Palatinate
To the west of the Rhine plain and only 45 minutes away from Heidelberg, lies the Palatinate wine region with the “Deutsche Weinstraße” (German Wine Route). Many picturesque winegrowing villages such as Deidesheim, Forst and Wachenheim are nestled in the climatically favorable vineyard landscape with its gentle hills. Vineyard remains from Roman times, family wineries run for generations, and wine festivals are all evidence of this: The focus here is on wine.
The people of the Palatinate are known for their warm hospitality and welcoming nature. The small size of the villages and close-knit community create a friendly and inviting atmosphere, where visitors are treated like locals. Whether you’re attending a wine festival, dining in a local restaurant, or simply exploring the town, you’ll experience the genuine friendliness that makes this region a special place to visit.
More than 100 million vines are spread over 50 miles along the German Wine Route in Germany’s second largest wine-growing region. Over 2,000 hours of sunshine a year ensures that the vines ripen particularly high-quality, aromatic grapes. As almost everywhere where wine is grown, the cuisine is also very special and delicious. You will find quaint wine taverns, inviting inns and excellent restaurants.
Between 1717 and 1732, the Palatinate experienced its largest wave of emigration to date, when around 3,000 Mennonites moved to North America for religious reasons. Many descendants of the emigrated Palatines still speak Pennsylvania Dutch today, a language variant based primarily on Palatine dialects, which they call “Mudderschbrooch”, “Pennsilfaanisch Deitsch” or simply “Deitsch”.
Two filmmakers from the Palatinate looked for these descendants and found them – the relatives in America. Around 400,000 people live there and not only speak an old form of the Palatine dialect, but also follow other Palatine habits such as eating sausage cooked in a pig stomach or hunting Elwetritsche. The name of the film is “Hiwwe wie Driwwe” and the trailer can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/q9q5oJRWCmc
Two filmmakers from the Palatinate looked for these descendants and found them – the relatives in America. Around 400,000 people live there and not only speak an old form of the Palatine dialect, but also follow other Palatine habits such as eating sausage cooked in a pig stomach or hunting Elwetritsche. The name of the film is “Hiwwe wie Driwwe” and the trailer can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/q9q5oJRWCmc
Where is the Palatinate?
Palatinate
Reviews related to the Palatinate
A Wonderful New Friend in Heidelberg!
We met our new friend, Manfred in Heidelberg! I cannot agree more of what others have said about Manfred. He is AMAZING! For our experience, Manfred contacted us shortly after we booked him. He wanted to get an idea of what we were interested in doing and seeing. Of course, we had no clue! He was asking because if he wasn’t familiar about something, he would do the research ahead of time to prepare for the trip. Manfred arrived at our hotel on time and we sat in our lobby so that we could get to know one another. This was good because we ended up with an excellent plan for the day. Which included, in part, some wine tasting, visiting Speyer Cathedral and the small town and the Schwetzingen Palace and Gardens (amazing place). After leaving Heidelberg and Manfred, my husband and I headed up to Mainz. While there, we contacted Manfred and he was helpful in finding us a day cruise on the river Rhine. We enjoyed that trip as well! It was nice to have A Friend in Heidelberg to help us with our travels! We had a wonderful time with Manfred and you will too!! Thank you, Manfred!! We will see you again!!
A Wonderful Day with our New Friend Manfred!
My sister and brother-in-law and I were scheduled for a Grand Circle Cruise Line on the Rhine and Mosel Rivers in May and I wanted to include Heidelberg which was not on the itinerary. For weeks I kept checking Viator and Tripadvisor and other travel sites to see how I could make it happen when suddenly I noticed the “friend in Heidelberg” private tour. I contacted Manfred, told him what I wanted to see, and we started to work out the details. I was thrilled to then have what seemed to me to be the perfect agenda for our wonderful cruise. We needed to alter our plans for the tour just a bit with my sister’s broken shoulder, but we had a happy and informative drive into Heidelberg after Manfred met us at our ship in Speyer. Driving us up as close as he could get to the grounds of the Castle, we started in on our walking tour and enjoyed the beautiful views while he told us about the exterior of the castle and the history of Heidelberg. Through a remarkable twist of fate, Manfred learned that the owners of historic Fitz Ritter Winery (his favorite winery!!) were dear friends of my sisters. Knowing (as we didn’t realize) that the winery was actually less than an hour away, he strongly encouraged my sister to try to get in touch with her friends. In fact, he had the number of the winery in his phone and, with permission, called the number and asked to speak to my sister’s friend. What a delightful moment when my sister and her friend reconnected and we quickly made arrangements for Manfred to drive us to the winery for lunch and to spend time with them before heading back to the ship. Even with the excitement of the soon to be reunion and our adjusted schedule change, Manfred showed his awareness of my original “places I wanted to see” list and included them as we drove through Heidelberg towards the winery. The Old Bridge, the University, parts of the Old Town. I got to see them all and I noticed that he remembered. We had a lovely reunion and lunch at Fitz Ritter with dear old friends (and Manfred!) and an awe-inspiring tour of their winery and grounds before we had to leave to get back to the ship. And to make the day even more perfect, before taking us back to our ship, Manfred showed us the historic area of Speyer and took me into the beautiful Imperial Cathedral I had wanted to see. It truly was a perfect day – a tour of marvelous and not to be missed Heidelberg, a great surprise visit with cherished old friends and their extraordinary winery and grounds (with part of the day at “no charge” from Manfred), and all of the places I wanted to see that day checked off because he remembered that I wanted to see them. His friends in the United States will never forget our new friend in Heidelberg. Thank you, Manfred, for the memory of a lifetime.
