Hiking in Heidelberg

We spent another beautiful weekend exploring one of Germany’s little gems.

On Friday, we met up with our friend, Greg, who graduated from the University of Heidelberg. For over a year now, we’ve talked about taking a trip with him and his wife to Heidelberg so he could show us the town. Unfortunately, Julia was not able to join, but the rest of us were able to make this highly anticipated trip finally happen!

Thanks to Covid, the hotels in Heidelberg were closed, so we ended up staying in Darmstadt, a small city nearby. We found a scrumptious Thai restaurant near the hotel with a lovely patio, where we enjoyed our dinner before setting off to explore the town. There wasn’t much to see, but it was still nice to get out and stretch our legs.

On Saturday morning, we set off for Heidelberg, hoping to beat the afternoon sun and 94-degree heat… our second “over 90s” day of the summer, and we decided to go hiking… #thankyoumothernature

We started our hike at the base of the mountain, across the river from Heidelberg's Altstadt. We followed the Philosophenweg (Philosopher’s Walk), taking a steep, skinny cobblestone path up to the first landing, passing by several little gardens filled with apple trees, pear trees, and vineyards. Reaching our mid-mountain pit stop, we were grateful for the break and excuse to rest while taking in our first scenic view of Heidelberg’s castle and the town itself. Once rested, we set off again, this time on a nature trail, canopied by trees, providing some much appreciated shade. We climbed up, up, and up a little more, stopping at our second destination, St. Stephan’s Monastery. The monastery was built in 1090, and although most of it is now ruins, one tower remains and provides another spectacular view of the city and Neckar river.

Our third stop was a little further up, but well worth the climb! We arrived at Thingstätte, a Nazi-era, open-air amphitheater built in 1935, that was originally used for propaganda events. We entered from the bottom, popped out on stage, and were greeted by a local serenading anyone who cared to listen. He had his guitar and amp out and was playing old tunes. We pulled up a seat and listened to a couple of songs before climbing the amphitheater steps and making our way to the Monastery of St. Michael. The first church there was built in 870, and the monastery itself was erected in 1023. #theseareoldruins

While hiking around the Black Forest, we learned a very important travel tip… if you hike to the top of a mountain in Germany, there will be a beer garden waiting for you. If there’s not a beer garden there, then you hiked the wrong trail. So, of course, at the top of this mountain, there was a beer garden waiting for us, and just like any good hike over here, we rewarded ourselves with a cool beverage before heading back down to the town.

Once down, we crossed back over the Old Bridge and into Altstadt. We found a tasty burger joint for lunch with a seat outside, perfect for people watching. After lunch, we set off to see the churches. There are two main churches in Heidelberg, one for the Protestants, and one for the Catholics. We stopped at the Jesuitenkirche first, and peeked our heads in, but weren’t able to linger because there was a wedding taking place, so instead, we made our way over to the Heiliggeistkirche (aka Church of the Holy Spirit). The Heiliggeistkirche, which is now the Protestant church, frequently changed denominations throughout history. At one point, during the 1700s, it even had a partition barrier erected so that both the Catholics and the Protestants could hold their services there. The partition stayed intact for 230 years, and was eventually removed in 1936. #funfact Because we didn’t get enough climbing in on our morning hike, we decided to take the stairs to the top of the church tower and were rewarded with another beautiful view of the city. The views from a church tower will never get old!

While studying in Heidelberg, Greg was a member of the Burschenschaft Allemannia zu Heidelberg fraternity, which has a house right below the castle, near the city center. After checking out the churches, we made our way to the frat house to freshen up and enjoy a drink out in their private beer garden. Greg gave us a tour of the house, with the highlights being the ballroom, Kneipsaal (fancy dining room), and dungeon, where the swords are stored. We even got to see a private sword-fight!

Once again refreshed, we set off back to town, enjoying a stroll along the river and down to the pier. 

We found a “not too poopy” place to sit and plopped or feet in the cool, refreshing water. 

After sweating all day, we had to resist jumping in!

We eventually pulled our feet out and wandered back to the city, stopping for Indian food and a delicious mango lassi before heading back to Darmstadt where we enjoyed a relaxing evening shooting the breeze and sipping local wine.

We started Sunday off right with brunch at a local cafe before hitting the road. With our only plans for the day being a stop at the Chipotle in Frankfurt (yes... we go there every chance we get…), we decided to take a detour to Mainz, just for fun. Greg is originally from Louisville, Kentucky, and Mainz is one of their sister cities, so since we were so close, we figured why not stop by. There wasn’t much action on a Sunday morning, but we did enjoy a stroll around nonetheless. We wandered through the Altstadt and city center and came across a Nagelsäule, aka an intricate wooden pillar decorated with nails. Pillars like these were put up throughout the German Empire during WWI to raise money for the military, as well as the bereaved and wounded. In return for a donation, people were able to cut a nail into the decorated wooden pillar. It’s now an intricate and unique work of art.

From Mainz, we made our way to Frankfurt and a delicious stop at Chipotle. We attempted to find a bathroom to use, but thanks to covid, we struck out four times, and finally decided just to wait for a WC rest area off the autobahn. Instead of the “typical” North American designated men’s and women’s restrooms, there were four individual stainless steal stalls for anyone to use. 

There’s always something new to experience around here!

We ended the weekend’s adventure with a stop at Greg’s to say hi to Julia before hopping on the train and heading home to Düsseldorf, completing yet another fabulous weekend adventure!

Next up Salzburg, Austria… we hope!