A ruined palace, a barrel and a jail for students

Heidelberg's old town is one long street squeezed between the Neckar and the castle hill. Park once at Kornmarkt or Karlsplatz and everything below is on foot or rails.

1. Ride the funicular to the castle

Heidelberg Castle costs €11, and that ticket includes the funicular up and back, the courtyard, the Great Tun and the Apothecary Museum. The ticket desk closes at 17:15. I'd skip the walk up and spend the legs on the terrace.

2. Stand under the Great Tun

The Great Tun was built in 1751, a wine barrel so large it has a dance floor on top. It's in the same ticket, so don't pay twice.

3. Cross the Old Bridge

The Alte Brücke went up in 1786–88 and was rebuilt after 1945. Walk it towards the north bank for the castle in one frame.

4. Climb the Philosophenweg

The Philosophenweg runs along the north slope, named for the professors who walked it. It's the best free view of the old town, and my favourite thing here.

5. Look into the Heiliggeistkirche

The Heiliggeistkirche on the Marktplatz was built in 1400–36 and was one of the few buildings to survive 1693.

6. Read the walls of the student jail

The university's Studentenkarzer held students until 1914, and they covered the walls. The ticket includes the Old Hall and the University Museum.

7. Take the old cars to the Königstuhl

Above Molkenkur, the upper Königstuhlbahn still runs cars about a hundred years old. The return to the top was €16 for an adult from January 2025, not in the castle ticket.

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A chocolate kiss from 1863

1. Buy a Studentenkuss on Haspelgasse

Café Knösel opened in 1863, and the Studentenkuss chocolate was on its menu from the start. It became the polite way to send a message to a student.

2. Get the gift box two doors down

The Heidelberger Studentenkuss shop sits two houses from the original café. That's where I'd buy the ones to take home.

3. Order Maultaschen

Baden-Württemberg's filled pasta squares come in broth or fried with onion. I'd eat them before the castle, not after.

4. Share a Flammkuchen with the wine

Thin, crisp and baked with onions and bacon, it's the Upper Rhine's bar food. Pair it with a glass of Baden wine.

5. Sit down at a student pub

Zum Goldenen Hecht and Café Schafheutle are two old-town names travel writers keep returning to. Go for the room, not a gourmet meal.

Six squares at Christmas, fireworks over the Neckar

1. Plan around 23 November–22 December

The 2026 Christmas market runs on six Altstadt squares, Sunday to Friday 11:00–21:00 and Saturday to 22:00. Kornmarkt and Bismarckplatz stay open until 1 January 2027. P13 sits under the Karlsplatz ice rink, so I'd use the Messplatz.

2. Book 10 July or 4 September 2027

Heidelberg Marketing lists Saturday 10 July and Saturday 4 September 2027 for the castle illumination. In 2026 the fireworks started about 22:20, and the Theodor-Heuss-Brücke shut for them. Watch from the Philosophenweg.

3. Check the Herbst date in spring

The Heidelberger Herbst autumn festival fills the Altstadt; its 2027 date wasn't published when I checked.

Germany's oldest university and a castle the French broke

1. Date the university to 1386

Rupert I founded it in 1386, and it's the oldest university in today's Germany. Two of the sights above, the jail and the Old Hall, are its own.

2. Blame 1689 and 1693 for the ruin

French troops devastated town and castle in 1689 and again in 1693. Almost everything you see in the Altstadt was built after that.

3. Add the lightning of 1764

After makeshift repairs, two lightning strikes in 1764 set the castle on fire. Nobody rebuilt it, and the ruin became the Romantics' favourite view.