A Summer Interrailing in Europe, Week 1 of 2 – Heidelberg

I’m back again and this time it’s to tell you about the second instalment of my mini series of travelling around Europe on one train ticket. If you missed my the first part of the story where I explained how this is possible and where I told the story of my time in Berlin, then you can find the link here. Once you’re up to speed, you can pick up the story back here.

If you’re already up to date with the story, I shall continue with where I left off, as I was en route to the quaint academic town of Heidelberg, tucked into the hills of south west of Germany, just to the south of Frankfurt.

Why I Headed To Heidelberg

This is a place that is certainly off the beaten track in my eyes and many of you may be wondering what brought me to Heidelberg. There were two main reasons that took me to Heidelberg. The first one was having friends who lived nearby and I wanted to catch up with them, whilst the second was when searching for the best places to head in Germany, this town was listed as one of them and it worked well for me as I was heading west towards Belgium, even if it was towards the south. These two factors put together, I thought I’d give it a chance and see what would happen. In the end, it ended up being a gamble that definitely paid off!

My Thoughts On Heidelberg

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this place but the experience that I had was certainly one that I thoroughly enjoyed as it brought about some experiences that I wasn’t expecting at all. Heidelberg is a quiet, old town that is famous for its academic background and the philosophers that lived there and mused over their writings as they wandered the scenic routes in the local area. Most famous of these walks is the now appropriately named The Philosopher’s Way, which was a place of such high inspiration for many as it wound up the hill of Heiligenberg, looking down upon Heidelberg stretching out below it.

I’ll be honest, the intellectual side of things wasn’t something that I was particularly expecting to experience here nor looking to, however the people and conversations that I had whilst here were certainly interesting ones that opened my mind to new ways of thinking about the topics and existential questions that trouble people during life.

One thing that I certainly noticed was that it is definitely a picturesque town! With the options of the tight narrow streets that you can wander through in the Old Town, with its old Baroque style architecture, the castle on the hill overlooking the town below with the river snaking through the middle or the nature walks that snake up the hills either side, this place offers you plenty of places to go out and explore.

Recommended?

Though different to what I usually look for when I’m out travelling, I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Heidelberg! It’s a charming town, steeped in history that I started to delve into, scenic streets and natural scenery in its accompanying hills. Add to that the fact that you can come across plenty of intriguing topics of conversation if you chat with fellow travellers and locals to unlock some challenging but enjoyable philosophical talks.

This place went against the groove of where I usually go of big exciting cities but it showed me the other side of travelling. This was the side of travel where you meet new people, share stories about where you’ve been and where you’re going, find your common interests and, especially in a place such as Heidelberg, get into some deep conversations.

For the reasons above, it certainly earns a recommendation of a place to head to from me! Even if it’s for a couple of nights, it’s worth it to be have your eyes opened by this picturesque town and your mind opened by the level of conversation from talking to those around, from both near and far.

Day 3 – Monday

Arriving in Heidelberg in the afternoon, the first priority that I had was to check into the hostel that I was staying in. For this city, I was staying in Lotte – The Backpackers, which was about 40 minutes walking from the train station, prompting me to grab a taxi and get my first impressions of the city through a car window. I must admit, much of this was a blur as I was concentrating on finalising timings for meeting my friend and chatting to the taxi driver but I certainly noticed the new suddenly become the old as you moved from the modern part of the town into the old.

The hostel I was staying in wasn’t like most hostels that I’d stayed in before. It felt more like someone’s home, just with a few extra facilities added for guests, with a lot of character to it when it came to the common room areas. Rather than the usual open spaces with a TV, speaker system and that, this was furnished with plenty of comfy chairs and sofas arranged in clusters, packed bookcases and an eclectic mix of ornaments and decorations, making the hostel have a much more homely feel to it. It also felt like it encompassed the feel of the city in a way being more about the academic and philosophical side, prompting in depth conversation rather than being about wild parties and the usual antics usually accredited to hostels. As for the rest of the hostel, I only had one complaint overall. The kitchen had a full fit and wide array of appliances, the bathrooms were clean and tidy for shared bathrooms and the bedrooms contained comfy beds. The only minor downside to the hostel was the storage room for your baggage in the rooms. Unless you were travelling with a bag not much larger than a rucksack, you were left living out of your bag on the floor next to or under your bed.

I made sure to check in to the hostel and then headed out to start exploring the town whilst I waited for one of two German friends I was here to see, Katja. As I said before, the city is a place full of character and I soon started discovering this whilst wandering the old narrow streets. Nestled in between two hills known for their scenic, it sits with the River Necker which runs through the centre of it. It was during this wander that I truly discovered that the city was split into two. To the west, you have the more modern part of the town, with modern day retailers, buildings, restaurants and cafes, whereas to the east, tucked under the hill of Königstuhl, is the Aldstadt (or old town), playing host to the older buildings such as the castle, the 18th century church and the town hall in the historical marketplace.

Along with catching up for with each other for the first time since we initially met in Hawaii earlier that year, Katja took me around the town, telling me about what she knew and showing me the highlights and those places that only the locals know. Taking a route through the Aldstadt down to the modern part of town and back, she showcased the old narrow streets playing host to the Baroque style architecture as well as the large open green areas, with plenty of photo opportunities along the way. Our little tour finished off at the castle, overlooking the rest of Heidelberg and giving the best view of the town it as it basked in the afternoon sun. Just look at the photo below! What can I say though about our picture together though? My selfie taking ability has never been a strong point for me!

