Heidelberg.

Heidelberg (August 2024).

This was the second stop on a two-week road trip that started with the F1 at Zandvoort, went on to Monza, and came home through Dijon. F1 weekends are brilliant, but they're loud, packed and relentless, so in between the races I wanted the opposite: quiet, historic, beautiful places that are slightly less obvious. Heidelberg was exactly that.

Where we stayed.

A cute little one-room courtyard Airbnb right in the old town, with everything on the doorstep.

The old town.

It sits in a valley on the river Neckar, with wooded hills on both sides and the castle watching over everything. The old town is cobbled lanes and painted buildings, best done on foot. Park up and forget the car for a couple of days.

The castle.

The castle is half ruin, half palace, built in red sandstone and huge up close. Down in the cellar is the giant wine barrel, the Heidelberg Tun. It's so big it has a staircase up the side and a platform on top. You have to see it to believe it.

Up the hill.

The funicular has two stops. The first is the castle, but it's worth staying on to the second, where the hotel sits up on the hill. The old wooden carriages are part of the fun, the views stretch right out across the valley, and it makes a nice stop for lunch.

The Old Bridge.

Walk across the Old Bridge in the evening, with the gate towers at one end and the castle lit up above the town. It's the postcard shot for a reason.

Food and beer.

The standout meal was the pork knuckle.

Vetter's brewery claims the strongest beer in the world, and it once made the Guinness Book of Records. I had it as part of a five-beer flight and was told, very strictly, to leave it till last. Good advice.

Heidelberg is quiet, beautiful and about as far from a grandstand as you can get. All of life is out there.

Getting there.

We drove. LeShuttle from Folkestone to Calais, up to Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix, then on to Heidelberg. Calais to Heidelberg is about 675 km, roughly seven hours, and German motorways are free.

Other options: Eurostar to Brussels, then ICE trains via Frankfurt or Mannheim, about seven hours with two changes. Or fly to Frankfurt with BA or Lufthansa. From Frankfurt airport, a train to Heidelberg is about €28 with one change, and Flixbus is cheaper.

Where to stay.

We had an Airbnb flat on Kleine Mantelgasse in the old town, a few minutes from the Old Bridge, for three nights.

Budget: Lotte – The Backpackers on Burgweg, in the old town, around £65 a night. Meininger at the station is cheaper again. Mid-range: Hotel zum Ritter St. Georg on Hauptstraße, a Renaissance building five minutes from the castle, around £85. Fancy: Der Europäische Hof, five stars on the edge of the old town, around £300.

Worth doing.

The beer flight at Vetter's, the castle and the Tun, and the funicular up for lunch.

With more time: the Philosophenweg across the river for the classic castle view, the old student prison (Studentenkarzer), and the funicular all the way to the Königstuhl.