Heidelberg

A tranquil university town on the Neckar River, Heidelberg hosts some of Germany's most stellar natural panoramas and soul-stirring vistas of Baroque architecture. This picturesque city lies in the looming shadow of the dense Odenwald forest that extends for as many as 93 kilometres (57.7 miles) of German territory, south of Frankfurt. On Königstuhl, a soaring hilltop surrounded by lush expanses, the hauntingly ruinous Renaissance remains of the once-grand Heidelberg Castle watch silently over this charming city. Not far away, an ancient arch bridge, one of the city's most prized structures, bridges the Neckar River, slicing through the symbolic center of Heidelberg. On the other side of the bridge, an evocative maze of baroque buildings begin to take shape in what is Heidelberg's historic heart, forming one of the most memorable landscapes that adorn this city.