Heidelberg Transportation

Heidelberg is well connected to the rest of Germany by the fast ICE and also IC trains. It's only a little less than three hours to Cologne, where I came from, and it is easy to reach many other cities like Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. Trains also go directly to Salzburg in Austria and Zurich in Switerland from here. From the end of the Hauptstraße at Bismarckplatz it is a walk of about one and a half km to the station and because by then I had been walking all day, I took a tram to the central train station. It takes you there within a few minutes.

Heidelberg's train station is of middle size, you have a big bookshop, a groceries shop/drug store, public toilets, and a few fastfood stops.

The trams in Heidelberg are not really trains, but rather a streetcar. If you take the tram within the town centre, the fare is 1,10€, when you go a little further, it's 2,20€ (have a look at the different zones). I took the tram No 5 to Handschuhsheim (see Off The Beatehn Path tips) and it cost me 2,20€, then the same amount back to the centre, and later I went from Bismarckplatz to the central train station because I was too tired to walk.
What confused me a little is that in any case, you need to buy your ticket in advance at the tram stop. There is no way of buying it once you are in the tram. There are ticket machines/vendours at every stop, so please remember to buy one or you will end up having no ticket. You then need to validate the ticket once you are on the tram in one of the small validating machines.

Of course there are moe option if you are staying in Heidelberg longer or if you want to use trams more often!

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The new main station was one of the first new train stations in the young German federal republic and therefore has large dimensions & the charming architectural characteristics of the 1950s. Nowadays, it is listed as a protected historical building.
Throughout the decades renovations & new shops have changed the building, but on the main wall with its large clock you can still see the original mosaic from 1955 (see photo)

The new main station ("Hauptbahnhof") celebrated its 50th birthday on May 5th 2005. The opening ceremony in 1955 was held by the federal president of Germany at the time, Mr Theodor Heuss, who had also lived here for a number of years.

Per day approx. 42,000 travellers pass through the station; quite impressive numbers for a city of this relatively moderate size.

Lockers for luggage (or shopping bags ;-) are available in two sizes and cost between 2 - 4 EUROS. They are located along the hallway where all stairs to the various tracks branch-off. Upon payment you receive a small receipt with a number code, which you will need to later unlock your compartment. Usage is possible for up to 72 hours.

In the train station you will find:
> Travel Agency of the Deutsche Bahn
> McDonald's
> Bakery & Snack Bar
> Kiosk (cigarettes, drinks, magazines, int'l newspapers, etc.)
> An Italian Restaurant with smoking section
> "Ihr Platz" supermarket
> Public toilets (0.50 Euro cents per person)
> Public telephones (pay-card or coins)

Travel & Info Office: Opening Hours: Mon- Fri 09:00am-06:30pm.
Saturdays from 09:00am-01:00pm.
Address:
Willy-Brandt-Platz 5 / 69115 Heidelberg Hbf.

--> From Frankfurt airport take the ICE, change trains in Mannheim & into Heidelberg. Ticket per adult is 24.- EUROS (price in 2007).

Outside you will also find a Tourist Information Centre. (check my General tips)

From the main station you are excellently connected to the entire city by bus or tram.
NOTE:All tickets must be purchased BEFORE boarding the train, tram or bus.

The Baden-Württemberg-Ticket is a day pass for unlimited train transportation within the region/state of Baden-Württemberg. It costs 18 € for 1 person and 27 € for up to 5 persons! You are only allowed to use local trains or trams and the time frame is from 9 a.m. until 3 a.m. the next morning. Most public transportation is also included, but I usually ask to be 100% sure!

We used it to go from Eggenstein to Heidelberg and so the tram ride to the Karlsruhe trainstation was included, the train ride to Heidelberg and even public transportation within Heidelberg! This was a great bargain!!!

And had we started earlier and had not been invited for dinner back in Eggenstein that evening, we could have roamed the region so much more.... But there can always be a next time!!!

The ugly building in this photo was built in 2004/2005 and is the new lower station (Kornmarkt) of the Heidelberg funicular railways.

The building also includes a hotel and a huge parking garage for automobiles, so motorists can avoid getting even the slightest bit of exercise on their visit to Heidelberg. (The nearest hospital is several blocks away, however.)

From this station you can catch the lower funicular railway, which they say is "the most modern funicular railway in Germany." They forgot to mention that it is also the least interesting one, since it goes through a tunnel to get up to the castle.

Apparently it leaves the tunnel after that, but I have only taken it up to the castle, and the only reason I even took it was that I had an opera ticket for a performance in the castle courtyard, and a ride up on the funicular was included in the ticket price.

After the castle, the lower funicular goes on to a station called Molkenkur, where you can change to the upper funicular, which they say is the oldest funicular railway in Germany, having gone into operation in 1907.

Lots of people travel by bicycle in Heidelberg, as is obvious from this massive collection of bicycles parked in front of the Central Station in 2004.

For a long time Heidelberg did not have a bicycle parking garage at the station, but after years of lobbying by the Heidelberg chapter of the ADFC (the General German Bicycle Club) a new bicycle station was opened in July 2008 right next to track 1b, near the Ibis Hotel.

I haven't tried them yet, but they say they repair, wash and rent bicycles, as well as storing them.

Also there are now lots of new bicycle stands at the main station, so bicycle parking now (as of 2010) looks quite orderly compared to the chaos of 2004.

The walk from the central station to the old town is not terribly interesting, so after you have gone over and seen the S-Printing Horse you would be best off taking the tram to Bismarckplatz, which is where the main street begins.

For this short journey you only need a "City-Ticket", which used to cost only one Euro but has now gone up to 1.10 (still a bargain!) as of 2010.

The tram in the photo is going in the opposite direction, I must admit, but it was the only one that happened to be there when I wanted to take the picture. (The photo looks rather fuzzy in its reduced form, by the way. I don't know why that is, but if you click on it to enlarge it it's perfectly all right. Maybe someone can tell me why this occurs.)

You can go to the castle by funicular railway. You have to take it at Kornmarkt (it is a square). The journey to the castle takes around two minutes.

Otherwise you can go to the castle area via a path called Burgweg; it begins from Kornmarkt; or you can climb 303 steps along the Schlossweg.

You can also go to the castle by bus.