Heidelberg, Germany

In Rick Steves' book on Germany, he essentially said not to bother with Heidelberg because it was overrun with tourists and a waste of time.

Odd. Everyone on our tour really liked the place and was glad it was on the schedule. So now you have both sides of the story.

It has about 144,000 people, with a good-share of those being students. Yes, this is the home of Heidelberg University, which has an international reputation.

Luckily, this wasn't much of a target in terms of the military, so the Allies didn't do much damage when they turned up in 1945. In fact, the Nazis did most of the explosive work, blowing up some bridges to try to slow the enemies' advance. After the war, General George Patton died here after being involved in an auto accident.

Here's a tour that lasts less than three minutes:



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