Heidelberg Castle tickets explained

Do I need a ticket for Heidelberg Castle?

For the courtyard, the Great Terrace, the Great Tun and the Apothecary Museum, yes. For the gardens and the Elizabeth Gate, no.

The ticket zone starts at the bridge and the gate tower that lead into the courtyard. Everything before that point is open ground. You can ride the funicular to the Schloss station, walk through the Stückgarten past the Elizabeth Gate, stand on the Scheffel terrace and wander the Hortus Palatinus terraces without paying anything, as long as it is daylight. The castle lists the garden as open during daylight hours all year on the castle's visitor information page.

Once you cross the bridge you are inside. The courtyard with the Friedrichsbau and the Ottheinrichsbau, the stairs down to the Great Tun, the Altan with the famous view and the museum in the Ottheinrichsbau cellar are all on the one ticket. There is no cheaper courtyard-only version and no separate museum ticket.

What does the Heidelberg Castle ticket include?

The funicular from the Kornmarkt, the courtyard, the Great Terrace, the Great Tun and the German Apothecary Museum. The castle calls it the Schlossticket.

Think of it as a hill ticket rather than a door ticket. The ride up from the Old Town, the ride back down, the whole open courtyard, the terrace, the cellar with the barrel and a museum that would stand on its own in any other city. The audio guide is the one extra inside the gate: a separate hire at the visitor centre in German, English, French, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Russian.

The ticket does not fix a time. Arrive when you like within opening hours and stay as long as you like. On a busy summer afternoon the cash desk queue can be the slowest part of the visit, which is why the guided walks that include the ticket advertise skipping it.

Where do I buy Heidelberg Castle tickets?

At the castle cash desk, at the Kornmarkt and Schloss funicular counters, or at the tourist information offices. GetYourGuide sells no standalone castle ticket.

Most visitors buy at the Kornmarkt valley station, because the ticket includes the ride and you are standing at the bottom of the hill anyway. The cash desk at the castle opens 9:00 to 17:15. The tourist information offices at the Hauptbahnhof and on Neckarmünzplatz sell the same ticket.

Online, the ticket exists in two forms. The HeidelbergCard bundles it with public transport and museums, and you collect the physical castle ticket at a tourist information office or a funicular counter. The guided tours bundle it with a guide: the two-hour guided walk states that the funicular, the courtyard, the Great Tun cellar and the museum are included. If you want a plain ticket and nothing else, buy it at the hill. There is no saving to be had online and nothing to print.

Can you go inside Heidelberg Castle?

Yes, on the castle's own guided tour of the interiors, a supplement bought at the castle. No tour on this site includes it.

The castle is a ruin, but not an empty one. The Friedrichsbau was restored between 1897 and 1900 and its rooms were refurnished in the Historicist taste of the time; the chapel sits on its ground floor. These rooms, and the room in the Hall of Glass where Charles de Graimberg lived from 1811, are shown on an hourly guided tour that takes about an hour. English tours run at quarter past the hour, German tours on the hour.

The listings on GetYourGuide that mention the interiors say the same thing in their own words: the grounds are covered, the interior tour is offered by the castle itself. Plan it as an extra hour after your guided walk, or instead of one if the rooms matter more to you than the stories.

Is the HeidelbergCard worth it for the castle?

If you are staying two or more days and using buses and trams, yes. For a single castle visit on foot from the Old Town, the plain castle ticket is simpler.

The HeidelbergCard listing bundles the castle ticket with the funicular round trip, unlimited VRN public transport in second class, one-time entry to a run of museums including the University Museum and the Student Prison, and a city guide with map. It comes in one, two or four consecutive days, counted midnight to midnight, and it is personalised: the listing says it is valid with ID and is non-refundable.

Two practical notes. The castle ticket itself is collected in Heidelberg, at a tourist information office, at the castle visitor centre or at the Kornmarkt or Schloss funicular counter. And the card does not include the interior tour either. Our visiting guide has a day plan that makes the museum entries count.

Castle ticket with the funicular, every bus and tram in the region and a stack of museums on one card for one, two or four days. Non-refundable, so fix your dates first.

1 to 4 days · City card with castle ticket

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Which tours include the Heidelberg Castle ticket?

Each guided tour on this site lists the castle ticket among its inclusions. What differs is the language, the format and whether the funicular is named.

This is where the castle ticket turns up online. Read the inclusions on each listing; the table summarises what they state. The private tour and the two-hour walk also list the museum, the bus tour lists the entrance ticket and the funicular down, and the Frankfurt tours list castle and Great Tun admission. None of the listings include the castle's interior tour.

For the differences in route and pace, see the tours compared.

Who gets a reduced ticket at Heidelberg Castle?

Children from 6, students up to 28, volunteers and people with a disability of 50 percent or more, with proof. Anyone 15 or over pays the adult rate unless they qualify.

The castle publishes the concession list on its visitor page; the figures are not on this site. Under-6s are not listed as a category, and the castle does not state a rule for them on the page. The HeidelbergCard listing says children aged 5 and under travel free with an adult, which is the card's rule, not the castle's.

An annual ticket exists for people who come back often. It covers the courtyard, the Great Tun and the Apothecary Museum but not the funicular, and it is personal and non-transferable. The Schlosscard, a booklet valid for a year at selected Baden-Württemberg monuments, is also accepted at the gate.

What are the Heidelberg Castle opening hours?

Courtyard, Great Terrace and Great Tun 9:00 to 18:00 every day, last admission 17:30. Closed 25 December. Short hours on 24 and 31 December, late opening on 1 January.

• Courtyard, Altan and Great Tun: daily 9:00 to 18:00, last admission 17:30, holidays included.
• Cash desk: 9:00 to 17:15.
• Apothecary Museum: 10:00 to 18:00 from 1 April to 5 January, last admission 17:40; 10:00 to 17:30 from 6 January to 31 March.
• 24 and 31 December: 9:00 to 14:00. 25 December: closed. 1 January: 11:00 to 18:00.
• Garden: daylight hours, free.

The funicular runs later than the castle in summer, so an evening on the terraces outside the ticket zone is possible after the courtyard shuts. Check the funicular guide for the last car down.

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