Germany Holidays: Eat your way through Speyer

A tasty starter, a satisfactory main course and a mouthwatering dessert: Speyer is a city with a lot of flavour.

Speyer's grand high street, the Maximilianstrasse, is a place to meet ©Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus

Speyer's landmark, the 'Altpörtel' tower, remainder of the old city wall ©Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus

Highly impressive, very old: the famous imperial cathedral in Speyer ©Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus

What better way to explore a town than by eating your way through it? Culinary city tours in Speyer on the Rhine, a more than 2000-year-old city in the Palatinate, start off with a glass of Sekt (sparkling wine) in front of the impressive imperial cathedral and end sweetly with a dessert. In between, visitors get to know Speyer’s rich history while stopping off at different restaurants for each course of their three-course meal.

Speyer has a unique character: lovely old houses, quaint alleyways and a grand high street

The tour is on foot and because of its size, Speyer is an ideal city for this kind of leisurely exploration. All the major sights are within walking distance and, en route, the historic town displays its unique character with lovely old houses, quaint alleyways and a grand high street, Maximilianstrasse. This former Via Triumphalis of the old imperial town was named after Bavarian King Max I Joseph during the period when the Palatinate belonged to Bavaria, and it has kept its name.

In between stops for starter, main course and dessert, the culinary city tour takes in the famous Speyerer Dom (imperial cathedral), a UNESCO world heritage site and the largest intact Romanesque church worldwide, the Baroque Dreifaltigkeitskirche (Trinity Church), the Altpörtel, a tower of the former city wall and Speyer landmark, and the Jewish bath, one of the oldest of its kind.

The restaurant stops not only provide a relaxed way of socialising with other participants on the tour but also give visitors a great overview of the city’s culinary scene, from its traditional inns in atmospheric vaulted cellars to its modern bistro-style establishments.

More information on culinary city tours in Speyer