Travel Log: Germany's Pfalz Wine Region Part Two

You may have seen on my Instagram that I recently spent a week in Germany's Pfalz wine region, famous for its Riesling Trocken (dry Riesling), with an amazing group of friends. A dear friend of ours planned the entire trip for 22 people including each day's itinerary and transport, and my husband and I were so lucky to be able to just show up and enjoy each day's experiences. The Pfalz wine region is Germany's second largest wine region and covers approximately 23,700 hectares or 228 square kilometers. While it was impossible to see the entire region, we based in one of the central cities, Neustadt An Der Weinstraße (the ß is pronounced like a soft z), and did day trips by bike or car depending on distance. We visited Birkweiler, Speyer, Deidesheim, Forst, Ruppertsberg, Freinheim, and Landau. Our third day's itinerary included exploring Speyer, a city whose history dates back to the Roman times. Please continue on to see photos and details of how we spent our time the beautiful and historic town of Speyer.

Speyer is located 27km (~17 miles) and approximately a 25-30 minute drive from our home base Neustadt an der Weinstraße. Our dear friend arranged a mini bus and driver for our group, making transportation seamless. We were picked up at our hotel and dropped off right by Speyer Cathedral (Dom zu Speyer), the largest surviving Romanesque cathedral in the world and a place of significance in German history. This cathedral is the final resting place for eight German emperors and kings including King Rudolf of Habsburg, four empresses, and over forty bishops.

Right across from the Speyer Cathedral is the Speyer City Hall, hotels, restaurants, and the main street Maximilianstraße (the ß is pronounced like a soft z). Everywhere you turn this city is so photogenic! Speyer is one of Germany's oldest cities, dating back to a Roman military camp in 10 BCE due to its location along the Rhine River. The Speyer Cathedral construction started in 1030, under the direction of Emperor Conrad II, and today the cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Speyer became a Free Imperial City of the Roman Empire in 1294, the city endured and survived multiple wars and regime changes, and the city celebrated its 2000th birthday in 1990. 

Our next stop was lunch in the outdoor Biergarten of Hausbrauerei im Domhof. I can't say enough good things about the outdoor beer gardens in Germany: they have plenty of tables for families and large groups, there are lots of trees for shaded seating, there typically are playgrounds for the kids one one side, no one rushes you through your meal to turn tables like in the US, and the food and drink selection is all high quality and so good. Our friends chose this particular beer garden because they wanted to try their in house beers, but they also happened to have bubbly from Schloss Wachenheim on the menu (the winery my hubby and I missed touring a few days before because of the long wait to get through immigration at the Frankfurt airport) and I was so happy to get to try it. The bubbly was delicious, by the way.

After lunch, we were able to explore more of the town via the Maximilianstraße, a pedestrian street that runs from the Speyer Cathedral to an old historic gate (Altpörtel). A gelato stop was necessary for the adults and the kids during the hottest part of the day, of course!

After we explored and cooled down with gelato, we walked from the main pedestrian road through a park with a playground stop to reach our dinner reservation: Alter Hammer on the Rhine River. Alter Hammer has the distinction of being Speyer's oldest beer garden in operation since 1919! I should have taken more photos of the restaurant and location, but this was another example of a restaurant with a lovely outdoor garden where we easily moved several tables together for our group and enjoyed a dinner of local specialties and (of course) more wine. This time we sampled local Blanc de Noir, made from pinot noir grapes, and it paired quite well with the spinach dumplings and salad that I ordered. After dinner, our bus and driver picked us up and drove us back to our home base hotel.

I hope you enjoyed this recap of our visit to the historic city of Speyer, and please stay tuned for more travel logs detailing more adventures in Germany's Pfalz wine region. Thank you for visiting my blog today and I hope you have a fabulous week!