Baden-Württemberg · Self-guided walk
Heidelberg in one walk 8 sights, 70 minutes
A self-guided walking tour of the Heidelberg Old Town: 8 sights on one 4.7 km loop, about 70 minutes on foot, back where you started.
No two days to spare? Here is the short version: the big sights in one loop. I would take longer. I always take longer.
At a glance
The walk in numbers.
- Distance
- 4.7 km, a loop
- Time
- about 70 minutes of walking at 4 km/h, plus however long you stop
- Sights
- 8
- Start and finish
- Heidelberger Schloss
- Steps
- on Heidelberger Schloss, Kurzer Buckel
- Cost
- free: no guide, no booking, no tip
The route
Map of the Heidelberg walk: 8 stops, one loop.
The gold line is the walk. The numbers are the stops, in the order you reach them. The pale lines are every other street in the Old Town.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL).
The stops
8 sights in Heidelberg, in walking order.
Each stop says how far the next one is and which streets take you there.
1. Heidelberger Schloss
the start
It sits on the hill above everything, and you will pick it out from half the lanes down here long before you get near it. Nobody ever finished putting it back together: lightning settled that argument, and what stayed is a ruin. Uphill the whole way, no shortcut. Suits me.
Next: Universitätsbibliothek, 1,000 m, about 15 min, along Heidelberger Schloss, Kurzer Buckel, Zwingerstraße, Seminarstraße, Plöck.
2. Universitätsbibliothek
about 15 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Fri 08:30–01:00, Sat–Sun 09:00–01:00
Stop on the pavement and look up before you walk past. There is far more carving on that facade than the job called for, and almost nobody lifts their head far enough to see it. Somebody put a great deal of effort into the upper half of a wall. I approve of the effort and I dispute the placement.
Next: Friedrich-Ebert-Platz, 540 m, about 8 min, along Plöck.
3. Friedrich-Ebert-Platz
about 23 minutes of walking from the start
The man on the sign started life a few lanes east of this spot, up a staircase, in a flat that is still there. It is open to visitors and it costs nothing to go in. So this level carries him twice: an open corner out at the western end, and the flat itself in the old core.
Next: Bismarckplatz, 530 m, about 8 min, along Plöck, Sankt-Anna-Gasse, Bismarckplatz.
4. Bismarckplatz
about 31 minutes of walking from the start
This is the west door of the level. Everything that wants into the Old Town arrives here first, in a hurry, and I never get tired of watching that. From this corner the whole walk runs off east in one straight line.
Next: Providenzkirche, 690 m, about 10 min.
5. Providenzkirche
about 41 minutes of walking from the start
It stands on the busiest lane in the Old Town, and almost everyone walks straight past the door. Beside it lies a green yard with nothing for sale in it. Two steps off the main street and the whole racket stops. That is the entire trick.
Next: Heiliggeistkirche, 570 m, about 9 min, along Untere Straße.
6. Heiliggeistkirche
about 50 minutes of walking from the start · inside open Mon–Sat 11:00–17:00, Sun 12:30–17:00
It fills the middle of the market square, so half the lanes here end up pointing at it. Walk all the way round it before you go in. There is more happening at street level on that stonework than anyone expects, and I am keeping it to myself.
Next: Alte Brücke, 350 m, about 5 min, along Steingasse, Alte Brücke.
7. Alte Brücke
about 55 minutes of walking from the start
Go out between the twin gate towers and keep walking until the noise behind you thins out. From the far bank the town, the hill over it and the water line up in one frame, and that is the picture everybody comes here for. Chewy underfoot the entire way across.
Next: Kornmarkt, 530 m, about 8 min, along Alte Brücke, Fischergasse, Marktplatz.
8. Kornmarkt
about 63 minutes of walking from the start
One turn off the busy lane and the noise drops away. It is small, it is flat, and it has the best seat in the Old Town for looking up at the hill. Everybody stops here without meaning to. So do I.
Back to the start: Heidelberger Schloss, 490 m, about 7 min, along Kurzer Buckel, Heidelberger Schloss.
Every stop counts from the street; the hours are for going inside. Opening hours from OpenStreetMap, © OpenStreetMap contributors. Check before you go.
After the walk
The rest of Heidelberg.
This loop is 8 sights. The Old Town is 84 streets, and I have opinions about all of them. Every street of the Heidelberg Old Town, with what to eat and where.
Cobble Gobble is a walking game for iPhone: every street is a line of dots you collect by walking it, and the phone stays in your pocket. Your first city is free.