Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [358]
L’Épicerie ( 438 357; Hauptstrasse 35; 10pm-5am Wed-Sat) In a courtyard off Hauptstrasse, L’Épicerie attracts foodies with its luscious pralines, spices, oils and preserves.
Sobral ( 654 7750; Steingasse 12) Brazilian designer Carlos Alberto Sobral has brought primary colours and pop-art creativity to catwalks across the globe. Find his jelly-bean bright jewellery and home accessories here.
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Getting There & Away
Heidelberg is 21km southeast of Mannheim and 120km northwest of Stuttgart.
Lufthansa’s Airport Shuttle ( 0621-651 620; www.lufthansa-airportbus.de) links the Crowne Plaza Hotel (Kurfürstenanlage 1-3), three blocks southwest of Bismarckplatz, with Frankfurt airport (€20, 1¼ hours, almost hourly).
The north–south A5 links Heidelberg with both Frankfurt and Karlsruhe.
There are at least hourly train services to/from Baden-Baden (€15.20 to €26, one hour to 1½ hours), Frankfurt (€15.20 to €25.50, one hour to 1½ hours) and Stuttgart (€19.60 to €35, 40 minutes to 1½ hours).
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Getting Around
Bikes can be hired from Eldorado ( 654 4460; www.eldorado-hd.de, in German; Neckarstaden 52; per day €15; 10am-noon & 2-6pm Tue-Fri, 10am-6pm Sat, 2-6pm Sun), three short blocks west of the Alte Brücke.
The city’s underground car parks charge around €1.50 per hour and €16 per day.
Tram 5 and buses 33, 34, 21 and 5 link the Hauptbahnhof with Bismarckplatz, the main hub for public transport (www.vrn.de). Single tickets cost €2.10; a 24-hour pass (also valid on Sunday if stamped Saturday) for one/five people costs €5.20/9. Tickets are sold by drivers (except on tram line 5) and at ticket machines.
Taxis ( 302 030) line up outside the Hauptbahnhof. It costs about €12 from the Hauptbahnhof to the Alte Brücke.
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AROUND HEIDELBERG
The grand summer residence of Prince-Elector Karl Theodor (1724–99), Schloss Schwetzingen ( 06221-538 431; www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de; adult/concession Apr-Oct €8/4, Nov-Mar €6/3, garden only Apr-Oct €4/2, Nov-Mar €2.50/1.30; tours 10am-4pm Tue-Fri, 11am-5pm Sat & Sun Apr-Oct, 2pm Fri, 11am, 2pm & 3pm Sat & Sun Nov-Mar, gardens 9am-7.30pm Apr-Oct, to 4.30pm Nov-Mar) is a throwback to the glamorous era of German baroque.
Inspired by Versailles, the whimsical gardens hide follies such as the columned Temple Apollos and the Chinesische Brücke, an arched Chinese bridge. Inside the Jagdschloss (Hunting Palace) is the Rokokotheater (1752), with a tunnel illusion that enhances its dimensions.
Schloss Schwetzingen is just off the A6, 10km west of Heidelberg and 8km south of Mannheim. It’s linked to Heidelberg’s Hauptbahnhof by bus 717 (€3.50, 30 minutes, twice an hour) and to Mannheim’s Hauptbahnhof by bus 710 (€3.50, 35 minutes, twice an hour).
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MANNHEIM
0621 / pop 309,800
OK, so the smokestacks and nondescript concrete high-rises aren’t scenic Germany at its best, but let’s just say you can’t take Mannheim at face value. Underpinning the working-class gloom and industrial doom is a dynamic city with big-name shopping, an alphanumeric grid layout that will tickle chess fans for hours, and an energetic cultural scene.
Synagogues, mosques and churches hint at Mannheim’s ethnic diversity. Factor in a walk through Jungbusch Turkish quarter, filled with animated street life, cafes and shwarma joints, and you will realise – despite what streets called ‘Q3, 16’ suggest – that Mannheim is very much a name, not a number.
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Orientation & Information
Surrounded by a ring road, Mannheim’s centre is sandwiched between the Rhine (southwest) and the Neckar (northeast). It is divided into four quadrants by two largely pedestrianised shopping streets, north–south Breite Strasse and east–west Planken, with Paradeplatz at their intersection. The Hauptbahnhof is at the southern edge of the centre.
Main post office (O2) Next to Paradeplatz.
Tourist office ( 293 8700; www.tourist-mannheim.de; Willy-Brandt-Platz 3; 9am-7pm Mon-Fri, 10am-1pm Sat) Just