A Day in Heidelberg

Last spring on my trip to Frankfurt we spent a day in Heidelberg. I found out that I would be going there a few months before my trip. I never heard of the city, so I immediately googled it. I looked at all the pretty pictures of the streets and the castle. As I looked at more pictures I became more excited. After research I discovered that is was in the Baden-Württemberg state, which is the state my German friend, Zoe, was from. I asked her what she knew about the city because I would be going there. She was so excited that I would be going there. She told me that she goes there for New Years every year to visit a family friend and that I need to try her favorite frozen yogurt place. We bonded over Heidelberg and I couldn’t wait to tell her about it when I got.

A few months later I was in Frankfurt. Frankfurt is in the Hesse state and Heidelberg is in the Baden-Württemberg state. The two states are right next to each other so the drive from Frankfurt to there was only about an hour. It was a beautiful drive. I wish is was longer, because I was in love with the German countryside. I put in my earbuds and listened to Castle on the Hill the whole time. The drive was full of rolling hills, little German villages, occasional old churches and castles, and cute little German cars. The unique thing about Heidelberg is that once you reach Heidelberg, you know you are in Heidelberg, because the hills split into a valley where the river run through them and perched on a hill is the old castle. I actually felt like I was in a German fairytale and it only got more magical from there. Our first stop in Heidelberg was Philosophenweg, which translates to Philosophers Way. It supposedly is where a lot of Philosophers came to think. It starts with a walk up a road until you reach a magical staircase.

We had no idea where the stairs would lead, but we took them. Then we ended up in the perfect picture spot. The whole city stretched before us. We could see the old bridge, the rolling river, the vast hills, and the brick castle.

After some pictures and a moment to just breathe and enjoy the scenery we had to decide on a path. There were many paths. We decided on one, but we had no idea where it would take us. I am so glad that we took this path though. It was full of stone walls covered in vines and old stairs.

I felt like a princess at this moment. I pretended that this was the secret passage of my castle and that it would lead to my one true love. Sadly it didn’t, but it did lead me to the beautiful streets of Heidelberg. We came out to a little trail that gave us an amazing view of the old bridge.

We walked along the river for awhile taking in the smell of the water brought in by the wind. We found our way to the streets of the city. We walked around a bit until we found somewhere for lunch. Here I had real German Käsespätzle.

It was so good. I don’t even have the words to explain how it tasted. It was like Mac&Cheese, but better. It was heaven. I was in a cute German town eating noodles covered in cheese and onions. It literally couldn’t get better than that. After lunch we decided to head to the castle. To get there we had to walk through downtown. This is honestly my favorite part about being in a European city. I love walking through the city center of European cities looking at the old architecture, peeking through the windows of little shops, and enjoying the smell of traditional food filling the air.

Heidelberg is a beautiful city. I could have walked around it all day, but I also really wanted to go to the castle, so to the castle we went. We had to take a funicular up to the castle. It was cool to look out as the ground below us disappeared. We were put on a car with a family from Mexico. This was fun, because I was able to test out my Spanish skills as they spoke. One word I remember them saying was “Castillo” which means castle. I smiled at them as they spoke their native language. I was really enjoying it. Eventually the ride came to an end and we were at the castle. Before going into the castle we stopped for a coffee break, because Germans need a coffee break at least once during the afternoon. Then we walked over to the castle, where we were greeted by amazing views.

Then we walked inside and again I felt like a princess. I could just imagine myself running through the courtyard in a 17th century gown.

Once we were inside we explored the pharmacy museum, which was actually kind of interesting. I didn’t understand much, because it was in German, but I enjoyed looking at all the old medicine. I actually bought an incense dish from the gift shop. Then we went inside another part of the castle and saw the biggest wine barrel to exist.

You could actually walk on top of it. It didn’t mean much to me to see it, but atleast I can say that I saw the biggest wine barrel in the world. After this we explored the castle a little more and found ourselves on the other side of the castle with more beautiful views of the city.

We took in the fact that we were in a beautiful castle looking out over an old historic city. After we decided to get frozen yogurt from the place my friend recommended. Of course I got milka chocolate on top of mine. I’m in Germany, why wouldn’t I.

The yogurt was refreshing and a nice treat after walking all day. Then from there we decided that our last stop of the day would be the bridge. Again I felt like I was in a fairytale as I walked across the vacant 18th century bridge.

The experience was enhanced by the musician playing his handcrafted pan instrument. I really didn’t want to leave the city, but I knew there were so many other places I needed to explore, so I had to leave.

Heidelberg is one of my favorite German cities. When planning a trip to Germany, you should definitely include Heidelberg. It is a mix of new and old and it will make you feel like the main character of a German fairytale and who wouldn’t want to live their own fairytale.