It's Summer in Germany but the weather is kinda unpredictable. People are outside as soon as the sun greets warmly.
Picnic by the park or even weekend trip would not hurt.
Luckily, we have the opportunity to have a weekend trip to one of the prettiest city in Germany, Heidelberg. While I was scrolling around to look for weekend trip inspiration, I found this beautiful city and instantly fell in love. It was a 2 hour trip from Cologne (which would be perfect because it won't be too far), easily reached by ICE train. So we booked it!
On the first day we enjoyed the Old town and visited Heidelburg Castle. The Oldtown was quite charming, with its ambiance reminded me of Prague/ Italian vibe. Absolutely loving the atmosphere! We had a quick lunch (and beer of course!) at Vetter's Alt Heidelberg Brauhaus. It was a busy corner but the waiter was really friendly.
The famous bridge, Karl Theodore Bridge or popularly called Die alte Brücke, is located in the middle of Oldtown. I do recommend to spend some time here around the sunset time. The view, with the Heidelberg Castle as the background, is fantastic.
After that we were heading to the Castle. You can walk by stairs or easily ride Gondola to the Castle. As per today the Gondola ticket cost 9 Euro per person (including round trip with Gondola and entry ticket to the castle). We decided to take the Gondola because it was scorching hot.
The view was magnificent from the castle. If it was not because the sun, I'd love to spend more times with the view. Here you could also see the castle ruins, which I think was a beautiful ruin.
Inside the castle there's also biggest wine barrel and Pharmacy's museum. Interesting to stroll around. After spending some time inside the castle we decided to take the stairs to go down, which took 10 minutes with the stairs.
For dinner we tried Thai and we were glad that we tried it. It was such a delightful dinner with friendly staffs. The green curry was quite good, would be perfect if it were more aromatic and thicker soup. But we had no complain with the Padthai and the Duck. When you are in Heidelberg, make sure you try Bay Jok Thai Cuisine.
On the second day we were ready for a short hike. We wanted to explore the other side of Heidelberg. One popular trail is called Philosophenweg / Philosoper's way. You can take a short cut from the Bridge, the turn left, not far there's a small way called Sclangenweg. Be careful because it's quite intricate, ascending, and only 2 stops with seats.
The view from Philosopher's way is really not bad. Best time to enjoy the view is after noon, when the sun shines towards the castle across it. Philosopher's way is not only popular for tourists. Many residents take a hike towards the hiking trail after this way too.
After half day of hiking we stopped to enjoy juice, coffee, and smoothie bowl at Nomad Cafe. Smoothie bowl was thick and sweet, with lotsa fruits, granola on top. Such a perfect refreshment in hot sunny day. At the time of our visit, they only take cards for payment.
On our last night we had dinner at the classic Kulturbrauerei Heidelberg. They also have room for stay here. The classic old building delivers such a cool ambiance with great food. Pork ribs here was super!
Overall it was a great trip. Heidelberg is such a classic romantic city. My favorite moment would be strolling around the brigde and the river, with the magnificent castle as a background. You can also picnic at Neckarweise, by the side of the river.
Heidelberg is absolutely doable in 1 day. But for me 1,5 day until 2 days would be perfect for a laid back trip.
ps: We stayed at Bayricher Hof Heidelberg. The staffs are friendly and the location was great, right in the city center, not far from the main street to the Oldtown (Altstaadt). The room is renovated but unfortunately it was 30 degree Celcius outside and our room was quite hot. So we opened the window during the night and ended up could not really rest well because of the noise from the busy street. So i recommend to stay here in Autumn / Winter, when you won't need to open any windows at night.
We hope you enjoy the read! Would you like to visit Heidelberg someday?
xo,
Je
@jechristy
