Heilbronn Germany Baden-Wurttemberg
Frequently Asked Questions
On the Neckar riverside, a few minutes' walk from the market squares. It is a low-key stop on the Neckar route, but access to the centre is direct and requires no transport.
Yes, without difficulty. St Kilian's church, the market square and the Neckarmeile are minutes apart. Only the climb to the Wartberg vineyard hill takes a full hour on foot.
St Kilian's church and its 1529 tower, the Renaissance city hall with its astronomical clock, then the experimenta on the island. The Neckarmeile at the end of the day, for a terrace by the water, rounds things off nicely.
Only partly, and it is fair to say so. On 4 December 1944 a bombing raid flattened the old core in about twenty minutes. The city rebuilt in the plain post-war style; only a few restored monuments recall its golden age as a free imperial city.
A 1580 mechanism set into the Renaissance city hall, whose figures come to life on the hour. It still runs on a setting established more than four centuries ago, and passers-by still gather to watch.
Germany's largest science centre, on the former industrial island between two arms of the river. Four floors of hands-on experiments, a space laboratory and a planetarium behind a spiralling glass facade.
Very much so, largely thanks to the experimenta: half a day disappears there without anyone noticing, and adults get as absorbed as the children. The footbridge leading to it also gives a fine view over the river port and its old coal cranes.
Trollinger, light and fruity, the everyday red of Swabian tables, and Lemberger, a distinctly fuller-bodied red. The wine taverns on the pedestrian streets serve them with hearty dishes: cheese spätzle, grilled sausages, braised pork knuckle.
The euro. Restaurants, the experimenta and centre shops take cards, but wine taverns and Neckarmeile kiosks often prefer cash. Carry a few notes.
If you have time and decent legs, yes. An hour's walk among the vines leads to a panoramic table with a view running from the rebuilt spires to the hills of the Hohenlohe country. On a short call, it is better skipped.
