Speyer

The Imperial Cathedral of Speyer, its four towers and two domes rising above the Rhine plain like a sandstone mirage, has anchored this small Palatinate city since 1030, when Emperor Conrad II laid its foundations to create the largest church in Christendom. For three centuries, the crypt beneath its nave served as the burial place of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings — a subterranean pantheon that lends this otherwise modest riverside town a weight of history far exceeding its size. Speyer's Judenhof, containing a medieval mikveh (ritual bath) dating to around 1128, is part of the UNESCO-listed SchUM Sites, testament to the city's role as one of the great centres of Ashkenazi Jewish learning in the Middle Ages.

Despite its age, Speyer radiates a cheerful Rhenish conviviality. The Maximilianstrasse, a broad boulevard stretching from the cathedral to the medieval Altpörtel gate tower, is lined with cafés, ice cream parlours, and half-timbered buildings painted in cheerful pastels. The Technik Museum Speyer, one of Germany's most popular, houses a Boeing 747 you can walk through, a Soviet space shuttle, and a submarine, appealing equally to children and aviation enthusiasts. The city's compact old town is best explored on foot, its lanes revealing Romanesque churches, Renaissance doorways, and glimpses of the Rhine through gaps between buildings.

Palatinate cuisine is hearty, wine-friendly fare designed for the region's convivial Weinstuben (wine taverns). Saumagen — a stuffed pig's stomach filled with potatoes, pork, carrots, and spices — is the region's most famous dish, famously served by Chancellor Helmut Kohl to visiting heads of state. Complement it with a glass of Riesling or Dornfelder from the surrounding Deutsche Weinstrasse, Germany's oldest wine route. Flammkuchen (thin-crust tart topped with crème fraîche, onions, and bacon), Leberknödel (liver dumplings in broth), and Zwetschgenkuchen (plum cake) round out a Palatinate feast. The Alte Münz brewery, operating since 1540, serves its own lagers alongside seasonal specialities.

The Rhine from Speyer offers easy access to a constellation of attractions. Heidelberg, with its romantic castle ruins and Germany's oldest university, lies just twenty-five minutes south by train. The Deutsche Weinstrasse meanders through sixty miles of vineyards between Schweigen on the French border and Bockenheim, dotted with wine festivals from spring through autumn. The baroque palace of Schwetzingen, with its magnificent gardens combining French and English landscape styles, is a fifteen-minute drive. And Worms, where Martin Luther made his famous stand before the Diet in 1521, sits just twenty minutes north.

Speyer features on numerous Rhine river cruise itineraries, with A-ROSA, Avalon Waterways, Celebrity Cruises, P&O Cruises, Riviera Travel, Uniworld River Cruises, Viking, and VIVA Cruises all making regular calls. Nearby river ports include Kehl, Mannheim, and Rüdesheim. The Rhine cruising season extends from March through November, with late April's tulip displays, June's longest days, and October's grape harvest and golden foliage each offering distinct seasonal appeal.