Heidelberg Ex-Pat Survivors Guide - Recently Updated Pages

Doctors/Dentists

Anonymous — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 06:40:43 CST

Dr Andreas Wiens

Pediatrician
Neckarstaden 22
Phone 06221-2 40 55
Heidelberg
Speaks excellent English, and office staff also speaks English. He is a good Dr. We were referred to him by another US expat.

Dr. Jörg Schulte-Ihlenfeld

Dentist
phone +49 6221 2 66 77
Address: Friedrich-Ebert-Anlage,
769117 Heidelberg.

Dr. [name here]

Sara's OBGYN

Frauenärztin Martina Lauterbach | Heidelberg Poststr. 40 | 69115 Heidelberg | Tel.: 06221 27667
Excellent OBGYN - English speaking - My wife and I went there many times during our pregnancy - came recommended from a friend.

Knutz Betzold, Dentist

Tel: +49 6227842642
Altrottstr. 34a , Walldorf (Walking distance from SAP)
Very professional and high tech! Speaks perfect English and provides special glasses that you can wear and watch movies during your dental cleanings! Very cool!

Need specific contact information!

testpage

Anonymous — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 20:55:22 CDT

Hair/Pharmacy/Laundry

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:25:08 CDT

Friseur (this means 'haircut place' in German)

Roland Curth Friseur
Bruckenstrasse 1 (right by the bridge. This link is approximate.)
Heidelberg, Neuenheim
06221-412209
We got our hair cut at Roland Curth many times. Kassandra is a great stylist and speaks excellent English. Others who pickup the phone will likely speak English. Men's cut/dry is 23 euro; women's between 35-40 euro.

Laundry

OK, I'm lazy so I had all of my shirts laundered/pressed at SAP in WDF01, basement. Open from 11:30-14:00. Shirts are 1.90euro. Very convenient (if you work at SAP).

Pharmacies

There are pharmacies on nearly every block in German cities. It's actually quite amazing, and unlike the US.

The pharmacy we liked in our neighborhood is on the corner of Steubenstrasse & Kapellenweg. They are very friendly and speak some English.
If you need an after hours pharmacy go to any pharmacy and read the posting on the door. There is typically one pharmacy in each town open 24 hours. They rotate so you never are sure which one will be open. All pharmacies typically post on the door which one in town is open.

Things To Do

Anonymous — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:23:12 CDT

Things To Do Around Heidelberg On a Weekend

So, you're in Heidelberg (or Walldorf) on a business trip and you have a weekend to kill. What to do, what to do... (aside from work)

Around Heidelberg

Philosopher's walk and beyond...

So, most people visit HD, walk across the bridge and if they are feeling adventurous they walk up a couple of hundred steps to the philosopher's walk. (Philosophenweg) There are fantastic views of Heidelberg here but if you have time there is a lot to see further up the mountain. Continue hiking up the mountain by following trails that go up. There are many and it can be confusing but you can always ask for directions if you get lost. There are also guide stones at many of the trails. Follow arrows that point towards Heiligenberg. ("Holy Mountain")
If you go up from the trails close to the wooden art sculptures and the childrens park you will come across a signal tower. You can climb the tower and get some nice views of the Neckar river. After you get to the top (about an hour walk), you will come across some church ruins and a tower. The tower is a more modern tourist attraction (~1800 or 1900), but the church ruins are quite old. Yes, you can climb the stairs to the top and you can look down on all of Heidelberg. (This is the tower that you can see on top of the mountain if you look up from the old bridge). Across the street from the church ruins is a small pavilion where there is an old well. It is very deep - don't forget to push the button on the wall to turn on the light. Continue up the road and you will come to a bier garden. (if this is your first time to Germany than let it be known that there is no mountain in germany that exists where you cannot buy a beer on top). This is not always open so save your thirst for when you return to the altstadt - there is more to see... Just up the road is a Nazi amphitheater that has been built out of stone. It is called Thingstatte. Climb the stairs to the top and continue up the small hill to the Cloister Ruins. The ruins are the remains of a large cloister - you can see the crypts, all of the walls and rooms and there are a couple of towers remaining which offer great views of the surrounding forest. After exploring all the nooks and crannies walk back down to HD and get that well-earned beer. There is also an old Celtic ring wall surrounding the top of Heiligenberg, which can be seen by following the trails.

