Day Trip to Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a must-see in Germany. Its charming side streets, natural beauty, and daunting castle make for a great trip, long or short. In all honesty, Heidelberg can be tackled in one day, so we drove there on the autobahn and saw the sites. 

Heidelberg University has a large presence in the city, with almost 40,000 students matriculating here. This population brings a liveliness to the city, which has a vibrant cultural scene, mainly due to them. One of my favorite places to have a cocktail in Heidelberg is Hans in Glück (a chain restaurant) that has a quirky interior and drinks like a hibiscus mojitos (mmmmm). 

Driving can be tricky once you reach the center, so we opted to park a little further out at the Edeka grocery store parking garage that is shared with the Holiday Inn Express - Heidelberg City Centre. We were there for most of the day, and I don't think it was more than 5 euro. 

Once parking, we headed straight to the Schloss (castle). It is open year-round from 8:00-17:30. This time around, I decided not to pay to enter the grounds, since you can view the ramparts and much of the castle from the walk around it, and also enter the "gardens" and the "moat" for free. It is a great walk up to the castle and the views are stunning (especially when the sun is out). 








On advice from a friend, we searched out a restaurant in the main tourist area by the river (Hotel-Restaurant Schnookeloch). However, it was most definitely closed, so we opted for the Korean place next door, as we were starving. I won't recommend this place, since it took 45 minutes for our food to come out as their "system was down." However, it was a fun experience for my sister, who doesn't usually like to try new things. I'll check out Schnookeloch next time, though, as it is apparently a fun college hang-out with some good German food. 





After waiting 20 minutes, they brought out these
One of the free appetizers to the right caused
this face to happen




Mountain Warehouse is an amazing store in Heidelberg with low-cost, quality outdoor clothing and great. I snagged a comfy travel pillow this time. I'll be back. 


After a day of walking around, we snagged ourselves some Starbucks. It was definitely worth it, and the first Starbucks to spell my name correctly. It was a fun trip, and only an hour drive from Kaiserslautern. I highly recommend Heidelberg! 

Location: Heidelberg, Germany

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