Speyer

A Good Friend Indeed!
Our tour with Manfred was a most enjoy­able expe­ri­ence! He was very accom­mo­dating, picking my wife and me up from the airport at the time of our choosing. We also were able to customize our tour according to our inter­ests, Manfred making appro­priate sugges­tions, steering us to the right choices. The tour high­light in Heidel­berg was the castle, walking around the grounds, and into the castle. We also walked into the old town center, where the smell of onion pie compelled us to stop into a bakery for a slice, washing it down with “new wine”, a sweet, white, slightly alco­holic beverage. The tour continued where we drove to a large cathe­dral in the town of Speyer, a magnif­i­cent struc­ture. Inside we were surprised by the sound of the organ, where it was being tuned by a sound tech­ni­cian preparing it for a recital the next day. Tired out by then (we had flown in overnight from the US), we decided to take a nap in the Mercedes S‑class as Manfred drove us back to Frank­furt to our hotel. Relaxing music soothed us along the way, and soon we were at the front door to our hotel, where Manfred assisted us with our luggage to get us checked in to our room. Manfred is an easy conver­sa­tion­alist, always conge­nial, and well spoken. We highly recom­mend him to take you wher­ever you may need to go, what­ever you may want to see. He is a local Heidel­berger and knows the area very well.

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!

A truly wonderful expe­ri­ence
Choosing a bit more freedom and a more inti­mate expe­ri­ence for our visit to Heidel­berg and Speyer on our second Viking voyage up the Rhine, we decided to find a private driver rather than the stan­dard Viking excur­sion by bus. We found a Friend in Heidel­berg: Manfred Pitz. Our expe­ri­ence with Manfred was superb. Apolo­gies advance for the length of my review but the details were the best part and it is diffi­cult to convey the expe­ri­ence without them. He was there waiting for us at the dock when our boat arrived, with his sleek, clean, smooth S‑Class Mercedes. We jumped in and settled into comfort. We had no pre-arranged agenda with Manfred, so as we set off on the drive to Heidel­berg he asked about what we enjoyed most during our prior visit and if there was anything special we wanted to see. One thing defi­nitely on our list was a visit to the castle; other than that we wanted to spend some more time in the old center of town and expe­ri­ence it as a local. As we drove Manfred related inter­esting infor­ma­tion about the region and pointed out land­marks we passed by. When we approached Heidel­berg he drove us on a back route into town to avoid traffic and also to show us one of his favorite neigh­bor­hoods. We ended up at the end of the old bridge on the oppo­site side of the river from the center of town. There was such a beau­tiful view there of the castle high up above the city that we hopped out and spent several minutes snap­ping photos. Next he drove us through town and up the road to the castle. This only took minutes, but as he drove we were engaged in an inter­ac­tive discus­sion with him about his life in Heidel­berg. As we talked he would inter­ject and point out inter­esting sites or points about the places we passed: why the city proper has remained small, what beau­tiful building was torn down here and replaced that ugly one (and why?!), some surprising facts about how some of these build­ings are constructed. He pointed out his favorite church, and his grade school down one of the streets we passed. We arrived at the castle and started an external tour of it and the grounds. Manfred made it clear that he is not a certi­fied guide for this. But he did seem to possess a wealth of knowl­edge about its history and the various parts of it. Before entering the castle court­yard, he suggested we spend a few minutes walking through the garden area behind and over­looking the castle grounds and the city below. The views of the castle and the city below were stun­ning, and several beau­tiful photos were taken. Then we toured the castle court­yard, wine cellar area with huge wine barrels, and the patio vista of the river and city. Sensing that we seemed up to it, he suggested leaving the car at the castle and taking the scenic pathway down through the forested gardens below the castle down into the old town; possibly we could take the funic­ular back up later to retrieve the car. This beau­tiful walk ends up at one end of the main street of the old town. It also happens to be where his daughter lives; he was hoping we would run into her so we could meet her. We then walked into town and were caught up in the sights of the historic build­ings and the views of the castle from below. At one point we came upon a cafe with wonderful-looking food and tables in a court­yard on the side. Manfred suggested we have a sit and relax. Soon he comes out of the cafe with slices of a kind of onion quiche and glasses of some chilled sparkling wine he called “new wine” special­ties of that area. We thor­oughly enjoyed it; and it was on him! After this we spent some more time strolling through the old town. He told us some things about the univer­sity and area around it. He wanted to show us his favorite church; not the oldest or most signif­i­cant, but it was beau­tiful inside! Finally, it was close to the time we needed to leave for Speyer. Manfred suggested he go get the car, allowing us to do a bit more shop­ping in the mean­time. We drove to Speyer, one of our favorite cities from our previous voyage. Our plan was to have him drop us off there to explore on our own. We asked him for his recom­men­da­tions on what to visit. He suggested climbing the cathe­dral tower to get an over­look on the city. We were also curious about the Protes­tant church there, and he said the outside was beau­tiful, but he had never been inside. Then he offered to end our engage­ment with him there at the Protes­tant church, and visit it inside with him, so he could see it, then he would take us across town to the cathe­dral free of charge. Of course, we accepted that offer. The inside of that church was as beau­tiful as the exte­rior, so now I know he will be wanting to take people there in the future. Manfred’s ride alone is top-notch and well worth the money; what really makes the expe­ri­ence special is his personal atten­tion to you, and the way you become his friend along the way.

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 😍

Wonderful anniver­sary day in Heidel­berg!
We just had a wonderful day in Speyer and Heidel­berg with Manfred! We are cele­brating our 45th wedding anniver­sary on a Rhine River cruise. When the water of the Rhine got too high, we had to do a ship swap, which meant we would miss Speyer where we had arranged for Manfred to pick us up. We were so disap­pointed! Never to worry! Manfred arranged to pick us up at a rest stop along the highway where access on and off was easy for the bus taking us to our new ship. He was there 15 minutes early so we didn’t have to wait! The bus made a 3‑minute stop to let us off and we were all on our way! We had a wonderful stop in Speyer seeing the cathe­dral and some of the down­town. Then it was on to Heidel­berg where Manfred gave us a lovely tour of the city, before taking us the Castle- the high­light of the day! An amazing struc­ture with amazing history! Manfred was our tour guide and local enthu­siast! He knows a lot of history! After the castle we walked to an authentic German restau­rant for schnitzel (our choice of food!). The food was deli­cious, and the restau­rant was filled with authentic atmos­phere! We spent time walking around old Heidel­berg and enjoyed some gelato. It was a perfect day, and we were so grateful not to miss this part of our tour! Manfred then returned us to our ship in Stras­bourg. His flex­i­bility made it all possible, and his good humor, warmth and stories made it all fun! We would defi­nitely recom­mend Manfred for all your touring needs in this area!