Koenigstuhl Hike

After you explore the castle and the gardens and you are looking for some way to work off the Semmelknoedels that you ate for dinner last night then plan a hike up to the top of Koenigstuhl. This is the mountain behind the castle. You can also take the bergbahn or the city bus to the top but that is not as rewarding as hiking it. Behind the castle near the parking lots you can find a trail that heads into the forest up the mountain. There is a long winding trail or a steep rustic stone stair way that goes up to the top. Just when it seems like it never ends you will come out to the top and the first thing you will see is... yep... you guessed it... a bier garden. Have a bier - you earned it. There is also a falcon show in the summer time but I think it is only in Deutsch. If there is one going on you will be able to see the falcons flying around with little bells on. Enjoy the bier and the great views of Heidelberg and Mannheim. Walk back down or take the bergbahn if dark is approaching.

Nearby Towns/Drives

Ladenburg (10 minute drive north, there is a brown sign on the A5). Cool walled medieval town, nice square, interesting church. Visible Roman ruins (old foundations, not Colosseum-scale!) Some good restaurants, in particular Backmulde. See this link for more info.
http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/ladenburg.htm

Weinheim (15 minute drive north, also a brown sign on the A5). Another medieval town with an even cooler square than Ladenburg with many restaurants/bars. This is a weekend destination during the summer. Small jewish quarter (kinda interesting).
http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/weinheim.htm

If you drive up the Neckar there are several small castles. Burg Hornberg is a fairly interesting ruin with quite a good winery on the north bank. Perhaps 30-60 minutes from Hberg.
http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/neckar_river.htm

About 45 minutes south is Baden Baden. Located on the edge of the Black Forest it is world famous for it spas. (leave your modesty at home - it is so rejuvenating) Baden Baden also has many nice restaurants, cafes, a castle and a casino. (Casinos in Europe are mostly all formal dress)

Speyer (~45min by train). Small medieval city with several large cathedral and the Domgarten. The Dom is in the center of town, just off the High Street, which you can explore for free. Everything is well intact (wasn't bombed in WWII) and the whole town is easily walkable.

Day Trips

Slightly further afield is Schwabisch Hall, perhaps 2 hours from Hberg on the A6. Another medieval town with a very interesting church with good art. Behind the alter is an interesting glass window inset into the floor (check it out!). You could do this in combination with a drive up the Neckar.
http://www.tompgalvin.com/places/de/baden_wuerttemberg/schwaebisch_hall.htm
http://goeurope.about.com/od/germany/p/schwabisch.htm

The Alsace region in France is about 2 hours away. Great wine region and amazingly pretty any time of year, but especially summer/fall. Riquewihr is a town to head towards. Loads of easy winetasting in the nearby towns (just walk in and they will serve you & speak English). The drive from Riquewihr to Kientzheim & Kaysersberg is great, as are those two towns. For dinner, I cannot remember the winery name, but walk up the hill on the main street in Riquewihr. On the left you will see steps going down into a wine tasting cave. This place has a great restaurant (up the stairs to the left of the cave).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Riquewihr
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&saddr=kaysersberg,+france&daddr=Riquewihr,+france&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=48.146217,7.292862&spn=0.024339,0.058537&om=1

Colmar is the main city/town in the Alsace. Very cool town, great city center, loads of history.

Hotels

Anonymous — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:06:47 CST

SAP Employees: You can book these on www.hotelbooker.org

Goldene Falke - Directly on the marktplatz, above Cafe Elin. Clean,small simple rooms. Sparse even. Due to age of building, floors slant, no elevator, etc. Typical altbau hotel with little renovation. Nice staff, plain breakfast. Not the warmest place in Winter. Probably great in Summer. No parking, but has a subsidized rate at Parkhouse 13 (? not sure on the number - the one with the train to the castle in it)

Perkeo - On the Hauptstrasse, about halfway between Bismarkplatz and the Marktplatz. Better furnished than the Goldene Falke with nice large rooms, carpet, couches, etc. I stayed in room 25 across from the attic. The room was huge, with a great view of the rooftops of the city. Nice staff, good breakfast. No elevator, lots of steps. Has 6 parking spots at a garage around the block. On my stay I got a spot for 2 days and had to park in Parkhouse 6 the last night. No big deal, it's right around the corner too and cheaper than the hotel parking.

