Neckar River area

My first recommendation would be the Hotel Hollander in Heidelberg. Can't beat the view. One side of the hotel looks out on the Karl Theodor Bridge on the river, and the other side looks right at the Schloss. Nearby Schwetzingen is also a pleasant town that has a seldom-visited baroque palace.

I love Luisenpark in Mannheim, but I wouldn't stay in this city unless you're a fan of chemical factories or inland ports.

I can second the Hotel Hollander Hof in Heidelberg. Great central location, excellent service, and wonderful views of the river, which is right across the street. Nice little restaurant right next door, which serves traditional food, and other specialties of the area.

As an alternative, you may also want to consider visiting the small town of Bad Wimpfen, not far down (up ?) the river. Much smaller than Heidelberg, but very attractive and also an enjoyable place to take a stroll.

Bad Wimpfen is UP the river from Heidelberg.

I'm not familiar with the part of the Neckar from Stuttgart down to Heidelberg, but several of my ancestors came from the area to the south of Stuttgart. One place I would recommend, not on the Neckar, actually, but on the upper Danube, is Sigmaringen, site of a Hollenzollern castle.

I spent two terms--winter and spring--in the little town of Eningen unter Achalm near Reutlingen in the Neckar Valley and will always have a soft spot for this region of Germany. This is the Schwabish Alb and is really quite beautiful. Lovely valleys and small villages. Eningen is much bigger now than it was in 1970's, but the Achalm is still there to be climbed and the apple orchards are still on the hillside. Tubingen is probably the most interesting city. It's a university city and would definitely be a backdoor. Ulm is also part of this area and a very interesting city to visit. We all liked visiting Schloss Lichtenstein.

Pam

Ditto James' statement. Yes, there are tourists in Heidelberg, but also a whole lot of students. How anyone can stand on Karl-Theodor bridge, looking at the beautiful view of the Schloss, the Altstadt and the mountains and say "This is too touristy" is beyond me.

PS- Waiting for someone on the west coast to tell me that I'm wrong and Rick Steves is right...

I have never understood the dissing of Heidelberg as being too touristy either, but thinking the zillion tourists in Rothenburg are ok. Then again, Rick thinks Mainz isn't worth visiting either. A city with one of the oldest, and most impressive cathedrals around as well as lots of Roman ruins.

Heidelberg is beautiful and really well worth seeing.

Heidelburg it is! Thank you all for the suggestions. We have reservations at B&B's for all of our trip except for the last few nights. I think we'll just "wing it" and be adventurous, as we usually do - especially in October (lots of "zimmer frei").

I lived in Heidelberg for a couple years and miss it tremendously, it is one of the greatest little places in the world and well worth a couple days.

Here's a little known tip most people don't know when it comes to places to stay: The Dubliner Irish Pub. It's right smack dab in the middle of the Hautpstrasse, they have rooms to rent and it's comparitively cheap for the heart of the Alt Stadt. I believe a double is like 85 euros or so. Ask for the "suite", it's on the very top floor, has a great view and only costs a like 100 euros a night. The rooms are pretty basic but you can't beat the value for the location...

In May 2009 my husband and I rolled into Heidelberg without a hotel reservation. We found the woman at the TI in the main train station to be most helpful with getting a room. She had a computer that seemed to have access to a system showing all sorts of hotel availability and their last-minute rates. We wound up at the Villa Marstall for well under their published nightly rate and it was a gorgeous hotel (much fancier than we would have booked from home in advance). In fact, our rate was even lower than their "last-minute" rate they'd published at the TI, as we were able to negotiate it down further once we stopped by the hotel in person.

Good luck (we absolutely loved Heidelberg)!

We always travel "off-season" October - and even with Oktoberfest - crowds have not been a problem in Bavaria before. We prefer to make reservations in smaller towns, but we will at least visit Heidelburg. Many good memories were made at the "Heidelburg Castle" beergarden/restaurant here in Sarasota years ago, so it merits a visit if just for that reason!

Just because Tom threw down such a peculiar challenge--he wants someone on the West Coast to tell him they don't like Heidelberg? (I guess there's a back story here I don't know about. I don't remember Rick "hating" Heidelberg, either)--I guess I'll do it. I've been and it seems like one of those places that is probably nice to live, but isn't that interesting to visit. Although I did appreciate, at the end of a German vacation, the variety of ethnic restaurants there. The ones were tried weren't good, but it was still nice to have a change. Just my 2 cents.

Kathy,

While I'm not crazy about Heidelberg, I do recommend visiting it for a variety of reasons, been there twice, the first time in 1971,(when I stayed at the DJH hostel), the last in 1997, both times in the summer, both times hot, and both times just swamped with tourists and lots and lots of Americans, just as it is in Rothenburg. Heidelberg is a very nice walking city; whether it's touristy or not or how RS views the place is immaterial. Just as an university city is reason enough to go there.

Do consider visiting Bad Wimpfen even if you stay in Heidelberg. Beautiful little gem with the charm of Rothenburg without all the tourists.

http://www.badwimpfen.de/showpage.php?lang=2

If you want see the best of Heidelberg, walk up the Philosophenweg across the river. The view from up there is worth the trip to Heidelberg and one you will never forget. I've never understood why more people don't do this when they go to Heidelberg, you won't find a better view anywhere in the town.