Please post your impressions.

I liked Heidelberg very much! I found the ruins of the castle to be very evocative (especially at sunset) and I enjoyed walking the Philosopher's Path - it was scenic and peaceful. I also enjoyed a short boat ride to Neckersteinach and back - it was a relaxing ride, and it was interesting to see some of the castles there. Hope that helps!

Hedielberg to me is one of the very nicest cities in Europe - visually and intellectually with its large university. The castle of your dreams hovering over it and a mellow river running thru it.

True or not i've been told that the americans didn't bomb Heidelberg during the war because they planned to make it their post-war HQ which they did. Thus for whatever reason it was bombed much it's the rare German city of its size to be genuinely old...not Ersatz old like so many.
A Wunderbar place to me.

I did. The castle is very imposing over the city. The tower parcially collapsed gives it a lot of charme. The area has very good pedestrian trails.

I'm living in Stuttgart and have taken two day trips to Heidelberg. It is the one place I've been after 18 months in Germany where I felt like I heard more English on the streets than German...in a nutshell, it is thronged with American tourists. That was a bit of a negative for me. We had a terrible time trying to find seats for dinner on a Saturday evening in April - that's never happened to me anywhere else! But it is a beautiful town, with a beautiful bridge, a great shopping district, and an interesting castle (and I always like castles ). Standing on the ramparts overlooking the city listening to the bells ring at 6 pm was very special. Our guide at the castle had a nice sense of humor (even though you got the sense he'd told the same jokes a thousand times) and seemed genuinely pleased when I spoke to him in German at the end of the tour.

I haven't gotten to climb the Philosopher's Way yet but I hear it's very nice.

Yeh it's not the place to get away from Americans...

not only do many young Yanks do study abroad here but there are still extensive American military bases in the vicinity of town guaranteeing a permanent Yank presence

It's a nice enough city, but didn't live up to my expectations.

I visited Heidelberg after reading Mark Twain's book "A Tramp Abroad" and had some overly unfair romantic expectations of the place.

It probably wouldn't make my top 20 list of cities to visit in Germany.

Fair enough. What cities of your top 20 are in Rheinland-Pfalz or Nordrhein-Westfalen?

<i>Danke sch&ouml;n.</i>

Let's see....

Cologne would make my list. Koblenz and vicinity as well.

A couple of places I would like to visit in the future would be Trier and Munster.

In all fairness, I visited Heidelberg in the winter. It might be more magical in the spring/summer/fall.

Kewl! We're staying in Bonn, and plan several forays to K&ouml;ln, as well as day trips to Aachen, D&uuml;sseldorf, Neanderthal*, Wuppertal, Koblenz (middle Rhine) and Trier.

We're going in late winter/early spring, so we'll see how magical Heidelberg can be with freezing drizzle on the sights. Thanks to all!

* It's actually a &quot;station&quot; on the DB site.

Yes, I like Heidelberg.

I've been there twice, both for work but with a bit of tourism squeezed in on the edges (largely arranged by my local hosts). The castle is cool, and I enjoyed the Apothecary Museum that's there as well.

The Heiliggeistkirche (almost certainly spelled incorrectly; it's the church in the main square) hosts very nice concerts and recitals, including some organ music. I managed to attend one on each of my visits.

The pedestrian walking/shopping areas are pleasant, with a nice mix of locals and visitors. There were actually many more French and Japanese tourists than American (or otherwise anglophone) on both of my visits.

The Neckar is a lovely river, with the old bridge across (which I'm assuming is no longer under renovation, but I could be wrong) and the busy locks (which I confess to enjoying more than an adult probably should).

Some of our favorite places are in NR-W...Detmold (the Freilichtmuseum there is gorgeous, a wonderful place to spend a day outdoors and way off the usual tourist radar...finish with a free concert back in Detmold given by the talented students at the city's highly regarded music college), Muenster, Hattingen, Dusseldorf. We loved living in the region and visit it several times a year.

The Lahn Valley going up from near Koblenz should not be overlooked. Trains snake up it if you don't have a car. Of several pretty towns Limburg seems to make a great stop off. Very pretty valley.

Therese, your spelling is perfect!

My opinion on Heidelberg - well, it would be more beautiful without those hordes of tourists. Still I do not really get why it's on the schedule of every See-Europe-in-10-Days-rat-race tour group. When it comes to old university towns, Marburg or T&uuml;bingen are at least as romantic as Heidelberg, if not more, not overrun by crowds, and both of them have historical centers without much WWII destruction, rivers and palaces, too. Heidelberg palace is mostly in ruins, and there are more beautiful buildings elsewhere.

And the Neckar Valley, over which plies the Castle Road bus to Rothenburg from Heidelberg is also one of the nicest river valleys in Germany...studded with dreamy towns and mainly ruined castles.

I was lucky enough to live in Heidelberg while I was in high school, Mom was a civilian working for DOD. I graduated from Heidelberg Schloss! Beautiful city, I loved living there.

The OP passed away some years ago, as did the last contributor before you.

RIP PalenQ and Robespierre