Heidelberg is one of the most charming towns in Germany. If you ever visit the country, make sure to book a day in Heidelberg to admire its beauty. We spent two days there and I'm sure that one day we will come back.
It was a sunny weekend, so we spent most of our time there outside. There are plenty of streets to discover, countless restaurants and bars, many museums, and last but not least one of the most romantic castle ruins that I have ever visited.
Heidelberg is situated in a valley surrounded by hills, so if you want to enjoy views of the town be ready for some hiking. There is also a funicular to make it easier for you if you don't feel like walking.
Today, I will take you through the streets of Heidelberg, and we will admire narrow alleys, colourful houses and much more!
The Central square also known as The Market square (Marktplatz) is busy from early in the morning until very late at night. There are plenty of tables around the square belonging to the restaurants surrounding it. We have tried several times but we didn't find a free one. Luckily, there are enough other places in the town 🙂
The square is a starting point to many trails and also a useful meeting point as you cannot miss it.
The square is dominated by The Church of the Holy Spirit which was constructed in the 14th century. It is a massive Gothic construction with very impressive exterior.
We visited Heidelberg during the town's festival and this tiny square hidden behind the buildings of the main street changed to a music stage in the evening.
During the day it was a favourite spot of many pigeons who were sitting on top of it and drinking water. We also saw a funny fight when one pigeon pushed another one off the fountain which forgot for a moment that it can fly and almost fell in the water.
There are a couple of long streets in the old town, so it's easy to navigate. Heidelberg is not like other old town with maze of small streets where you can get lost easily. Here, you can find your way to one of the long streets quickly.
Heidelberg is one of the most visited cities in Germany, and let me tell you that we could feel it. There were so many people and at times we were walking in a long queue of tourists. It took me some time to get this photo with people a bit further away from us.
I was surprised to see so many churches here. Usually, churches are built somewhere at a square, but here many of them are added to the architecture of streets and you can easily miss them if you don't look for church towers. Here we can see The Church of Providence which is one of the younger churches built only in the 19th century.
Right next to the main street was another long street which was so different that it could be in an another city. There were no shops or people there, but we enjoyed walking there as it was quiet.
Heidelberg is surrounded by hills that we could see when we walked through the side streets...
We attended the mass on Sunday in The Church of St. Anna. It was once in a lifetime experience as it was a traditional Latin service that it's not usually celebrated these days. Let me tell you that once in my life was really enough as I didn't understand a word and it took almost 2 hours!
After the mass we ordered some drinks as it was way too hot in the church and we were thirsty, and then we continued our walk.
We came across a monument dedicated to Karl Gottfried Nadler, a German dialect poet who was born in Heidelberg.
There was not much of the street art, but I liked this mural very much. The facial expression of this boy shows so much love for his dog. I'm sure I look the same when I play with my mom's dog 🙂
We also walked through The Old Bridge over the river Neckar which was completed 250 years ago. We didn't spend much time there as it was right next to the rock music stage and we didn't enjoy the music that much. It was also super crowded, so we wanted to go away as soon as possible.
In the middle of the bridge is the statue of Prince Elector Carl Theodor who had the bridge built.
From the bridge we walked to a smaller square to admire the castle ruins on top of the hills.
Let us admire some architectural detail on the buildings before heading back to the hotel.
I find that when you look up you always find something interesting. Here we can see a guy drinking beer...
There were statues placed on many buildings...
We saw some coat of arms too...
There were some intricate facades...
As well as many flowers...
And jungle...
Even some faces...
And another church! This is a Jesuit church dating back to the 18th century. It reminded me of church that I saw in Portugal or Italy. Interior is rather simple, but its exterior is beautiful.
The Kurpfälzisches Museum caught my attention with its bright colour. We didn't go inside as we were in a hurry, but we entered the courtyard where we found a fancy Italian restaurant. It was fully booked for the evening, but we will try again when we go to Heidelberg next time.
Thank you for walking with me 🙂
See you next time!