Must-see attractions in Heidelberg Region

Towering over the Altstadt, Heidelberg’s ruined Renaissance castle cuts a romantic figure, especially across the Neckar River when illuminated at night…

Begun in 1030 by Emperor Konrad II of the Salian dynasty, this extraordinary Romanesque cathedral has been a Unesco World Heritage Site since 1981. Its…

The hallowed HockenheimRing, 22km southwest of Heidelberg just east of the A6, has three circuits and stands accommodating up to 120,000 fans. It hosts…

Mannheim’s most famous sight is the yellow and red sandstone Schloss, Germany’s largest baroque palace. Now occupied by the University of Mannheim, the…

A block south of the Rathaus, the ‘Jews’ Courtyard’ is one of the most important medieval Jewish sites in Germany: the remains of a Romanesque-style…

The 55m-high, 13th-century Altpörtel, the city’s western gate, is the only remaining part of the town wall. Its clock dates from 1761. Climbing 154 steps…

The enchanting gardens of Schloss Schwetzingen, the grand baroque-style summer residence of Prince-Elector Carl Theodor (1724–1799), are wonderful for a…

At this technology extravaganza, 1km south of the Kaiserdom, you can climb aboard a Lufthansa Boeing 747-230 mounted 20m off the ground (and walk out on…

Worms’ skyline is dominated by the four towers and two domes of the magnificent Wormser Dom, built in the 11th and 12th centuries in the late-Roman…

Founded around AD 760, Lorsch Abbey, in the charming village of Lorsch, was an important religious site in its Carolingian heyday (8th to 10th centuries)…

Inaugurated in 1076, the Old Jewish Cemetery, also known as the Heiliger Sand (‘holy sand’), is one of the oldest Jewish burial grounds in Europe. The…

Established in 1386 by Count Palatinate Ruprecht I, Germany’s oldest and most prestigious university comprises 12 faculties with 30,000 German and…

The city-run Palatinate Museum chronicles Heidelberg’s eventful past, particularly the Roman period – exhibits include original wood beams from a 3rd…

The three-room University Museum, inside the Alte Universität building of Ruprecht-Karls-Universität, has paintings, portraits, documents and photos from…

Exhibits at this treasure-packed museum across from the Kaiserdom include the Goldener Zeremonialhut von Schifferstadt, an ornate gilded hat shaped like a…

For bird’s-eye views, climb the 208 stairs to the top of the tower of Heidelberg's famous church, constructed between 1398 and 1441. It was shared by…

Consecrated in 1717, 200 years to the day after Luther posted his 95 Theses, this harmonious church half a block north of Maximilianstrasse is a superb…

The Nibelungenlied is the ultimate tale of love and hate, treasure and treachery, revenge and death, with a cast including dwarves, dragons and…

Winding past monuments, towers, ruins, a beer garden, and an enormous Thingstätte (amphitheatre) built by the Nazis in 1935, the 2.5km-long Philosophers’…

On Lutherplatz, on the northwest edge of the half-oval-shaped Altstadt, the Luther Memorial honours the Protestant reformer, who refused to recant his…