messy1

Greetings,

My wife & I are going to Germany in 10 days for a spur of the moment business trip to the Koblenz/Karlsruhe region. We will have 2.5 days(Friday midday to Sunday evening)to see some of that area. Have a hotel reservation made for the weekend in Heidelberg at the Hotel Garni Kurpfalzhof and have to be in Karlsruhe on Monday morning for more business meetings. Wife has never been to Europe, & we are celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, so I want those couple of days to be fun & special for her. I would love to have some suggestions on day trips that we could take from Heidelberg that might include castles or other unique architecture, local culture, etc. My wife is an avid photographer so the more picturesque, the better. Of course, we also love good food & wine/beer & don't mind walking a lot. ☺ We both work long hours and don't have a lot of time to read the many discussions on this site for ideas. So, I'm hoping someone will take pity & help me with some ideas. Thanks in advance for your time!

kja

Cruise down the Neckar, with stops to see ruined castles + (or not)

Heidelberg itself - the castle, Philosphers' Way, etc.

Happy Anniversary!

quokka

Two places she will surely love:

The little old town of Ladenburg, 15 minutes from Heidelberg: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f86bd/aa6e/

Schwetzingen palace and gardens, also in close vicinity: http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/f86bd/4bcc/

(The links lead to my pages over on Virtualtourist.)

weber6560

Drive along the Neckar down to Bad Wimpfen, an interesting and picturesque place. Head back via the main roads.

wanderfrau

Quokka's got the right idea.

longhorn55

Rothenburg o.d. Tauber is less than 2 hours from Heidelberg. Yes, it can be a bit touristy, but it's also possible to find places away from the tourists. And it's certainly picturesque. If you can arrange to stay overnight, Rothenberg is even better once the day-trippers leave.

messy1

Thanks so much, you guys-I appreciate all of the ideas and the time you took to answer!

Quokka-my wife & I had actually already looked at your links. How coincidental that you would answer! We hope to spend some time in both of those places.

I appreciate everyones input & would love to hear any other ideas to help me make my wife's trip a memorable one.