Heidelberg Castle and Old Town

Heidelberg is Germany's classic romantic town: a baroque old town along the Neckar river, the country's oldest university, founded in 1386, and above it all the red sandstone ruins of Heidelberg Castle.

A funicular climbs to the castle, where you can see the Renaissance façades and the Heidelberg Tun, an enormous wine barrel in the cellar. Back in town, cross the Old Bridge and climb the Philosophers' Walk on the far bank for the best view of castle and town together.

Heidelberg is about an hour from Frankfurt and makes an easy stop on the way to the Black Forest. The Hauptstrasse, a long pedestrian street, is good for shopping, and the autumn colours on the wooded hills are especially beautiful. Mark Twain, who stayed here in 1878, wrote about the town in A Tramp Abroad.