Kulturbrauerei - Past the markplatz about two blocks towards Neckargemund (up the river). Love the beer. Friends who have stayed here say that it's nice, but small and kind of loud. Parking available at the hotel. Very modern rooms - recently expanded into adjacent building. Some rooms that face public areas can be loud but most are not bad. Rooms are approximately 110 Euro

Hotel zur Alten Bruecke - Directly in front of the old bridge. The hotel restaurant, Nepomuk is a personal favorite. One of the few places in HD where you can get a great salad, pumpkin-ginger soup, excellent saumagen, and a nice schnapps all in the same meal. The hotel is very nice - modern and spacious rooms. If I remember correctly - rooms are 100 - 150 Euro per night.

Hotel Vier Jahreseiten - Definitely gets a thumbs-up for staff friendlyness, even if the rooms are a bit on the shabby side. Family run by the Weil brothers. In the evening you get the bearded, gruff, reclusive-seeming Weil brother (although within 5 minutes he'll have already managed to recommend restaurants,pubs, etc. without breaking the facade) , and in the morning you get the cherubic Weil brother who will barely let you out of the place with all of his stories and helpfulness. Rooms are large, but not very recently renovated. Fantastic views of the old bridge and river. Only complaint is the maid service who have no patience or shame at kicking you out of your room by noon on the weekends! (if you visit the pubs section on this wiki, this detail will matter to you - remember that German pubs often serve until 3/4!). Has daily shuttles to and from SAP WDF due to large number of SAP guests.

Crowne Plaza Heidelberg - First hotel most people stay at in HD. Anglo-American style hotel complete with scrambled eggs at breakfast, a bar/restaurant and a Lufthansa shuttlebus to and from the airport. About a 5 minute walk from the Bismarkplatz, a good hotel to put partners and first-time visitors. Kind of impersonal in that way that only international hotel chains can be. Not my fave, but definitely convenient and comfortable. Has own parking.

NH Heidelberg
This is a euro business hotel chain. Mostly Europeans stay here, mix of tourists and business people. Fairly impersonal, like the Crowne or Marriot. However, rooms are much nicer than either. Wireless is expensive, and iPass didn't work (even though it was supposed to). Large breakfast buffet smorgasbord deluxe. Dinner is lame. Good laundry service. Underground parking. Location is between the Marriot and Crowne. It's also near a good French-style bistro called Tati.

Restaurants

Anonymous — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 10:28:03 CDT

In general, restaurants in Germany are kid friendly. Many will have highchairs. Some will have kids portions. But, overall, kids are welcome. The primary exception is if you're having a fine dining experience at a Michelin restaurant that takes 3+ hours. I wouldn't recommend that with kids.

Asking for the check
Just say "Ich würde gerne bezahlen". The check will not come until you ask for it. The table is yours and you will never be pressured to leave.

Tipping
10% is usually more than enough. The process is to include the tip when you pay. Do not leave the tip on the table! If using cash, the waitron will bring the bill and expect you to pay immediately. So, this means you must calculate the tip in your head, hand over the money, and say how much you are going to pay. For example, let's say the bill is 20 and you want to leave 2 as a tip. If you hand over 30 Euro, tell the waitron you'd like 8 in return (or you can say you'd like to pay 22 in total).

Dogs in Restaurants
We had our dog living with us in Germany and we took her with us everywhere. Most restaurants allow dogs and typically wait staff will even bring water for them. Typically if a restaurant does not allow dogs it will be posted on the door and will say something similar to "Hunde mussen draussen bleiben." There is some sort of unwritten code when it comes to dogs in Germany. If your dog does not behave well in public then clearly they do not belong in restaurants. If your dog does not get along with other dogs than if you walk into a restaurant and there is already a dog there it is common sense to just move along to the next restaurant.

