Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [420]
Backmulde ( 715 77; www.backmulde.de, in German; Karmeliterstrasse 11-13; mains €10-30; 11.30am-2.30pm & 7-11.30pm Tue-Sun) Owner-chef Gunter Schmidt has a knack for spinning fresh, local products into gourmet dishes with a Mediterranean flavour – thus his motto, cuisine sans frontières. A block south of the western side of the Altpörtel.
For picnic supplies, check out Tengelmann supermarket (Maximilianstrasse 50; 8am-9pm Mon-Sat), next to the Altpörtel.
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Getting There & Around
An S-Bahn line links the Hauptbahnhof with Ludwigshafen (€4.70, 18 minutes) and Mannheim (€4.70, 25 minutes), both key rail hubs, and Heidelberg (50 minutes). Change trains in Schifferstadt to get to Neustadt an der Weinstrasse (€4.70, 25 minutes, twice hourly) and Deidesheim (€5.90).
Parking costs €1.50 per day at the Festplatz, 500m south of the Dom and across (under) the A61 from the Technik Museum.
The convenient City-Shuttle minibus (bus 565; day pass €1) links the Hauptbahnhof, Maximilianstrasse, the Dom, Festplatz, the Technik Museum and the youth hostel at 10- or 15-minute intervals from 6am (9am on Sunday) to 8pm.
Loaner cycling maps and information on pedal-driven touring options are enthusiastically supplied at English-speaking Radsport Stiller ( 759 66; www.stiller-radsport.de, in German; Gilgenstrasse 24; bike/tandem per day €10/20; 9.30am-12.30pm & 2-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 9am-2pm Sat, also open on demand to return bikes 2-6pm Sun), a bike rental shop a block southwest of the Altpörtel.
The circular Kaiser-Konrad-Radweg (Kaiser Konrad bicycle path) links Speyer’s Dom with Bad Dürkheim’s Rathaus (about 30km each way). Veloroute Rhein follows the Rhine north to Worms. The excellent 1:150,000-scale cycling map Radtouren rund um Speyer (Bicycle Touring around Speyer; €2) is sold at the tourist office and bookshops.
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GERMAN WINE ROAD
The Deutsche Weinstrasse (www.deutsche-weinstrasse.de, in German) traverses the heart of the Palatinate (Pfalz), a region of gentle forests, ruined castles and Germany’s largest contiguous winegrowing area. Starting in Bockenheim, about 15km west of Worms, it winds south for 85km to Schweigen, on the French border, past welcoming wine estates. Hiking and cycling options are legion.
Blessed with a moderate climate that allows almonds, figs, kiwi fruit and even lemons to thrive, the German Wine Road is especially pretty during the spring bloom (March to mid-May). Weinfeste (wine festivals) run from March to mid-November (especially on the weekends) – this is also a good time to visit, especially around the grape harvest (September and October).
In part because of its proximity to France, the Palatinate is a renowned culinary destination, with restaurants serving everything from gourmet German nouvelle cuisine to traditional regional specialities, such as Saumagen. The Pfälzerwald (www.pfaelzerwald.de, in German), the hilly forest west of the Wine Road, was declared (along with France’s adjacent Vosges du Nord area) a Unesco Biosphere Reserve in 1993. Locals often plan a day outdoors in order to dine in a rustic Waldhütte, a traditional rustic eatery found along forest trails such as the Pfälzer Weinsteig; tourist offices can supply maps to find them.
GETTING THERE & AWAY
Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, a central hub for exploring the German Wine Road, is on the twice-an-hour railway line to Mannheim (€5.90, 30 minutes) and Heidelberg (€8.30, 50 minutes) and also has train links to Saarbrücken (€17.60, 1½ hours via Kaiserslautern, hourly), Karlsruhe (€10.30, 1¼ hours, twice hourly) and the French town of Wissembourg (€8.30, one hour, hourly). The trip from Speyer