Truly a Friend in Heidelberg!
I often procrastinate when it comes to holiday detailed planning — same thing when I went to Heidelberg in August 2024 and had to scramble online for a private tour guide only upon arriving in the city! By God’s grace, not only I stumbled upon “a friend in heidelberg” website, Manfred, the man behind a friend in heidelberg, happened to be available the next day (which I figured out later on to be very rare, so please do not be like me and book him way in advance!). I also found out that he was actually out of town and was so kind to decide to come back to Heidelberg to bring me around. We decided to “wing it” instead of doing a fixed program, depending on what I felt like doing on the day. I love the spontaneity! We started off with a breakfast in a cafe in Manfred’s residence neighborhood, as I was looking for more “local” experience. We then decided to make full use of Manfred’s super comfortable van to explore areas outside of Heidelberg. We visited the gorgeous Schwetzingen Palace and Garden, as well as the stunning Speyer Cathedral, and ventured to wine region of Pfalz visiting some of the vineyards. With Manfred, conversations just flow naturally, as if he is a friend that you have known for a long time. He reads widely so he can chat about a lot of topics, and he speaks English fluently having lived in the US for several years. Hence, it is apt to call his business “a friend in heidelberg”, as in him you find a friend indeed! Upon returning to my hotel and bidding farewell to Manfred, one of my hotel staff saw me with Manfred and separately mentioned to me that he had seen Manfred bringing various guests in the past. The hotel staff was full of glowing feedback on Manfred, especially on the extra miles Manfred would go through for those guests. Nothing beats such confirmation post-event. Thank you again for making my time in Heidelberg a memorable one, Manfred; but most importantly, thank you for a new friendship. Look forward to being back in Heidelberg again hopefully soon!
PS: Thank you also for the fantastic meal recommendation at Hugo! Love the food there!
Fantastic Experience with A Friend in Heidelberg!
We don’t travel overseas very often, but this was a trip we couldn’t pass up. My wife’s great, great grandfather emigrated to the US in 1848 from Edenkoben, Germany, a little town an hour outside of Heidelberg. My wife and her siblings had been talking about a trip to see the town he and the family had come from over 175 years ago. Our travel agent got us set up with “Our Friend In Heidelberg” and Manfred went to work! He researched Edenkoben and was able to take us to the house that Nikolaus and has family had lived in. While we were taking a picture of the home, the owner came out and we struck up a conversation, and Manfred kindly interpreted for us. The next thing we knew, they had invited us inside to see this home that was built in 1794. Incredible! After that, Manfred had arranged a private, personal tour of the Edenkoben Museum given by the proprietor. Seeing pictures and artifacts from this ancestral town in the 1840’s (and before) made the whole trip come alive. Next was an incredible meal at a local restaurant Manfred had also gotten a personal recommendation for. He helped us order and suggested we get a variety of dishes for everyone to sample which added to the fun. It was great! To end our time, Manfred had scheduled a wine tasting at a vineyard that bore the family’s name. We talked Edenkoben, history, and wine with the owner for almost 2 hours. Finally, after casually asking about Speyer, another nearby town, he routed us through there on our way back to Heidelberg. What a fantastic day! There is no question we will use Our Friend in Heidelberg anytime we are in the area.
Family outing with a new friend
Our family enjoyed our tour with Manfred, very much. Our group consisted of 4 adults and 2 children which was accommodated by a luxury rental van, that was arranged by Manfred ahead of time. Communication with Manfred before and even after the tour is a breeze, he is very attentive and accessible. We visited the beautiful Speyer Cathedral and the surrounding town, enjoyed local wines at a winery, where the customer service was wonderful and all the staff were very friendly and patient with us, as we tasted different varieties offered on their menu. Lastly, we shared and experienced German cuisine in nice restaurant, outside of the city. After this experience, we can truly say that we have gained a friend in Heidelberg! Will definitely contact Manfred again in a future visit to beautiful Heidelberg 😍