Odenwald Heppenheim

OK, I think this post was probably intended for me.

Heppenheim is on the edge of the Odenwald, but it's a great little town. Fachwerk it has, plenty of it, but the actual Fachwerkstraße lies a little to the east... goes right through the heart of the Odenwald. The emphasis of the Bergstraße is mostly wine.

Let's see, hikes near Heppenheim that aren't too rough on the knees... It depends on how much uphill you can tolerate. Here's a few idea. Drive up to the castle (Starkenburg- the narrow road that leads up to it is a little tough to find. Blink and you'll miss it). Park your car in the lot, and you'll see the trail map. Walk in the opposite direction of the castle and you'll eventually hit the woods. Nothing too steep, but it does ascend very gradually. Some of the hiking loops go through some gorgeous old-growth forest, but the trails get a little steep. If you keep walking straight and avoid any of the side-trails, it only very gradually ascends.

Option two, but a little steeper. Park by the Friedhof, and follow the trail up through the vineyards. You'll hit the woods at the top, and once you hit the trees, the inclines are fairly mild.

Option three. Drive up to the little subvillage of Juhöhe. Right before you reach the village, there's a parking area on your left, with some picnic tables, a map and the trail head. There's a nice hour-long hiking loop that starts from here. Nothing terribly steep, although there is a sustained uphill portion 3/4 of the way through.

If you want to dive deeper into the Odenwald, check out Lindenfels, Michelstadt and Eberbach. The scenery of the drive itself will make the visits worthwhile.

All the restaurants on the Markt in Heppenheim are pretty good. Goldener Engel included.

Too bad I don't live in Hüttenfeld anymore, I'd meet you in Heppenheim.

BTW... Ludwigshafen is pretty ugly, Speyer is a world apart. One of the best preserved cities in the region.

thanks, Tom ... I don't mind comments from others too.

sounds good.

I'm looking forward to going. just need to work out the verkehrsverbund tickets.

Thanks to Jess, for a private message when couldn't post. Many thanks.

I've only passed through central Speyer on a bus going to the Technik Museum (which I recommend, don't neglect the collection of mechanical automatic musical instruments which is very interesting) but it looked quite nice.

Philip, have you been to the collection of mechanical automatic musical instruments in Utrecht?

How would you compare them?

No, I've never been to Utrecht, I'm afraid.

Oh, and if you have the time, consider checking out Weinheim a little further down the Berstraße. The town calls itself the "Zweiburgenstadt", because... well, it has two castles. And a lovely little Schloss with a nice public park and the usual scenic old Markt.

Cool. Cool.

I've just watched a video of Felsenmeer... comments?

Is there a favourite schnitzel boutique in der nahe?

oooh

Modellbahnwelt Odenwald?

The Felsenmeer is pretty much as you see in the video. Like a frozen waterfall of boulders. It takes about 10-30 minutes to walk to the top, depending on your pace. I don't remember exactly, but I think there was a relatively smooth path all the way to top, with several bridges that span the rocks (I may, however, be mistaking it in my memory with one of the hundreds of other hikes I took in the Odenwald). I can't see how you would get there without a car, however. I forget the name of the closest town without looking it up, but I remember it was a bit outside of the town center.

Purveyors of good Schnitzel...

In Heppenheim, that would be either the Goldener Engel or the Schwan. I'm forgetting which one serves the Holsteiner Schnitzel. There's (or perhaps, was) also a great little restaurant right by the church that makes a tremendous stuffed Schnitzel. It's not showing up on Google maps and it seemed to keep very irregular hours even when I lived in the area.

The best Paprika Schnitzel I've ever tried was at Zum Rebstock, right in my old stomping grounds of Hüttenfeld. I've heard Hermanshof in Hemsbach has great Schnitzel, but once again, very irregular hours and I never managed to eat there.

And of course, there's always the Schnitzelhaus in Heidelberg.

Despite making a trip all the way to Hamburg primarily to see Minitur Wunderland and Rotterdam for Railz Miniworld, I never got around to visiting the Odenwald Modelbahn.

If you decide to check out the Odenwald, make sure you file a good trip report. Let the Rickniks know what they're missing as they zoom by on their the way to Rothenburg.

Schloss Erbach im Odenwald and its several museums?

I have only seen it from the outside. Most of my adventures through the Odenwald were hikes with my hairy four-footed buddy, so I rarely went inside any buildings, except restaurants that welcomed dogs and various ruins.

Thanks, Tom.

I'm starting to think that all the castles in that area are what people go to the Rhine Valley and the walled areas for RodT, all rolled up in one concise area.

We'll soon see.

Yeah, pretty much. There's probably more castles in the Odenwald than along the Mittelrhein, but they're spaced out over a much larger area and many you can only see by hiking to them. The Neckar River valley as it cuts through the Odenwald between Bad Wimpfen and Heidelberg is actually rather similar to the Mittelrhein.

More research has turned up the Alter Hammer Biergarten in Speyer. Looks great, and right on the Rhine. Any good? (check out the photo of the sleeping dog).

We are now thinking of having a few days prior to Easter this year (less than 2 weeks away) and a few after. It looks like everything in Speyer will be open on Easter Sunday, but is there anything in the general area between there and Heppenheim that I should be on the outlook for around Easter? Major closings, etc.?

And, is there a decent spa anywhere around? 50 minutes to Wiesbaden, an hour to Baden Baden and nearly 2 to Freiburg im Breisgau. We'd rather be closer.....

I can name off a few, but I have no personal experience bathing in any of them.

The nicest Bad town (that looks awkward in English, doesn't it?) in the region is probably Bad Dürkheim, across the Rhine. Typical elegant layout for these kinds of resorts.

In the Odenwald itself, you have Bad König. Although I know it has a Therme in there somewhere, the town looks little different from most others in the Odenwald. Not a bad thing at all, though.

I've mentioned Bad Wimpfen many times on this website, and it's a beautiful little town. But I have no idea why it has the name "Bad", because I've never seen any kind of bathing facilities there. Must be hidden somewhere.

Finally, there's Bad Schönborn a little south of Heidelberg, but I know this town only from the brown tourist placards on the Autobahn.

I've found that one of my oldest German guidebooks, the Insight Guide to Frankfurt and Surroundings (1997) actually has a decent account of the Odenwald area on 8 pages including photos.

Their parting words are, "This is Germany at its most romantic".

It will take me a bit longer before I get there, but get there I must and will.