Heilbronn

A Heilbronn weekend from the Kilianskirche to the Wartberg vines

Two days are enough for Heilbronn. Spend the first on the rebuilt centre: the Rathaus clock and Käthchenhaus on the Marktplatz, the Kilianskirche, the city museums in the Deutschhof and Experimenta on the harbour island. Use the second for a vineyard walk up the Wartberg and a trip to Bad Wimpfen or Weinsberg.

Day one, morning. Start on the Marktplatz. The Rathaus clock puts on a small show on the hour, with moving figures and a dial tracking the moon and planets. Across the square stands the Gothic Käthchenhaus, named after the heroine of Kleist's play. A few steps away, the Kilianskirche is the city's emblem; look up at its western tower, finished in the early 16th century in an exuberant early Renaissance style.

Afternoon. Walk to the Deutschhof, the former seat of the Teutonic Order, which now houses the city museums. Then cross to the Neckar and follow the bank to the harbour island and Experimenta. Give it at least three hours, longer with children.

Evening. Dinner in a wine tavern in the centre, with a Trollinger to start.

Day two. Climb the Wartberg through the vineyards for the view, then take the train or bike north to Bad Wimpfen, whose Staufer imperial palace, Blue Tower and half-timbered lanes survived the war. Alternatively, go east to Weinsberg and its castle ruin, Weibertreu, where legend says the town's women carried their husbands out on their backs in 1140 to save them from the besieging king.

Trollinger, Maultaschen and a seat in a Heilbronn Besen

Heilbronn is a red-wine town with Swabian food. Drink light Trollinger or darker Lemberger from the slopes around the Wartberg, ideally in a Besen, the seasonal tavern a winegrower opens for a few weeks a year. To eat, order Maultaschen, Käsespätzle or Zwiebelrostbraten around the Marktplatz, along the Allee or in the Ratskeller.

Wine comes first in Heilbronn. The vineyards on the slopes around town, with the Wartberg the best known, grow mostly red grapes, and the local favourite is Trollinger, a light, pale red drunk young and cool, often from a handled glass. Lemberger is its deeper, more serious cousin, and Riesling does well on the steeper sites. Wineries and the cooperative have tasting rooms, and city restaurants pour local wine by the quarter litre.

The most local way to drink it is in a Besen, a seasonal tavern that a winegrower opens in a barn, courtyard or living room for a few weeks a year. A broom hung over the door means it is serving. Food is plain and cheap: bread with spreads, sausage salad, cheese and hot dishes cooked by the family.

Swabian cooking fills the menus everywhere else. Look for Maultaschen, big pasta parcels stuffed with meat and spinach, served in broth or fried with onions and egg; Käsespätzle, egg noodles baked with cheese and topped with crisp onions; and Zwiebelrostbraten, a beef steak in onion gravy. Restaurants along the Allee and around the Marktplatz cover traditional and international food, and the historic Ratskeller under the town hall is the classic choice for a Swabian lunch.