Heidelberg’s location, in a cleft in wooded hills with the river Neckar running through and the ruins of a castle rising above, is unerringly romantic. Add to that Germany’s oldest university, the equivalent of Oxford or Cambridge, and a beautifully preserved Old Town, and hey presto! one of the most popular cities in Germany for visitors.

Approaches, however, are not all that inspiring. The city, some 80km due south of Frankfurt, is in Germany’s most populated region, and its railway station is rather insipid, as well as being located considerably more than walking distance away from the Old Town. However there are plenty of good public transport options in the square outside, and it won’t take more than 10 minutes before you find yourself in a completely different world. It’s a bit like going through the back of the wardrobe into Narnia.

Through the back of the wardrobe

That ancient world, which starts on the other side of Bismarckplatz, is one of cosy cobbled streets and gabled and half-timbered houses, mostly Renaissance or Baroque, dotted with church towers and filled with little bars, bakeries and boutiques. Amongst its key locations, the best place to start is the Alte Brucke, a narrow-arched red sandstone bridge over the Neckar. The river here can be fast-flowing, so big river cruisers stay safely on the Rhine a short distance away, whilst their passengers flock in by road.

At the far end of the bridge a footpath leads up through a patch of vineyards to the Philosopher’s Walk, a broad path much frequented by German intellectuals such as Goethe and Hegel, both Heidelberg students.

The view across the river to Heidelberg Castle is one of the most famous in Germany. Parts of the castle (reached by flights of steps or a funicular) date back to the 13^th century, and in the 17^th century there was an English princess here – Elizabeth Stuart married Frederick V on St Valentine’s Day 1613 – but over the centuries a combination of war and decay has rendered it (mainly) a massively picturesque lump of scenery. There are guided tours to some parts, and the castle grounds host all kinds of events, including huge fireworks displays.

Below the castle, the key streets are Hauptstrasse and Unterestrasse, the former for shopping and the latter for socialising, particularly in all the student bars. Just off Unterestrasse are the Student Prison, where it was once a badge of honour to be locked up, and the Knösel Chocolaterie, the place for the Heidelberg Student Kiss, a chocolate with a story attached, dating back to those days when Heidelberg was all about high society. Girls were highly chaperoned back then, and when the (male) students were out and about it was all they could do to make themselves known to an object of their desire. So back in 1863 Fridolin Knösel invented a delicately-wrapped ‘student kiss’ chocolate that could be passed from boy to girl as a token of interest, without the chaperon taking offence. That act of chivalry has long gone; these days a girl out on the town usually buys her own drink.

www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en/

For much of its length the river Rhine is a big and nondescript waterway, responsible for draining much of Switzerland, Austria and Germany and carrying one helluva lot of freight en route. But for a comparatively short piece of its 1,233km journey from source to sea, it achieves true celebrity status as it cuts through the 260 metre deep Rhine gorge, creating some of the finest scenery in western Europe, to which mankind has added handsome towns, quirky watchtowers and towering castles. These features, together with the slings and arrows of history that went into creating them, has led to the whole gorge being listed as a site of world heritage by UNESCO. And that’s without even mentioning the wine; the gorge’s south-facing shores are slathered in some of the most productive vineyards in Europe.

The gorge has been inspirational for poets, painters and composers (Brahms, Wagner, Goethe) for several centuries – and buttock-clenching for ship’s captains for even longer. The artistically-inclined appreciate the contrast between the beautifully manicured layers of vines and the indomitable wildness of the water, which surges white-flecked through the gorge with a force that all but defeats the most resolute of marine diesels; a skipper needs special certification to tackle these waters.

The most spectacular stretch starts at Rudesheim (Bingen) in the south (frequent trains run from Frankfurt airport via Wiesbaden and take 75 minutes) and runs almost due north for around 65kms to Koblenz. For all of this distance – in fact all the way from Wiesbaden to Koblenz – a distance of 108kms, there are no bridges. Accordingly river transport is key, both in terms of cross-river ferries, and in long distance cruisers, some of them hotel boats savouring the scenery with leisurely stops and others of them day cruisers providing a regular scheduled service.

