Upon recommendation from our Heidelberg Castle tour guide, we went directly to the Philosopher’s Walk after visiting the Castle and town to try to catch the Castle at sunset from the Walk.
The Philosopher’s Walk is a well-mainained path that runs from the newer part of town and ends with steep stairs down to the Alte Brücke (or you can turnaround if you are mobility inclined, or just want to avoid the steps!). Our castle tour guide recommended starting the tour in the newer part of town so that we would be looking at the castle the entire walk (and not back at the castle), but we started at the Alte Brücke, because it was closer to the Castle, and ended in the new town, very close to our dinner spot – Dorfschänke!
The stairs near the Alte Brücke are not scary (I hate heights!) or that tough, but it was steep – bring water. At the top of the hill, there are great views of the Castle and the old town. The path is pretty level after the hill and ends in the new part of down after walking by some gorgeous homes.
The Philosopher’s Walk is entirely free. However, it is not worth it at all if it is raining. I would allow at least an hour for the entire Philosopher’s Walk.
Dan and I love beer. And, wherever we go, I always research local breweries for us to visit. There are two in Heidelberg (that I could find): Brauhaus Vetter and Kulturbrauerei. We tried both on a Saturday afternoon.
Our first stop was Brahaus Vetter – home to the world’s once strongest beer, the Vetter 33. Vetter is on the right side (walking toward the bridge) of the main street connecting the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Alt Brücke. It was pretty easy to find. Vetter has an inside bar and seating area and outdoor tables along the street. There is no beer garden per se. We sat inside as all of the outdoor seats were full. Bummer! Vetter served about 4-5 beers on tap and our waitress explained each to us in detail in English. I ordered a half-liter of the Oktoberfest. It was very good, and tasted like an oktoberfest beer should. Dan ordered the Vetter 33, which is not nearly as strong as its made out to be. The Vetter 33 is served in a snifter type glass and is very dark. Dan liked it, but I did not!
We also ordered a round of snacks at Vetter. Dan ordered the “game” sausage and I ordered the fried cheese with cranberry sauce (so predictable). Both dishes were ok. However, the potato salad served with the sausages was execellent! Our waitress was really nice, and even let us take our water glass to go (they charged for all water) as long as we promised to return it, which we did. If you really want to purchase a glass, Vetter sells a variety of glasswear with their logo. I purchased a half-liter stein to take home. Great souvenir.
After Vetter, we walked about seven minutes toward the castle to Kulturbrauerei. Kulturbrauerei is a little more tucked away; it is located down a side street past the castle and the Red Ox Inn. We found it pretty easily, but were using the GPS on my phone…
Kulterbrauerei is attached to a hotel and has a large outdoor beer garden and a large indoor space. Kultur appeared to be having a wedding reception while we were there, so only a few of the outdoor tables were open to the public. I guess we got lucky that any were open! Like Vetter, Kultur had about 4 beers to choose from, but the waitress was not good at explaining them to us. I ended up trying their “seasonal,” which was simply descirbed as “seasonal” and nothing more. We asked. Several times. It ended up being a marzan. The beer was ok, but I really don’t like marzan style beers. I was hoping for another Oktoberfest!
In the end, we spent a fun afternoon at these two breweries. The beer at Vetter was more my style, but I preferred to drink in the beer garden at Kulturbrauerei. I guess you have to try them both!
In addition to these two breweries, the town if full of pubs and beer gardens serving generic beer, localish beer, cokctails and local wine.
Have you been to Heidelberg? What were your favorite beer spots??
Our first stop in Heidelberg was Schloss Heidelberg, or Heidelberg Castle in English! We got really lucky. It was supposed to rain, but when we arrived it was warm and sunny. We went right up to the Castle as soon as we checked in to our hostel, just in case the weather changed. I would recommend doing the same; if rain is forecasted, take advantage of any sun to visit the Castle, as its largely open air.
The Castle is located above the Altstadt, and there are two ways to get up to the castle – walk or take the funicular (an elevator/train that goes up the side of the mountain…err, hill). We opted to walk. The walkway is paved and consists of a series of steps. I had to make a stop on the way up to catch my breath (and I blame the jet-lag/dehydration from the free trans-atlantic vino…), but it wasn’t a bad walk. In reality, the walk is steep and not recommended for the mobility impaired, but it is most certainly doable for able-bodied adults. The finicular costs €6 and includes admission to the castle grounds, so its effectively free. Take your pick!
Walking up!