Onyx
Mannheim
http://www.onyx-mannheim.de/
Hip, stylish, trendy sorta restaurant. Nice outdoor seating in summer overlooking the park and wasserturm (old water tower). Good good. German standards with a moderinsh twist, plus a few bizarre non-German dishes. Food is good. Service is good. Good place for a cocktail. English spoken + English menu available. There are lots of Americans in Mannheim, mostly affiliated with the army. Moderately Expensive->Expensive

Alte Seilerei
Located in downtown Karlsruhe.
http://www.seilerei-karlsruhe.de/site/index.html
More of a casual fine dining place, a weinstube. Recommended. Good, inexpensive winelist. They speak English. Good value for money. Moderately expensive

Die Kartoffel
Famous restaurant located in Ladenburg Altstadt. Argentinean steaks served on a hot stone that you cook yourself. Comes with a huge baked potato that is sometimes hard to find under copious amounts of some of the best sour cream on the planet. Great place, great food, great fun.

Heidelberg

Weisser Bock
In Heidelberg, Aldstadt.
Große Mantelgasse 24
http://www.weisserbock.de/
Traditional German food. Good restaurant, moderately priced, great wine list. Also has extensive veggie menu (lots of upper end tourists go here). Good service. Need reservations on the weekend. Probably not too kid friendly due to time it takes to eat (but older kids, yes).Moderately expensive->expensive.

Vetters
Heidelberg, Aldstadt
Steingasse 9
http://www.brauhaus-vetter.de/
Down & dirty brewery just down from the alte brucke (old bridge). Schnitzel & Sausages. One or two veggie options. Decent beer (not great). I like it cause it has a good, friendly, casual atmosphere. Food is OK to good. Nothing special. Efficient service. Kid friendly.

Kulturbraurei
Heidelberg, Aldstadt
http://www.heidelberger-kulturbrauerei.de/
Popular place (with tourists and locals). Traditional German food. Decent beer, good (but not great) food. Better food of this type can be had for cheaper outside of the aldstadt. Kid friendly. Inexpensive->Moderately expensive.

Schnitzelhaus
Located in Neckarmunzplatz in HD - Altstadt. (square along the river near the end of town where the tour busses park during the day.) They have over 100 different kind of schnitzels and after trying most of them I have never been disappointed. Cheap and delicious - very friendly - English speaking and menus.

Hemingway's
Located along the river in HD-Altstadt. Great food with South African influence. (nothing weird) All the food is amazing. Excellent atmosphere and outdoor seating.

Bier Bretzel
Heidelberg, Aldstadt (Marktplatz)
Right in fromt of the HBerg cathedral. Cheap, friendly, good beer. (Welde). They serve pizzas, salads, flammkuchen (a sort of flatbread with white sauce, not red. Very good). Cheap & cheerful. Quick, kid friendly. Probably very busy in the summer.

Grey Stones
Located across from Vetter's near the old bridge in HD-Altstadt. Very modern contemporary place. Food is light but quite good. nice drink menu and atmosphere.

Print Media Lounge
Located across from the HD-Hauptbahnhof. Inside the Heidelberger Drueckmaschinen building - look for the big horse statue. The is one of the most impressive uses of space in HD. The lounge is located around an indoor stone filled pool. This place is all about atmosphere. Drinks are very good. I have never eaten there. It is expensive.

Roten Ochsen
Heidelberg, Aldstadt
http://www.roterochsen.de/
A Heidelberg classic. We had to go because... it's a classic, I guess. Kid friendly, good ambience, and surprisingly friendly service considering it's been on the map forever. Still a family joint. Decent food, traditional German. English spoken+menu. Inexpensive.

Akademie
Heidelberg, edge of the Aldstadt on corner of Akademiestrasse & Plock
Great Italian restaurant. Order from the chalkboard specials, not the menu. A bit of English is spoken. If you wanna splurge, order the '95 Lisini Brunello. It will delight you. Reservations reccomended. Moderately Expensive->Expensive.

Mike Tschudy writes: Peter, Anya and Sandra and I had a nice dinner- it came out to be about 24 Euros a head.