Three different approaches

For visitors there are three main choices of activity. For walkers, the Rheinsteig is one of Europe’s greatest long distance footpaths, and it follows the river on the east bank (the vineyard side) mostly in the state of Hesse. It sometimes dips down into towns, but much of the time it stays high, staying in shaded woodland of oak and birch, offering terrific views of the river below.

For cyclists, the west bank has the dedicated cycle path, down at river level, sometimes along the side of the road, sometimes doing its own thing at the water’s edge. It is impossible to get lost, and the river’s regular boats – or the trains, which serve both sides – are always at hand to return you to base if you don’t want to retrace your steps.

And then there are all the boat passengers, on day trips or on sleek, glittering hotel boats, sunning themselves in the gorge’s microclimate between stops at the key towns. These are Rudesheim, Bingen, Bacharach, Oberwesel, St Goar, Bad Salzig and Boppard, and they are usually linear in layout, with a castle above, with tower-encrusted walls, and collections of gabled and half timbered medieval houses, boasting plenty of places to sample the Riesling or the coffee and cake.

Elsewhere, the Rhine gorge remains pretty thinly populated, despite sitting at the heart of Europe’s most populous nation. Only wine-makers’ mansions break the patterns of vineyards, their tractors combing the slopes, and holding back rampant forest.

All in all it is a lovely place to pass a handful of days.

There’s no over-arching official website that covers the whole thing, but the Romantic Rhine is the best general site, and the Rheingau covers the wine-rich destinations at the southern and eastern end.

Historically, Weimar is a bit of an overachiever, punching well above its weight. It may have only 65,000 inhabitants today but boy, has it left its mark. One UNESCO World Heritage listing wasn’t enough, so the city has been given two: one for classical Weimar with 13 buildings and architectural ensembles, and one for its Bauhaus sites.

More than just one UNESCO World Heritage site

The Weimar classic period from 1775 to 1832 flourished under the reign of Duchess Anna Amalia, and her library with the exquisite Rococo Hall is probably the most famous in the collection of eminent classical buildings. And while on the subject of libraries, Weimar is still best known around the world for its associations with Germany’s ‘national poets’ Goethe and Schiller who lived and worked in the town during the classic age. Goethe’s Home, part of the classical Weimar collection, also houses the Goethe National Museum. In August 2012, a new permanent exhibition was opened to honour the über-author, entitled ‘Floods of life, storm of deeds”’.

Fast forward into the 20^th century and Weimar was again the birthplace of a movement, this time of the world’s most influential art and design school. One which continues to influence our taste in architecture and furniture even today, with its emphasis on creations which are both pleasing to look at, and fit for everyday use.

In 1919, Walter Gropius established the Bauhaus School and assembled the whole of the European avantgarde of the time in Thuringia to teach at the new school of design. ‘Haus am Horn’, the most famous example of Bauhaus architecture, was built as a model house for the first architecture exhibition in 1923 and is one of three Bauhaus sites in Weimar. The new(ish) Bauhaus Museum, a minimalist block at the edge of the Weimarhallen park in the town centre, charts the history and the legacy of the movement.

Modernism – and onions

Apart from all its elegant palaces, museums and beautiful parks, Weimar is also a very liveable town, keen on letting its hair down now and then. Every October since 1653 the Onion Festival celebrates the humble vegetable, and it is the biggest such festival worldwide. Onion garlands, decorated with colourful dried flowers, are popular souvenirs, there are stands selling handicrafts, food and drink, music and an Onion Market Queen who reigns for one year. The whole historic town centre is one big party and 350,000 visitors make this the biggest festival in Thuringia. Not quite UNESCO World Heritage material yet, but another reason why Weimar is more than worthwhile.