Date of Visit : 20 November 2011
Heidelberg is about 90 minutes from Frankfurt using the regional train system, this makes it a perfect day trip destination from Frankfurt. That is exactly what Christin and I did!
Heidelberg is a charming old town, most famous for it's castle on the mountain. Naturally, that's the first place we visit when we arrived. As mentioned, the castle is built on a mountain, so we have to make our way up the mountain. Thinking that we could save some money, we decided to take the stairs up. It was really tiring, and the worst part was our entrance ticket into the castle actually includes a funicular ride up the mountain! All the climbing for nothing!
The castle has a very interesting history, but I shall not go into it as it'll take a long time. Basically, it was built for the Prince Elector of the region. There were a total of eight Prince Electors in medieval Germany, and they have the power to chose the new King if the old one died. They are pretty important people back then, thus they have nice castles. Anyway, the castle is really beautiful, despite being partially destroyed by the all wars Germany faced throughout history.
We signed ourselves up for a guided tour of the castle, which was rather cheap for a tour. I think it is about EUR3, if I remember correctly. The guide brought us through the fascinating history of the castle, and it is truly amazing that we still get to see it today!
Did you know that Heidelberg is also a medicine town? The town has it's root dug deep in the study of medicine and pharmacy. Presently, Heidelberg has one of the most prestigious medical university in Germany. Everyone who wants to become a doctor in Germany will probably come here to study. Anyway, there is a museum showcasing the medicinal history inside the castle. They also have a medieval chemistry lab inside the museum, which is pretty cool to see how people used to do chemistry back in the old days. The last photo is actually the bunsen burner of their time! Lol.
Another famous attraction in the castle is the world's biggest barrel! It is ENORMOUS, that thing. They used to fill the barrel up with wine that was collected as tax, which was kind of gross as they mixed all kinds of wine together in that barrel. The Prince Elector would then show off to his guest about the barrel and pour them a drink from it. Hmmm.... To visualise the size of the barrel, look at the size of the people in the photos below. There is even a platform for us to stand on top of the barrel.
And this is the Prince Elector who built and owned the barrel, standing proudly in front of his giant barrel.
The old town of Heidelberg is pretty much like Salzburg, in my opinion. It's a small town cramped with tourist shops.
Before we left, we past by this pastry shop which sells schneeball, a kind of biscuit. We bought an original schneeball with only frosting on it. Nothing very special about it, other than it is in the shape of a ball.
All in all, Heidelberg is the perfect getaway from Frankfurt if one gets bored in the city. It is a quiet and charming old town which is really nice and relaxing to just stroll around all day. Furthermore, it's pretty easy to get here, with trains running almost hourly.
Heidelberg is about 90 minutes from Frankfurt using the regional train system, this makes it a perfect day trip destination from Frankfurt. That is exactly what Christin and I did!
Heidelberg is a charming old town, most famous for it's castle on the mountain. Naturally, that's the first place we visit when we arrived. As mentioned, the castle is built on a mountain, so we have to make our way up the mountain. Thinking that we could save some money, we decided to take the stairs up. It was really tiring, and the worst part was our entrance ticket into the castle actually includes a funicular ride up the mountain! All the climbing for nothing!
We signed ourselves up for a guided tour of the castle, which was rather cheap for a tour. I think it is about EUR3, if I remember correctly. The guide brought us through the fascinating history of the castle, and it is truly amazing that we still get to see it today!
Did you know that Heidelberg is also a medicine town? The town has it's root dug deep in the study of medicine and pharmacy. Presently, Heidelberg has one of the most prestigious medical university in Germany. Everyone who wants to become a doctor in Germany will probably come here to study. Anyway, there is a museum showcasing the medicinal history inside the castle. They also have a medieval chemistry lab inside the museum, which is pretty cool to see how people used to do chemistry back in the old days. The last photo is actually the bunsen burner of their time! Lol.
Another famous attraction in the castle is the world's biggest barrel! It is ENORMOUS, that thing. They used to fill the barrel up with wine that was collected as tax, which was kind of gross as they mixed all kinds of wine together in that barrel. The Prince Elector would then show off to his guest about the barrel and pour them a drink from it. Hmmm.... To visualise the size of the barrel, look at the size of the people in the photos below. There is even a platform for us to stand on top of the barrel.
And this is the Prince Elector who built and owned the barrel, standing proudly in front of his giant barrel.
The old town of Heidelberg is pretty much like Salzburg, in my opinion. It's a small town cramped with tourist shops.
Before we left, we past by this pastry shop which sells schneeball, a kind of biscuit. We bought an original schneeball with only frosting on it. Nothing very special about it, other than it is in the shape of a ball.
All in all, Heidelberg is the perfect getaway from Frankfurt if one gets bored in the city. It is a quiet and charming old town which is really nice and relaxing to just stroll around all day. Furthermore, it's pretty easy to get here, with trains running almost hourly.
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