the north bank is quiet, well-to-do, with the best view of castle and old town, and over the Old Bridge you are across in ten minutes; this is also where the villas with the expensive rooms stand. Bergheim and the Weststadt around the main station have the chain hotels for CHF 80 to 110, art nouveau facades, 15 minutes on foot to the old town. Price trap: rooms with a "castle view" cost CHF 40 to 80 extra, yet you can see the castle for free from every bridge over the Neckar. Book six to eight weeks ahead for May, June, September and the Christmas market, earlier for the castle illumination Saturdays. In January and February prices drop by a third.
For travellers from Switzerland, Heidelberg is a price shock in the pleasant direction: a beer for CHF 4 (about EUR 4), a lunch plate in a student pub for CHF 12 to 16, cappuccino CHF 3.50, dinner with wine for two CHF 60 to 80. It only gets expensive in two places: in the restaurants right on the Marktplatz and the Kornmarkt, where the menu hangs in six languages, and in the souvenir shops of the Hauptstrasse. The student pubs Zum Roten Ochsen and Zum Seppl in the Hauptstrasse are more than 300 years old, have scribbles from Bismarck to Mark Twain on the walls and are no tourist theatre, just full in the evening. Day trips: the Baden-Württemberg-Ticket for CHF 25 (each additional person CHF 8) is valid for one day on all regional trains and buses, so you get to Schwetzingen, Speyer and Mannheim for less than a single fare. If you are in Germany for a week or longer, take the Deutschlandticket for CHF 55 a month, cancellable monthly. Museums: the Kurpfälzisches Museum costs CHF 3, the Studentenkarzer (student prison) with the university museum CHF 4, and the university library with the facsimile of the Codex Manesse is free. Beware of Neckar cruises with a "castle view dinner": CHF 70 to 90 for a mediocre set menu, while the ordinary round trip costs CHF 15.
Heidelberg lies in the Upper Rhine plain, one of the warmest corners of Germany. In July and August 33 to 36 degrees are normal, the old town traps the heat, and a castle visit at 2 pm becomes an ordeal. The best months are May, June, September and October: 20 to 26 degrees, wine festivals along the Bergstrasse, the Neckar still warm enough for the Neckarwiese. In spring the almond and cherry trees along the Bergstrasse between Weinheim and Heppenheim blossom as early as March, two weeks ahead of Switzerland. The Heidelberger Frühling, a classical music festival in March and April, brings good concerts and full hotels. The Christmas market from late November to 22 December spreads across five squares; the loveliest is the Karlsplatz with the ice rink right beneath the castle, full but bearable on weekday evenings, while on Advent Saturdays the coaches come from all over southern Germany. Basic rule for the whole year: Tuesday to Thursday Heidelberg is half as full as at the weekend. For the Philosophers' Walk go up in the morning before 10 am, via the steep Schlangenweg from the Old Bridge, then the sun is on the castle and you have the benches to yourself.
Three day trips are worth it, all by S-Bahn. Schwetzingen is 15 minutes away: the Electors' palace garden (CHF 8 in summer, CHF 5 in winter, about EUR 9 and EUR 5) is one of the great baroque gardens of Europe, with a mosque, a temple of Apollo and a rococo theatre, 72 hectares, so allow two to three hours. From April to June it is asparagus season, Schwetzingen asparagus is a household name in Germany, the stalls stand on the Schlossplatz, and a plate of asparagus with ham costs CHF 20 to 26. Speyer is 45 minutes away: the Imperial Cathedral of 1061 is the largest surviving Romanesque church in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, admission free, imperial crypt and tower CHF 8. The medieval Jewish courtyard with its mikveh has also been World Heritage since 2021 (CHF 4). The Technik Museum Speyer with a Boeing 747 on stilts and a Russian space shuttle costs CHF 22, children love it, allow half a day. Neckarsteinach, 15 minutes upstream, has four castles on one ridge and a two-hour circular walk; the return trip on a boat of the Weisse Flotte (CHF 12) is the most beautiful way to arrive in Heidelberg. Mannheim, 15 minutes away, is not pretty, but it has the best art gallery in the region (CHF 11) and Turkish food in the Jungbusch quarter that is worth the trip.
Two full days for the city: one day for the castle, Königstuhl and old town, one day for the Philosophers' Walk, Neuenheim and the museums. With Schwetzingen and Speyer it becomes a long weekend of three days. A day trip from Basel is feasible, 1 hour 40 each way, but then you see Heidelberg at exactly its busiest hours and miss the evening in the pubs, which is part of the city.
From Basel direct by ICE in 1 hour 40, saver fare from CHF 20 (about EUR 21) each way, from Zurich in just under 3 hours with a change in Basel. By car from Basel 2 hours 30 on the A5, no tolls. Once there the car is a disadvantage: pedestrian zone, car parks for CHF 20 to 25 a day, and you reach Schwetzingen and Speyer faster by S-Bahn than by car plus the hunt for parking.
May, June, September and October, ideally Tuesday to Thursday. High summer at 35 degrees in the Rhine plain is exhausting, and July and August are also the busiest months. The Christmas market in December is lovely and crowded, January and February are grey, empty and a third cheaper. If you want to see the castle illumination, plan one of the three Saturdays in June, July or September and book the hotel three months ahead.
With a mid-range hotel, two restaurant meals, the castle and public transport, reckon on CHF 130 to 160 (about EUR 139 to 171) per person per day as a couple, travel excluded. On a budget, with a hostel or chain hotel by the station, lunch in a student pub and a picnic on the Neckarwiese, you get by on CHF 70 to 90. That is around a third less than in Zurich or Lucerne at a comparable standard.
It is worth it if you go before 10 am or after 4 pm and take the funicular up to the Königstuhl as well. The ruin is more impressive from inside than from the Philosophers' Walk, and the Pharmacy Museum and the Great Barrel are included in the CHF 10 ticket (about EUR 11). You can skip the CHF 6 interior tour if the sun is shining. The castle garden with the best view is free in any case.
Yes, more so than its reputation as a city of Romantics suggests. The funicular, the falconry on the Königstuhl, the Märchenparadies amusement park next to it and the Technik Museum Speyer with its walk-through jumbo jet fill two days. In summer the Neckarwiese is playground, barbecue spot and bathing meadow in one, free. Restaurants are child-friendly and cheap, and tram and bus are free for children under 6.
What a weekend or a week in the sunniest city in Germany and the low mountains behind it really cost, where the Black Forest is kitsch and where it is magnificent, and why you get from Basel to Freiburg faster than to Zurich.
What a weekend or a week of cycling on the German shore of Lake Constance really costs, which ferry runs when, what shopping in Konstanz still saves you, and why you are in a different price bracket an hour from Zurich.