Sudpfanne
Hauptstrasse 223
http://www.heidelberger-sudpfanne.de/
Very good, traditional German food. Better than Vetter's. Very good ribs that they are often sold out of. I prefer it over Kulturbrauerei. Very casual, simple ambience. Not veggie-friendly. It's small, so not great for a group. However, they do have a very cool group room in the back which you must reserve in advance. I assume they speak English (but I'm not sure). Very inexpensive.

Alt Hendesee
Mühltalstraße 4
Heidelberg, Handschuhsheim neighborhood
Good beer garden in summer, good German restaurant. Friendly service, good price/quality ratio and huge portions. Good ambience inside and out. Recommended. Not touristy. Moderately Expensive.

Gilbert's Goldener Adler
Handschuhsheimer Landstrasse 96
Heidelberg, Handschuhsheim neighborhood
Same owner's as Alt Hendesee. Above average Germany food. You may find something veggie (but I cannot promise). Great beer garden. Cool interior. Very simple & casual. Friendly service, big portions. Recommended. Not touristy. Moderately expensive.

Roter Ochsen
Mühltalstraße ?? (approx location)
Heidelberg, Handschuhsheim
Across the street from Alt Hendessee. Same type of place, old-school German. Good beer garden, and the food is a notch better than Alt Hendessee, in our opinion. Slightly larger, with several different seating areas. There's a cool room in the front for a large party. Recommended. Moderaltely Expensive.

Lamm (bier garten, not the fancy restaurant)
Heidelberg, Handshusheim
http://www.lamm-heidelberg.de/
We only ate in the biergarten. I have no clue why they don't serve the upmarket menu outside, and we saw more than one German couple walk out as a result. But, even in the downmarket restaurant, the food is very good. Traditional German, but very fresh. A good beer garden, but not a rowdy place. Slightly stuffy (comparatively) but still nice. Kid friendly. Moderately Expensive.

O'Rileys Irish Pub
Heidelberg, Neuenheim
http://www.oreillys.com/Heidelberg/Heidelbergwelcomepage.htm
A favorite of many ex-pats. Decent food (cottage pie, burgers). Nothing fancy. Kid friendly, but smoky when crowded. More of a cave-like atmosphere more appropriate during winter than summer. Guiness, of course. Big screen TV, sports and American football. Inexpensive.

French Cafe (cannot remember the name)
Heidelberg, Neunheim, Neuenheimmarktplatz (on Ladenburger Strasse)
Small cafe. In the summer the table spill out onto the markplatz. Very social. You can get a good salad here (as close to an 'American style' salad as I've found). They also serve decent wine by the glass. Inexpensive.

Marktstuebel
Heidelberg, Neunheim, Neuenheimmarktplatz (on Ladenburger Strasse)
Across from the French cafe. In the summer the table spill out onto the markplatz. They serve flammkuchen (sorta like a flatbread pizza with white sauce). They also serve my personal favorite weizen (wheat beer), Hoepfner. Very tasty. Inexpensive.

DorfSchanke
Located in Neuenheim a few doors down from Neunheimermarktplatz (towards the river) They have great german food. Steaks are awesome. I don't think they have an English menu. In fact I think they only have a handwritten german menu which is difficult to read. Definitely learn your german food words if you want to know what you are getting. I am sure the wait staff speaks English.

Strahlenberger Hof
Schreisheim
http://www.strahlenbergerhof.de/
Awesome! Awesome! Awesome! Special occasions, or if you want to drop 100E per head, but they are so cool and the food is amazing.

Goldener Hirsch
Schreisheim
http://www.goldenerhirsch-schriesheim.de/
Little brother of Strahlenberger Hof. Same owners. Good food, good wine list. Not exemplary like the other place, but it's also 25% of the cost.

Backmulde
Ladenburg
Hauptstrasse 61
http://www.back-mul.de/
This is a great place in a nice location in the center of Ladenburg, a cool village. Good wine list. Great food. Veggie-friendly. The staff speak English and the service is good. Have dinner in a 16th century building.

Lowenthor
Gondelsheim
Bruchsalerstrasse 4
http://www.loewenthor.de/
We never made it here but we heard it was great. A great ambience, and apparently Napoleon once stayed here. It's near Bruchsal just south of Walldorf.

Thai Restaurants
There are 3 that I've tried in Hberg. They are all OK, not great, but welcome if you're tired of German food. One is near the Marriot on the corner. The other two are behind the Crowne Plaza within 1-2 blocks of each other.

