Heidelberg Castle: tickets, tours and what to see

A Renaissance palace that was never rebuilt

Heidelberg Castle stands 80 metres up the northern side of the Königstuhl hillside, so it dominates the view over Heidelberg's old town and the Neckar. The first castle on or near the site was recorded before 1214, and by 1303 documents mention two castles, an upper one and the lower one on the Jettenbühl where the present ruin sits. The upper castle was destroyed by a lightning strike in 1537.

What you see today is mostly the work of the electors palatine of the 16th and early 17th centuries. The buildings had been expanded into their full form by 1650, before wars and fires did the rest. Because it was never rebuilt into a later fashion, the castle is now counted among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps.

In 1764 another lightning bolt started a fire that destroyed some of the rebuilt sections, and the castle was left as a ruin from then on. By 1880 Mark Twain was writing about it as a ruin already, and Victor Hugo had walked the site earlier and turned its history into a famous letter. The Romantics made the broken palace the image of German romanticism, and it has stayed that way ever since. If your interest runs to intact palaces, compare it with Neuschwanstein Castle, which tells the opposite story.

Why people still make the trip

Three things pull visitors up the hill. The silhouette of the ruined facade against the wooded hillside is the single most photographed view in Heidelberg, and it looks best from the garden terraces and the old town below. The Heidelberg Tun, a wine vat built in 1751 with a current capacity of 219,000 litres, sits in the cellars and draws a queue of its own. And the German Apothecary Museum, inside the walls, collects centuries of pharmacy history in one wing.

The castle is also an easy add-on to a Rhine or Frankfurt itinerary, which is why most visitors arrive on a half-day trip rather than a whole-week plan. Heidelberg itself, about 78 km south of Frankfurt, is a university city of about 163,000 people, roughly a quarter of them students, with a Baroque old town at the foot of the hill. You can cover the castle properly in half a day, which makes it one of the most efficient stops on any list of castle day trips.

From the Kornmarkt to the gate

Most visits start at the Kornmarkt in the old town, where the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular begins its climb from the valley to the summit of the Königstuhl. The castle has its own intermediate station on this line, so the ride up is short. The palace ticket includes the funicular railway, which is why the $12.31 (€11) adult price is good value against most German sights.

At the castle station you come out by the gatehouse and the Elizabethan gate, then pass into the courtyard. This is where the ruined facades close in around you: the Ottheinrich Building, the broken, roofless walls and the torch-scarred stonework that the wars and the 1764 fire left behind. Give the courtyard twenty minutes and read the facades, they are the Renaissance heart of the site.

The Great Tun, the museum and the terrace

Below the courtyard lie the cellars and the Heidelberg Tun, the giant vat built in 1751. It reputedly took 130 oak trees, and its capacity has dried from 221,726 litres at construction to about 219,000 litres today. A dance floor now sits on top of it. Look for Perkeo, the legendary court jester and castle's keeper of spirits, whose figure stands beside the barrel. It draws the biggest crowds in the castle, so go early or late.

The German Apothecary Museum is included in the palace ticket and sits in the cellar level too, with displays of pharmacy interiors and vessels across several rooms.

Finish on the Great Terrace, the broad viewing platform above the Neckar. This is the classic photograph: red rooftops, the Old Bridge, the river and the Heiligenberg opposite. Then walk out through the palace garden, which is open in daylight, before riding the funicular back down. The two-hour guided walk follows exactly this line, funicular to terrace.

When the castle is open

The courtyard and the Great Tun open daily from 09:00 to 18:00, with last admission at 17:30 in the main season and 09:00 to 17:15 in winter. The palace garden is open in daylight. The palace ticket costs $12.31 (€11) for adults and $6.16 (€5.50) reduced, and it bundles the funicular railway, the courtyard, the Great Tun and the German Apothecary Museum into one purchase.

The castle interiors are different. You only see them on a guided tour for an extra fee, and the schedule is tight: English interior tours run Monday to Friday at 11:15 and then hourly until 16:15, and weekends from 10:15 to 16:15, in the season from late March to the start of November. If seeing inside matters to you, aim your visit at one of those slots. New prices apply from 1 January, so check the castle website before a winter trip.

Dress, terrain and quiet times

There is no dress code at the castle, but you are on a hillside with cobblestones, gravel paths in the garden and steps in the cellars, so wear shoes with grip. Bring a layer, the terrace is exposed and the cellar level is cool all year. The funicular handles the climb, so fitness is not the issue, footing is.

For quiet, go early or late. The first hour after the 09:00 opening is the calmest time at the Great Tun, and late afternoon after the coach departures empties the courtyard again, our estimate. Midday is the busiest stretch, when Frankfurt day tours and river cruise groups overlap. Winter weekdays, outside the Christmas season, are the quietest of the whole year, our estimate. The courtyard is partly open to the sky, so on wet days bring rain gear rather than an umbrella-up mood.

From Frankfurt on a guided day

Heidelberg is about 78 km south of Frankfurt, which puts it squarely in half-day-trip range, and two bookable tours run the route. The Heidelberg, Castle and Old City guided tour leaves from Wiesenhüttenplatz 38 in Frankfurt, costs $145 per person and runs 5.5 hours, with the castle and Great Tun admissions included and a walk through the old town built in. You are back in Frankfurt by mid-afternoon, food and tips aside.

The van alternative, the Heidelberg Castle and City day tour, costs $142.72 per person, meets outside the Le Meridien at the same square and carries a German and English speaking guide. Hotel pickup is available for €50 per person extra, but the listed price starts from the meeting point. Both tours include the castle entry, so neither needs you to queue for a ticket at the gate.

On your own from the old town

If you are already in Heidelberg, make for the Kornmarkt in the Altstadt. That is the valley station of the Heidelberger Bergbahn, the funicular that climbs from the old town to the Königstuhl summit with an intermediate stop at the castle. The ride is included in the palace ticket, so buy at the bottom and ride up.

It is also possible to reach the castle on foot up the signed paths from the old town, but the climb is steep and the funicular is the sane choice in heat or rain. Once you are up, the two-hour guided tour meets at the Kornmarkt itself, so it works for arrivals by train as much as for walkers. The same logic applies if you are planning a wider run of castles in Germany: Heidelberg pairs naturally with Eltz Castle, which also runs day trips out of Frankfurt.

Three routings, one decision

If you only want the silhouette and the terrace view, an hour and a half is enough. If you want the Great Tun and the Apothecary Museum at an unhurried pace, plan half a day on the hill and build in a queue at the barrel. The interior guided tour adds a fixed slot, so book your timing around it.

Whatever you choose, the funicular does the climbing for you, so time at the castle is time at the castle, not time on a path.

Routing table

These are our estimates for a adult visitor moving at a normal pace.

The list

• The Great Tun has been through four versions, and the present barrel dates from 1751, when soldiers of a French army left hatchet marks on its predecessor believing it held wine rather than an empty cask (Heidelberg Tun Wikipedia entry).
• The tun was reputedly built from 130 oak trees, and a dance floor has been constructed on top of it (Heidelberg Tun Wikipedia entry).
• The castle's mythical keeper is Perkeo, a court jester and master of the castle's spirit production, famous as a prodigious wine drinker (Heidelberg Tun Wikipedia entry).
• When King Ruprecht returned from his coronation in 1401, the castle was too small for his court and he had to camp in the Augustinians' monastery, on the site of today's University Square (Heidelberg Castle Wikipedia entry).
• Martin Luther visited the castle in the reign of Louis V and, in a letter to George Spalatin, praised both its beauty and its defences (Heidelberg Castle Wikipedia entry).