I have booked a really cheap room at an Etaphotel in Mannheim for my visit to Heidelberg. We will only be there 1 night. The other option would be in Neckargemund. Any opinions on these 2 locations while visiting Heidelberg would be appreciated! Narrowing it down....
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
Neckargemund, definately. The Neckar valley is gorgeous. I would put it on the same level as the Mosel (if not quite the Rhine). Mannheim? I will admit, it's grown on me since I moved here, but I couldn't recommend a visitor going out of their way to stay or visit there. Luisenpark gets my vote as the best urban park in Europe, but that's about all. The rest of the city is industrial and functional.
Posted by
OP
sugar land
34 posts
Of course the difference being the Etap is 43 euro a night for 3 people and the Neckargemund is double that. I am afraid I will probably have to stick with the former now. I had contact with the nicer one, but did not book it. I will double check. Thanks for the tip on the park. We will probably be in need of a nice park area after a crowded day in Heidelberg. I don't know why, but I am not excited about Heidelberg. Shame on me! So distance wise would you say the two towns are the same? Mannheim appears on the map like it is a suburb.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
They're both pretty close. You might consider Neckargemund a suburb of Heidelberg, but Mannheim is its own large city. BTW, there's a small entrance fee for Luisenpark, but its worth it, in my opinion.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
OK, I looked on the map. Is your Etap hotel the one off of 656? If so... no wonder it's cheap. That's not really even in Mannheim, its in a small satellite industrial park. Hell, downtown Mannheim is like Paris compared to that area!
Posted by
OP
sugar land
34 posts
If you look at Virtual Tourist's site and look up the Etap it has decent reviews for what it it. I think I was just trying to save a buck....I just hope we don't have trouble finding it. I have mapped out most of my routes on Google Map.
Posted by
Danville, VT
12040 posts
One final bit of advice. As you drive into Heidelberg alond 656, pay close attention to the road signs. Even though it appears you are still driving on an autobahn, a sign indicates the autobhan has ended, then in quick succession, there's a sign marking the boundary for Heidelberg. Important to realize that the signs for towns don't just mark the municipal limits, but they also imply a change of the speed limit to 50 km/hr. Immediately after the Heidelberg sign, there's a speed camera. Virtually every time I drive this way I see someone getting flashed- including myself the first time I drove here.
Posted by
Atlanta
1358 posts
I'll second the vote for Luisenpark. It's the best park we've been to. The entrance fee is nominal. If you have more time to kill in Mannheim, there's also lots of trails winding around by the Rhine, but they're not well mapped, so it's easy to get lost.