The evening’s events were certainly unexpected. It started by me wandering into the kitchen to grab myself a drink and it was from there that things took off. It really showed that the best times can come from the most spontaneous of moments.

It was in this kitchen that I meant a guy called Rizzo, who was certainly a character and exceptionally funny, to the point that I was in tears. What ended up being something that started with side splitting comedy, ended up being us and a couple of others sitting down in the common room, chatting as you do, finding out the interesting stories bend each person there, whilst continuing the tears of laughter.

The evening’s events ended up with three of us, me, Rizzo and a guy called Chris, heading out into Heidelberg, going for a wander and seeing what was open for us to sit down, have a drink and bring some additions to our trio. With it being the beginning of the week, we actually struggled to find somewhere to go. In the end, we discovered a charming place with some live music by a Scottish man turned local, a few people in the bar and some reasonably priced drinks (well, for the other guys. Water is pretty cheap…). This was the first encounter of one of the travellers that was here due to being intrigued by the philosophy. It was also when I got schooled by said traveller about philosophy as I knew nothing about it… However, after an awkward start to the conversation, it soon picked up and they joined us, opening the floor up to several perspectives.

After a couple more drinks at the bar, it was closing time so we all ended up back at the hostel, sitting the common room with a drink each, discussing a wide array of philosophical topics until the early hours of the morning. Off of the top of my head, looking back, these conversations covered the attitude of modern day people towards materialism, the experiences of the woman that we met in the bar when meeting guys and how they are usually only after one thing, and each other’s lives, where we intended to take it, priorities in life and from what we sought joy from against what is morally right. This went on to the early hours before I turned myself in, leaving the those three to continue the conversation.

Unfortunately, apart from saying goodbye to him the next day, that was the last time I saw Rizzo before we could sort something out to catch up as he sadly passed away not long after this trip. For everything you taught me in that short period during the in-depth and intriguing conversations, thank you and rest in peace Rizzo.

Day 4 – Tuesday

With breakfast was included in the hostel, I didn’t have to go far to fuel up after waking up relatively late, before I headed out on the next adventure that I’d planned for that morning.

One of the highly recommended things to do in Heidelberg was to head up to the top of Konigstuhl, which translates to King’s Throne. With the path starting just behind the hostel, the stairway winds up through the woods, allowing you to get lost in nature away from the town until clearing at the top, opening up and providing the view that it is known for, down upon Heidelberg. This was a good time to sit, let the heart rate come back down and catch my breath. The stairs are deceivingly steep in places and it wasn’t a casual pace I set. Always good though to be active, get some fresh air and release some endorphins! At the top, it’s definitely a photo opportunity, as you can see, and time for me to reflect on my trip so far and what was coming up next.

Once I’d returned back down from the summit, showered and got changed, I grabbed a spot of lunch before I met up with friend number two. This friend lived fairly close to Heidelberg in Mannheim, was a buddy that I met university, Max, who drove up to Heidelberg to hang out, catch up and then grab dinner at one of his favourite spots. First port of call was my request to make sure I experienced the Philosopher’s Walk, with being on of the most recommended things to do in Heidelberg. Starting on the north side of the town, the trail winds up the hill, splitting off to various different paths for you to explore. Thankfully, The Philosopher’s Walk is clearly labelled, cutting across the hill and running parallel to the river. As it meandered up the hill through tight residential areas, merging into paths lined by tall hedges before opening up and providing panoramic views of the picturesque town below on the right.

Next stop was for dinner at Benjamin’s American Diner, as place highly recommended by Max, which was a 20 minute drive away. This meant that I got to experience the Autobahn for the first time in his trusty Mini Cooper, which though doesn’t necessarily have any true high end performance, it could still shift and was fun to open up to see what it could do and experience life past the 70mph limit imposed by the UK. The place that we went for food was, as you could probably guess, a full styled American diner, offering what Max thought was one of the best burgers in the area, which I must admit was pretty darn good. It was also a perfect opportunity to get up to speed with what had been happening for us both since leaving university and for him to share any advice on the places I was yet to visit on my trip as well as start a shortlist of places to head to for future trips.

Returning back in the evening that day, there wasn’t as much excitement as the night before, with it being an opportunity to relax, gather together my belongings ready for the off the next day and make arrangement with those I was crossing paths with in the future as well as catch up with those that I’d not spoken to at home to just reassure them all is well. I feel this latter point is different from person to person and family to family but I know that my family tend to be worriers so for their sanity alongside checking in and see what you’ve missed, I try and get FaceTime calls in with them whilst away. It’s always good to earn yourself brownie points with the family.

Day 5 – Wednesday

I’m sorry to break it to you but Wednesday certainly wasn’t exciting! I went as far to grab breakfast, pack up the remaining items of my stuff, double check I had everything, say goodbye to the people that I had met before checking out and heading to the train station across town ready for the next place that I was off to see, Cologne.

As you’ve probably guessed, the next instalment of this story will be in my next blog post. Want to be one of the first to hear about that? Then you best follow me in Instagram and like my Facebook page, all found at the links below, so you receive the announcements once they are hot off the press!

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