Heidelberg

Begun in the 13th century and expanded by successive Prince Electors of the Palatinate into a grand Renaissance residence, the castle was gutted by French troops in 1689 and 1693 during the Nine Years' War and further damaged by a lightning-sparked fire in 1764 — after which it was left as a picturesque ruin rather than rebuilt, and became an icon of German Romanticism (Goethe and Mark Twain both wrote admiringly of it). The palace ticket covers the courtyard, the ornate Friedrichsbau and Ottheinrichsbau facades, the cellar's Great Barrel (Großes Fass) — an enormous 18th-century wine cask that once held over 220,000 litres and doubles as a small dance floor on top — and the German Apothecary Museum inside. Viewing the historic interior rooms themselves is only possible on a guided tour (additional fee, German-language, English tours available seasonally).

Palace ticket (grounds, courtyard, Great Barrel, funicular, Apothecary Museum): adult €11, reduced €5.50. Guided interior tour: +€6 adult / +€3 reduced.

Opened in 1890 (lower section) and 1907 (upper section) and still running on largely original track, the Bergbahn climbs from the Kornmarkt station in two stages: first up to the castle (Schloss), then a separate historic cable car continues from Molkenkur further up to the Königstuhl summit at 568m, one of the highest points overlooking the Neckar valley. The lower castle segment is included in the palace admission ticket; riding all the way to Königstuhl requires the separate, pricier all-line ticket.

Castle segment included in the palace ticket (€11 adult / €5.50 reduced); full line to Königstuhl summit: adult €11, reduced €5.50 return (separate from the palace ticket if not combined)

Nine stone arches carry the Alte Brücke — officially the Karl-Theodor-Brücke, after the Prince Elector who had this, the ninth bridge on the site, built in 1786-88 after floods and ice repeatedly destroyed earlier wooden and stone crossings. The Baroque bridge gate (Brückentor) with its twin pointed towers still stands on the Altstadt side. Walking out to mid-span delivers one of Heidelberg's defining views back toward the castle rising above the Altstadt rooftops, and it's the direct route across to the base of the Philosophers' Walk.

Free

A stone monkey stood at this spot on the bridgehead as far back as the late Middle Ages, originally a mocking gesture aimed across the river — legend holds it once bared its backside toward the rival Archbishopric of Mainz to signal that Kurmainz's authority stopped here. The current bronze version, sculpted by Gernot Rumpf and installed in 1979, holds up a mirror (touch it for luck and prosperity, tradition says) and has a hollow head just the right size for a photo. Rumpf surrounded it with small bronze mice and other figures worth spotting at the base.

Free

Running dead straight for roughly 1.6 kilometres from Bismarckplatz to the Karlstor gate, the Hauptstraße is regularly cited as one of the longest continuous pedestrian shopping streets in Europe. It strings together most of the Altstadt's landmarks — the university quarter, Marktplatz and Heiliggeistkirche, and the Kurpfälzisches Museum — behind facades ranging from Baroque townhouses to student pubs and international chain stores, and doubles as the natural spine for walking the entire old town on foot.

Free (individual shops keep their own hours)

The historic heart of the Altstadt since medieval times, Marktplatz has been a marketplace, execution site and public gathering point across the centuries — a plaque marks where a small witch trial memorial stands as a reminder of that darker history. Today it's framed by the Heiliggeistkirche and the 18th-century Rathaus (town hall), lined with cafes, and hosts a produce and flower market on Wednesday and Saturday mornings; in December it becomes one of the anchor squares of the Christmas market.

Free

Built from 1398 as the burial church of the Palatinate Electors and later used simultaneously by both Catholic and Protestant congregations (a wall once physically divided the nave — a compromise of the confessional conflicts that shaped the city), the Heiliggeistkirche dominates Marktplatz with its late-Gothic tower and distinctive red sandstone. Small shops and stalls have been built into the buttresses along its outer walls since medieval times, a quirky detail that survives today. Climbing the roughly 200 steps of the tower rewards visitors with sweeping views over the Altstadt rooftops to the castle and river.

Church nave: free. Tower climb: approx. €2–3 per person (cash, pay at the tower entrance).

Built from 1712 to 1759 after the Palatinate reverted to Catholic rule and the Elector invited the Jesuits to re-establish a Catholic presence in this staunchly Protestant university town, the Jesuitenkirche is one of the largest Baroque churches in the region, with its neo-Baroque tower only added in 1868-72. A small church-treasury museum in the crypt (Kirchenschatzmuseum) displays liturgical art and vestments.

Church: free. Kirchenschatzmuseum: small admission fee (a few euros).

Built in the 1770s-80s and dedicated to Elector Karl Theodor by the citizens of Heidelberg in gratitude for his rebuilding efforts after the city's near-destruction in the wars of the late 1600s, the Karlstor is a freestanding triumphal arch rather than a functional fortification — a piece of civic flattery in stone, complete with obelisks and a relief of the Elector. It marks the eastern end of Hauptstraße, at the base of the hill leading up toward the Philosophers' Walk side of the valley.

Free

Created in 1898 where the old town walls once stood, Bismarckplatz has been Heidelberg's central meeting point and transport hub for well over a century — trams and buses converge here, and it's the natural starting point for walking the length of Hauptstraße toward the castle. Not a sightseeing destination in itself, but a useful orientation landmark and, each December, the westernmost anchor of the Christmas market.

