Heidelberg Castle & Old Town Tour from Frankfurt

Heidelberg Castle

For five centuries Heidelberg Castle was the residence of the Electors Palatine, among the most powerful princes of the Holy Roman Empire. Destroyed by French troops in the late seventeenth century and struck by lightning in 1764, it was never fully rebuilt, and its red sandstone ruins became a symbol of German Romanticism.

In the large courtyard you see the Renaissance façades of the Ottheinrich Building and the Friedrich Building, decorated with larger-than-life statues of rulers. From the great terrace you get the classic view of the old town roofs, the river and the Old Bridge. A Heidelberg Castle tour usually takes about an hour and a half.

The Great Barrel and the castle cellars

In the cellar vaults of the castle lies the Great Barrel, or Heidelberger Fass, built in 1751 and one of the largest wooden barrels ever made. It is so huge that a dance floor was built on top of it, reached by a wooden staircase. Next to it stands a statue of Perkeo, the court jester who, legend says, was its keeper.

Seeing the barrel is included in your ticket, together with the German Pharmacy Museum in the Ottheinrich Building, which shows old apothecary rooms and instruments. If you are wondering how to get to Heidelberg Castle from the old town, a funicular climbs from the Kornmarkt, or you can walk up in about 15 minutes.

The old town and Hauptstraße

Below the castle, the old town stretches along the Neckar with baroque houses, church towers and student squares. Heidelberg University, founded in 1386, is the oldest in Germany, and the Old University building and the Student Jail, where rowdy students were once locked up, recall its long history.

Your guide leads you through the crooked lanes to the Marktplatz, dominated by the Church of the Holy Spirit, and past the House of the Knight, a Renaissance mansion from 1592 that survived the wars. Hauptstraße, one of Europe's longest pedestrian streets, is perfect for a stroll after the tour. The best time to visit Heidelberg is spring or autumn.

The Old Bridge and the Bridge Gate

The Old Bridge, officially the Karl Theodor Bridge, was built in stone in 1788 and has become the most photographed spot in Heidelberg. At the town end stands the Bridge Gate with its white towers and baroque helmets, and nearby sits the bronze Bridge Monkey, holding a mirror, a favourite photo stop.

From the middle of the bridge you have the famous view of the castle above the old town, the scene painted by artists such as Turner. Across the river, the Philosophers' Walk climbs the hillside with even wider panoramas. A day trip to Heidelberg from Frankfurt is short, but this view alone makes it worthwhile.