Doing 5 nights in Heidelberg & :5 in Manheim. Best places to stay in each area?
Posted by
40 posts
Google Maps' reference centres for Heidelberg and Mannheim are only 12 miles apart, main station to main station is a 16 minute ride on a local train, hardly seems worth the hassle of moving hotels. Mannheim has regular direct trains from Frankfurt airport which would make it simpler but Heidelberg is more of a tourist destination.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9791 posts
I would not bother moving, the cities are so close together. Mannheim is not very touristy, and not that much to see there. I would stay the whole time in Heidelberg.
Come into Frankfurt on the S-bahn and catch one of the trains to Heidelberg that run all the time.
Posted by
Paradise
8130 posts
With 10 days altogether I assume you'll be visiting other places besides these two cities.
Heidelberg is a reasonably good base town, depending on where you stay and what outings you intend to take. It's more atmospheric and inviting than Mannheim. But Mannheim is a major train hub to other places.
Before advising you further, I'd have to know what outings you have in mind.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
We will be staying in Frankfort 1 night after arrival & 1 night before departure so will stay 2 nights there total.
Also my wife has 1 brother who was born in Mannheim & her mother was born & lived there for many years so want to spend some time there.
We would like to do a couple of different tours along the Rhine River also & sounds like most of those tours are out of Heidelberg.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
9791 posts
Heidelberg is on the Neckar, not the Rhein. If you want to go on the Rhein and see the castles, etc, do that from Frankfurt, not from Heidelberg.
Posted by
Paradise
8130 posts
OK, that information helps a little.
"Rhine Tour" - There may in fact be some kind of tour that would take you from Heidelberg or Mannheim all the way to the Middle Rhine Valley (the scenic part of the Rhine Valley and back again, but I'm not aware of it. Most daytrippers to Rhine do as follows:
- Train to Bingen or Rüdesheim to board a Rhine cruise ship
- Cruise north to St Goar or St Goarshausen
- Take a walk through one or two old-world towns
A base in Mannheim would work better than Heidelberg for such an outing. Sample schedule:
Train from Mannheim to Bingen Rhein Stadt station: 10:15 - 11:56; walk 5 minutes to the waterfront, buy cruise tickets, enjoy the views, have lunch at one of the restaurants there, take a stroll along the promenade there.
https://riverside-bingen.de/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/MLB.jpg
Cruise to St Goar, 14:00 - 15:45 with B-R cruises; catch train to Bacharach (15:56 - 16:05) for a walk around this handsome town; find dinner.
https://www.mittelrheinentdecken.de/en/villages-towns-and-cities/bacharach/
https://www.informagiovani-italia.com/mappa_bacharach_am_rhein2.jpg
- Train back to Mannheim:
18:06 - 20:07
19:06 - 21:14
19:36 - 21:42
Fares:
€26 per person for B-R cruise
€38 day pass for two adults covers all train trips
I imagine you might need some hours in Mannheim for hunting down the former addresses of your family, etc. Mannheim also has a few things that might interest you:
Palace: you can walk there from the station...
Other:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g187290-Activities-oa0-Mannheim_Baden_Wurttemberg.html
NEAR MANNHEIM: The cities of Speyer and Worms are good places to visit and only about 25 minutes away by direct train. If you have time for only one, Speyer has the most to see/do, I think.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g198634-Activities-oa0-Speyer_Rhineland_Palatinate.html
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g198632-Activities-oa0-Worms_Rhineland_Palatinate.html
So I can see the value of staying in Mannheim for a few nights.
Posted by
Paradise
8130 posts
With the other nights you will have in Heidelberg, some short outings are possible as well.
The Bergstrasse old-world wine towns are very close by and accessible by train; Ladenburg is super-close to Heidelberg, Heppenheim extra nice:
https://diebergstrasse.de/storage/2025/04/Holiday-Route-2024.pdf
The town of Bad Wimpen (which has been honored as Germany's most beautiful old town) is just one of several nice towns that share the Neckar River with Heidelberg. The train ride follows the river to BW from Heidelberg and is a very scenic one as well.
Hirschhorn is on this route as well:
https://img.fotocommunity.com/hirschhorn-am-neckar-a65c6bd3-3a61-4461-992a-1cba6afa5e9e.jpg?height=1080
Posted by
Paradise
8130 posts
ANOTHER QUESTION: Will your trip take place after July 10? The trains on the EAST bank of the Rhine (the Rüdesheim side) will be impacted heavily by railway construction projects from the 10th on:
https://rheingaulinie.de/files/rheingaulinie/files/Fahrplan/fahrplan.png
The St. Goar/Bacharach/Bingen railway, which I suggeted above for your Rhine outing, will not be affected.