When you get to the top, you can walk around the outskirts of the castle for free, but to enter into the true castle “grounds” and/or the interior of the castle, you have to buy a ticket. You can purchase the tickets on the spot from the gift shop at the top of the hill.
While the castle is “ruined,” I thought it was in pretty good shape and there is a lot to see! There are two options to see the actual castle – € 6 to walk around the castle grounds (included with funicular ticket) or €10 to take a guided tour of the interior AND walk around the grounds. We decided to take the English tour of the castle, which started at quarter-past every hour. Our main motivation was to see the interior, and this tour is the only way to see the interior of the castle. The tour lasted about an hour. It was good. The guide told a lot of history about the castle. It was also interesting to see some of the interior rooms – they were decorated nicely and it shed some light on the Castle’s history. I would certainly recommend the tour, but I wouldn’t consider it a “must do,” especially if you are short on time or cash. Note – there are no pictures allowed in the castle interior.
After our tour, we went to see the Great Tun, which is the largest wine vat in the world. The Wine Vat was HUGE and it used to be filled with a mixture of different types of local wine – yuck! Note – there are two large wine vats, make sure you make it past the first one to see the really large, old wine vat! There is also a wine bar right next to the Great Tun selling local wine and wine flights at a very low cost. For example, I ordered a local red wine flight for €7. The pours were very heavy and the bar tender explained each type of wine in the flight. She even asked us about our preferences when putting together the wine flight. What a great deal! Craig had a reisling flight, which he enjoyed as well. The wine bar also sold glühwein (a spied wine, served on ice this day, but usually warm) and a souvenir tasting glass (filled with wine for €3), which we all had to have!
We decided to try to make the Philosopher’s Walk around sunset, per our tour guide’s recommendation, so we missed the Apothecary Museum (located in the castle grounds with free admission). When walking out of the Castle, be sure to leave time to take in the great views from the Castle. We must have taken 100 pictures of the town. Such a gorgeous part of Germany!
Some notes – there is a cafe or two on the castle grounds serving snacks/lunch. I recommend taking some water with you to the castle. There is a lot of walking. You do not need reservations for the cafes on site or the wine bar at the Great Tun. It’s all very casual.
Dorfschänke was our first real meal of the Eurotrip2014, and it was so delicious!! It remains a strong contender for best meal of the trip!
The restaurant is located in the new part of town, only a few blocks from where the Philosopher’s Walk ends (or begins…depending on where you start…we started the Philosopher’s Walk at the bridge end and ended just in time for dinner near Dorfschänke).
We did not have a reservation, and we were immediately seated outside at our request. Our waiver spoke perfect English and was very helpful in explaining the menu to us and their specialities. Dorfschänke’s main speciality is Flammkuchen, which is a pizza-type meal that comes in savory and sweet flavors. Yum!
We started with local beers that came from a town about 15 kilometers away. For dinner, Pryor and I split the savory flammkuchen, which was topped with tomatoes, bacon, veggies and cheese – and probably a few other delicious things. It was AMAZING! We also split a local pasta stuffed with cheese. Unfortunately, we did not get a picture. But, believe me, it was also amazing! Dan and Craig ordered the cordon bleu schnitzel and they seemed happy. For dessert, we split the sweet flammkuchen (pictured above).
All in all, this restaurant was so delicious I would recommend it to anyone in Heidelberg!
We dined at Schnitzelbank on our final night in Heidelberg. Schnitzelbank is a small restaurant/wine bar in the Altstadt. It is tiny (but oh so charming), so make a reservation. We called the day of and got their final reservation. The specialty is obviously schnitzel! They have schnitzel in veal, pork, chicken and turkey. I ordered the pork in a mushroom sauce and it was very tasty. I also tried the turkey schnitzel in a dijon sauce, and that was tasty, as well (but also not fried – booooo). Dan ordered the schnitzel cordon bleu. That was fried and delicious; Dan won the dinner game! All of the portions were big and came with some delicious sides.
Schnitzelbank is a also a weinstube (a wine bar) with local wine von fass (on tap!)! Schnitzelbank had an extensive wine list and the waiter – who spoke great English – helped us choose some delicious, local wines! To my lovely surprise, reisling can be dry, and red (who would have known?!), and Germany makes some good, red wines that are not super sweet! If you are in the Heidelberg area, you should definitely check out a weinstube! Wine seemed more important to the people here than beer (a change from Bavaria!), and we were happy to participate in the tradition.
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