2 Best Restaurants in Heidelberg, Heidelberg and the Neckar Valley

Heidelberg's oldest (1863) coffeehouse has always been a popular meeting place for students and professors, and offers traditional Swabian food, pastries, and ambience, and a seniors menu with smaller portions at a lower price. A historic change is that the café no longer produces café founder Fridolin Knösel's Heidelberger Studentenkuss. This iconic "student kiss" is a chocolate wrapped in paper showing two sets of touching lips—an acceptable way for 19th-century students to "exchange kisses" in public. They are now being sold down the street at Knösel Chocolatier, a small, charming shop, owned by the Knösel family.

This lively old tavern dates from 1703 and is inextricably linked with Heidelberg's history and university. Young and old alike crowd around the wooden tables in the wood-panel room, decorated with historic photos and maps, and piano music adds to the din Wednesday through Saturday nights. From salads and pasta to hearty roasts and steaks, there's a broad selection of food, and beer is served from 7:30 am until closing. Upstairs are modern, pleasantly furnished guest rooms.