Fodor's Expert Review Marktplatz

The Marktplatz is the focal point of the Old Town and a hive of activity when farmers come to sell their wares on Tuesday and Saturday, plus Thursday from April to October. The square itself is ringed by baroque and Renaissance buildings (Nos. 1, 4, 8, and 11) and the Gothic Stiftskirche (Collegiate Church), built as a burial church for the Palatinate counts. Summer concerts take place in the church (Saturday 11:30–noon). Before the concert, you can take a guided tour (Saturday at 10) of the southern tower (187 feet) for a bird's-eye view of the town. The world's largest cast-iron bell—weighing more than 17 tons—hangs in the northern tower. Indoors, see the elaborate tombstones near the choir and the fanciful grotesque figures carved into the baldachins and corbels.