Free

Heidelberg University was founded in 1386, making it the oldest university in what is now Germany and one of the oldest in Europe still operating continuously. This building on Universitätsplatz, completed in 1712-18, now houses the Universitätsmuseum tracing the institution's 600-plus-year history (rectors, notable alumni, and the university's role through German history including its Nazi-era low points), and the Alte Aula, a richly decorated 19th-century assembly hall still used for ceremonies. A combined ticket also covers the Studentenkarzer (student prison) a short walk away.

Combined ticket (University Museum, Alte Aula, Student Prison): adult €3, reduced €2.50

From 1778 until 1914, Heidelberg's own student court sentenced students to short jail terms here for offenses like drunken disorder, duels or minor pranks — a privilege of the university's historic self-jurisdiction that shielded students from the regular civil justice system. Rather than deterring bad behavior, a stint in the Karzer became something of a badge of honor: the walls and ceilings of the tiny cells are covered floor to ceiling in ink drawings, silhouette portraits, sooty candle-smoke caricatures and fraternity crests left by generations of student inmates, making it one of the more genuinely atmospheric small museums in Germany.

Included with the Old University combined ticket (adult €3, reduced €2.50)

Housed in an 18th-century Baroque palace on Hauptstraße, the Kurpfälzisches (Electoral Palatinate) Museum covers the region's history from prehistory — including a cast of the roughly 600,000-year-old 'Heidelberg Man' (Homo heidelbergensis) jawbone found nearby, the oldest human fossil found in Europe at the time of its 1907 discovery — through Roman-era finds, medieval and Renaissance art, and a notable collection of Rhineland Baroque and 19th-century paintings, including Tilman Riemenschneider's carved 'Windsheim Twelve Apostles' altar.

Adult €7, reduced €5, free for under-16s; reduced to approx. €1.80 on Sundays/holidays

Founded in 1933 and set in leafy grounds along the river just west of the Altstadt, Zoo Heidelberg is home to around 100 species including Asian elephants, snow leopards, orangutans and a walk-through tropical house, plus a dedicated children's play area and petting zoo section. It's smaller and easier to cover in a couple of hours than the big-city zoos in Frankfurt or Cologne, making it a manageable half-day add-on rather than a full-day commitment.

Adult approx. €15.50, reduced/child (4-17) approx. €9.50 — check the website, as prices are adjusted periodically

Commissioned around 1616 by Elector Friedrich V for his bride Elizabeth Stuart, the Hortus Palatinus was designed by Salomon de Caus as an ambitious terraced garden of grottoes, statues and water features — construction was cut short by the outbreak of the Thirty Years' War in 1618 and the garden was later damaged along with the castle. What remains today is a quieter, tree-lined series of terraces and the Elisabethentor gate (said to have been built overnight as a birthday surprise), with some of the best panoramic views over the Altstadt rooftops and the Neckar below, especially from the Scheffelterrasse.

Free (included in castle grounds access)

The summit above the castle, reached via the upper section of the historic Bergbahn from Molkenkur, offers forest walking trails, a 19th-century viewing tower (Bismarckturm/Königstuhl tower), a small wildlife park (Tiergehege Königstuhl) with deer and wild boar, and on very clear days views stretching to the Rhine plain and beyond. It's a quieter, greener contrast to the crowds around the castle itself, and a good option if you want more time on the funicular and a proper hillside walk rather than just the castle terrace.

Included in the full-line Bergbahn ticket to Königstuhl (adult €11 / reduced €5.50 return); the wildlife enclosure and forest trails themselves are free

Climbing the lower slope of the Heiligenberg on the river's north bank, this path takes its name from the university scholars and writers — including, tradition holds, philosophers among them — who favored it for contemplative walks with the Altstadt spread out below. A gentle, sheltered microclimate lets Mediterranean plantings (fig, almond, even some palm) thrive on the terraced slopes alongside vineyard remnants. The wider terrace partway up, the Philosophenhöhe, is the classic spot for the postcard view: the Altstadt roofline, the Alte Brücke, and the castle above it all in one frame — arguably the best single viewpoint in the city, and free.

Free

A broad grassy strip running for roughly two kilometres along the north bank of the Neckar opposite the Altstadt, the Neckarwiese is where Heidelberg actually relaxes — students and families spread out with picnics, frisbees and paddling boards on warm afternoons, with the castle and Altstadt skyline as a backdrop across the water. It's an easy, unstructured counterweight to a day of castle-and-church sightseeing, and a good spot to pick up a takeaway coffee or ice cream and just sit for a while.

Free

The Heiligenberg ("Holy Mountain") has drawn worship for far longer than Heidelberg itself has existed — archaeological evidence points to Celtic and then Roman religious use on the summit before Benedictine monks formally founded St. Michael's Monastery here in 1023, building it over the older foundations. A bell-tower collapse killed three monks in 1503 and the monastery was later abandoned, leaving atmospheric ruins today, including one tower still standing over 10m tall with views over the Neckar valley. A short walk away on the same ridge stands the Thingstätte, a very different kind of ruin: an open-air amphitheater built in 1935 under the Nazi regime for propaganda rallies and solstice festivals, engineered with remarkable acoustics that carry a voice from the stage almost 200m to the back rows. Rather than being demolished after the war, it has been reclaimed for ordinary cultural use and today hosts concerts and community events, standing as an uneasy but preserved piece of the same hillside's history. Both sites are reached via a roughly 40-60 minute uphill walk continuing from the end of the Philosophenweg, through forest paths shared with hikers headed toward Königstuhl.

Free