27th December 2025

Munich to Heidelberg

Up early and did a bit of a coffee hunt, albeit unsuccessful. If you wanted, fruit, a haircut or a strip joint you would be fine.

After a home made breakfast we did an expedition towards the suburbs. Close to us was mainly parks, universities and kids hospital., with a couple of weird statues.

When there was residences they were all 5-6 storey high rise post war design.

Got to train station and farewelled the kids who were off to airport for a flight to Edinburgh. We had a 3 hour train trip to Heidelberg.

Pretty packed train as it was taking a route via Stuttgart and finishing in Frankfurt. Glad we were not in cattle class they were stacked in like sardines with lots carrying skis  and snowboards as well as luggage.

Our seats were fine but one woman sat in 3 different seats and always seemed to schedule a pit stop when the guard passed through. The old buy cattle fly first class trick. 

It was a pretty scenic route with plenty of snow on the ground and lots of small rural villages, all with the obligatory spired church.

The town of Ulm was an exception it had a gothic Munster whose spire was the second highest in Europe. Sadly it was hidden by ‘close to transport, houses built right on the railway line so no photo just a memory.

We were up at 1500 feet so plenty of hilltops to house the occasional small castle.

As we neared Stuttgart the hills got steeper and higher and surprisingly covered in grape vines. Some had little train tracks to facilitate collection and movement of grapes.

Did a U-turn in Syuttgart and headed WSW to Heidelberg. No snow, but a chilly wind for our walk through what appeared to be a pretty modern town, albeit without any high rise. As we wend our way to our accommodation about a kilometre away it changed as we crossed the intersection into Betgheim, which is a triangular suburb where most of the best places to visit are found.

Pretty hip hotel again and our choices have been spot on for amenities and location – will be getting Jane  a job with Bookings.com if she keeps this up. 

No time to rest with only a day and a half to go,  so headed off for a walk towards the Neckar River, a major tributary of the Rhine. We were actually only a stones throw from Cologne and a short drive from one of Germany’s still operating Nuclear Powet plants.

Wandered through suburban backstreets which led to a kids park with an inappropriate Mr Bubbles sand pit. Tried a short cut but caught up in the grounds of the local rowing club which saw us ‘gate hopping’ to get back on track. 

It was not the first rowing club we encountered. Several more were interspersed with motor boat clubs and a bundle of docking stations.

Back on the riverside we passed a huge barge and then a lone rower as we worked our way closer to the centre of town.

Like many European rivers it was criss crossed with bridges and also  looked down upon by forested hills, beautiful houses and the imposing Heidelberg castle.

We reached the town centre which was abuzz with people. The main plaza was a sea of faces with many taking advantage of the Boxing Day sale bargains ( if only Xmas decorations were 50% off ) or enjoying a drink or three.

Unsurprisingly just off main plaza there was another Xmas Market selling mainly food and gluhwein. It was after sunset which got the digestive juices flowing  and Jane couldn’t resist the freshly smoked salmon and me the sausage, both washed down with a gluhwein.

Decided to chance our arm with the main plaza and walked almost 1 kilometre to the end dodging crowds, dogs, buskers and trinket sellers.  Couple of shops tweaked our interest and tickled the cash card. That included a guy selling a yummy desert with no name but copious calories.

Managed to find our way back to the hotel, polish off the last dregs of the gin bottle, watch Sunderland play Leeds and ready ourselves for the last day in Europe doing touristy things before starting the journey home on Monday.