Bicycle-friendly Heidelberg
Helping people get faster from A to B
In Heidelberg you can get to places quickly by bicycle. It is therefore no coincidence that the city’s inhabitants make 33 percent of all their journeys by bicycle. Thus was the result of the nationwide survey "Mobility in Germany" of 2018. This makes Heidelberg the frontrunner in Baden-Württemberg.
Doing so is made particularly easy by Heidelberg’s extensive network of cycle paths – currently 260 kilometers long in total. Heidelberg would like to become more attractive to cyclists. The city's "bicycle strategy 2030" is a key step towards more sustainable mobility. In recognition of the successful cycle policy that it has pursued for many years, the City of Heidelberg was named by the state of Baden-Württemberg as a bicycle-friendly local authority. Heidelberg is also a Model Local Authority of the RadKULTUR (Cycle Culture) project run by Baden-Württemberg’s Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure.
Cycling is not just popular in the city itself: The many cycle routes around and about Heidelberg are a great way of exploring the surrounding countryside. The roughly 226 kilometer-long Electoral Palatinate Axis (Kurpfalzachse) route takes cyclists right across the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, from Lambrecht in the Palatinate Forest all the way to the town of Osterburken, via the Rhine plain, the Neckar valley and the Odenwald mountain range. For a pleasant day trip, the Electoral Palatinate route (Kurpfalzroute), which runs from Heidelberg to Speyer via Schwetzingen and Ketsch, comes highly recommended. Another very popular route is the Bergstraße cycle route, which takes you through numerous small, historic towns, with Ladenburg and Weinheim ideal spots for taking a break.
And when you cannot go any further, there is always the option of hopping on a bus or tram with your bicycle. Provided there is room, bicycles can be taken on public transport in Heidelberg free-of-charge every working day from 9 am onwards, and all day at weekends.