This week Explore My City is being presented by Jennifer from The American Faultier giving us a look at what there is to see and do in Mannheim, Germany
Mannheim is the closest large city to where I live in southwestern Germany, so I will travel there often either alone or with family members to shop or go to events.
Mannheim is very easy to reach by train and has an extensive tram network within the city. It can be a huge pain to drive through the city center, between traffic, one-way streets, and a quadrant address system instead of street names and number. I definitely recommend purchasing a day ticket. They start at 6,40€ for one person and it costs 2,50€ per additional person up to a group of five.
The city center is a giant circle. The main train station is on the out edge, but a short walk or tram ride take you to the Wasserturm (Water Tower) which marks the entrance to a pedestrian-friendly shopping area and is home to one of several Christmas markets in the winter.
You can shop along the street or continue on the tram to the Paradeplatz, which is an open square that seems to always be full of people when the weather is nice out. This is also the location of the Oststadt Theatre – which I have yet to attend a show at.
My fiancé and I are more likely to travel a bit outside the city, to the SAP Arena, to watch the Adler Mannheim hockey team play when we are looking for evening entertainment.
If I’m travelling around the city, though, I generally will take a break here. There are a few grocery stores nearby (Rewe, Lidl, and Aldi) where I’ll buy something to drink or a snack if needed, rather than paying more at a bakery or snack shop.
