Rethinking Heidleburg....better alternatives? ASAP!
 

Hello Fodorites.
Help is in order ASAP. I am leaving this Saturday, 9/10. My first stops for our trip were going to be 1 night in Mainz and then 2 nights in Heidleburg. We will have a car. We have done the Romantic Rhine before and were looking for something different, while still incorporating castles. Everything I am reading about my first two stops are not very encouraging. We have a 250-350 per night budget. And are heading to Strausbourg as our next stop.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Tina

If you want to look up things, be careful with your spellings - it's Heidelberg not -burg (berg = mountain, burg = fortified castle), and Strassburg in German or Strasbourg in French.

Look at these historically significant and picturesque targets in the region:

~ Speyer (http://www.speyer.de/sv_speyer/en/Tourism/),

~ Worms (http://www.worms.de/de/tourismus/tou...res-in-English)

~ Trier (http://www.trier-info.de)

My suggestion would be to stop the one night in Mainz and then, rather than following the Rhine (with a detour to Heidleberg), make your way south through the Pfalz and follow the Deutsche Weinstrasse through such towns as Bad Dürkheim and Neustadt/Weinstrasse. The Weinstrasse ends at the French border at Wissembourg. From there continue through northern Alsace to Strasbourg.

http://www.german-wineroute.com

I don't know how long you plan to spend in Strasbourg and Alsace, but there are many castle ruins and attractive villages in Alsace along the Route du Vin. Haut-Koenigsbourg is a mediaeval castle that was restored around 1900 as a hunting lodge for Kaiser Wilhelm II and is well worth a visit.

http://www.haut-koenigsbourg.fr/en/

"...looking for something different, while still incorporating castles."

Drive straight to Heidelberg - or thereabouts - for your first night. Visit Schwetzingen, surrounded by Speyer, Heidelberg, and Mannheim. You can skip Heidelberg altogether if you wish. If you want a smaller attractive town for overnight, choose Ladenburg.

http://www.schloss-schwetzingen.de/en/home/

http://gotravelaz.com/wp-content/upl...burg_16156.jpg

Then do some of the Castle Road. Look at Tours 1 & 2 under "Castles and Palaces" at this page:

http://www.burgenstrasse.de/uk/Home.html

Note that some of the castles above are castle-hotels.

Thank you for your very needed quick responses! I am very grateful. I think we will stay way outside heidleberg and visit other places. If you evere need info on San Diego hit me up!