Ruen Thai restaurant in the SAP Industrial Park in Rot is excellent. The ambiance is a bit lacking but the wait staff is friendly and quick and the food is some of the best Thai food around.

Incomplete...

Place in Westadt where we had breakfast maybe the Schwarze Wahlfisch??? -- they have good breakfast

Italian place in Neuenheim
Not bad. Again, order from the specials, not the menu. Wine list is decent, if overpriced. Service is OK. Not as good as Akademie. Goood outdoor seating in summer.

Pizza takeout/delivery in Neuenheim.
Efficient take out/delivery service. Also have eat-in, but we never tried it. Pizza is good (better than average in Germany), but overall disappointing if you have a fave pizza joint in the US or Italy. This is convenience. Inexpensive.

Pubs/Bars

Anonymous — Sat, 05 May 2007 20:54:36 CDT

Destille - Easily one of the best pubs in the world. Don't go in here unless you are serious. :) No food, no live music, one pinball machine. The kind of place that puts a Whitesnake cd in and plays the entire album. Try a gehangter while you are there, you'll like it!

Café Elín - "The Greek" café. Good eats, good people, and one of the better cappuccinos in town. Not to mention sweet delicious drinks served up by our favorite greek, Theo...

Bier Brezl - On the Marktplatz. One night a week they even let you pour your own beers from a tap in the middle of the dining room!

Groceries

frankejj — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 07:54:18 CST

Good Neuenheim Shopping Strip

Corner of Stuebenstrasse & Kapellenweg. There is an excellent green grocer and two butcher shops. Two bakeries. And Fair und Quer - basically, a small Whole Foods type place (not as big, of course).

Organic/Health food aka "Bio" stores

Füllhorn

Alnatura

Fair und Quer

Larger 'Traditional' Grocery Stores

Supermarkets:
MiniMal - now Rewe
Lidl
Aldi

Drugstores

DM(sorta like a Wallgreens): There's a big one on Bismarkplatz

There are small pharmacies on nearly every block. They often have a green cross on the outside.

Open Air Markets

Neuenheim Market
Neuenheimmarktplatz, Heidelberg
Every Wednesday & Saturday
Good to great selection of produce (depends on season), meats, cheeses, flowers. And my favorite little portable coffee stand. Also breads, cakes, preserved things, and spices. Pretty much everything. Great French Bakery and Italian Deli on the same block open daily.

Tiefburg Market
Handshusheim, Heidelberg
Every Saturday (maybe Wednesday??)
Similar to Neunheim market. Generally, I prefer Neuenheim, but that's because there's also an adjacent French Bakery and awesome Italian deli nearby.

Heidelberg Marktplatz - Altstadt
Every Wednesday and Saturday morning. (~ 7AM - noon)
Fresh cheese, meat, bread, fish, produce, and flowers. Go early - mingle with the locals.

Specialty Food Shops

The following are all onLadenburger Str., Heidelberg-Neuenheim.

French Bakery "Patisserie La Flamm": most authentic croissants outside of France
Italian Deli - woman who runs it speaks excellent English and is very nice.
Produce (no name?) - Most expensive produce shop in Heidelberg nice place, good wine selection.
French Deli - owned by the French Bakery people

Heidelberg Altstadt (and vicinity)

French specialty shop - on Bergheimerstrasse about 1 block from Bismarckplatz - great wine, cheeses, and other specialty items.
British specialty shop - in mall across from the Hauptbahnhof - English movies and imported dry goods from UK.
English Books - Thalia Bucher on the Hauptstrasse has large selection of English books.

Home

murphtron — Sun, 25 Jun 2006 03:36:23 CDT

Welcome to the Heidelberg Ex-Pat lifeline. Anyone is welcome to edit these pages to make additions or corrections.

We've collected information on our favorite restaurants, where to get your haircut, where to buy groceries... all of the things you need to know to survive day to day. We do not have any specific immigration-related information. My company, SAP, took care of those details. But, you can find all of that information at www.expatica.com. This is a great ex-pat resource of a more thorough nature.

Please let me know how to improve this information resource.