11. August 2026
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Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise with MS Neckarsonne / Weisse Flotte

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise with MS Nackarsonne

19 EUR
Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise with MS Nackarsonne
3.5

Rating

 3.5/5

Flyctory.com Pros

  • Nice, (partially?) solar-driven vessel
  • Nice views of Heidelberg Old Torwn and impressing villas

Flyctory.com Cons

  • Just a r50 minute ound trip
  • Limited sights on parts of the trip
  • No "Alte Brücke" passing through, even though adventised

When I’ve been to Heidelberg, Germany, in August 2026, my physical condition did not allow me doing too much sightseeing in the sunny weather. I felt that having a cruise on the River Neckar and enjoying views of the local sights might be a nice option. Furthermore, the vessel I chose felt very interesting to me. MS Neckarsonne (“Neckar Sun”) is a purely electric ship, at least partially driven by solar power and built for these sightseeing purpose. Here is my review of the cruise, which is driven by Weisse Flotte (“White Fleet”) Heidelberg.

 

MS Neckarsonne Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise – Route and Fare

The Sightseeing Tour, how the cruise is officially called, is the typical touristic tour of Heidelberg offered by Weisse Flotte. They have several vessels operating them. They slightly differ as the majority of these daily cruises (with traditional vessels) start and arrive at their facilities right across the former city hall / Stadthalle. The MS Neckarsonne, though, has a dedicated pier just steps away from one of the cities most iconic buildings, the Alte Brücke (“Old Bridge”). In any case, the cruise time is 50 minutes. MS Neckarsonne more or less turns around right after leaving the pier and heads Westbound. The Westernmost point is between Ernst Walz Bridge and the former barrage.

At least during summer, Weisse Flotte offers multiple daily Sightseeing Tours. The Green City Tour, how the MS Neckarsonne trips are flagged as well, solely operated from Wednesday to Sunday during my visit in August 2026. The prices for traditional vessels and the electric one are equivalent. MS Neckarsonne offered four tours on each day of operation during my visit. The adult fare is 19 Euro, which can also be bought at the Stadthalle main pier. During peak times, I definitely suggest buying the tickets in advance on their website, there are likely sold-out cruises. Online booking leads to a ticketing fee, which leads to a total of 20.07 Euro for a single adult online ticket.

 

MS Neckarsonne – The Vessel

By its design, the MS Neckarsonne is a typical short route tourist cruise ship, e.g. like the ones I rode at Ehlers Harbor Cruise in Hamburg or Lowers Canal Cruises n Amsterdam. The solar panels are mounted on the roof ot the ship. With a length of 37 meters and a width of 5.4 meters, it has a capacity of 250 people. The front part is fully covered, the stern majorly features a retractable roof (which was open during my cruise). In the middle of these sections, there is a bar with fridges as well as two toilets, one for men and one for women.

The seating is majorly done by ordinary chairs and tables. In the very rear, there is also a metal bench-alike seating. What I really liked is that the electric engines are really quiet, you do hear the hydraulics, especially during maneuvering, though. The flow of the Neckar is regulated, so that the cruise overall is calm and there is also not a too significant difference between cruising with and against the flow of the river.

 

MS Neckarsonne Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise – The Cruise

As said the cruise starts in Eastbound direction but goes for the U-turn right in front of the Alte Brücke. I would have loved to see the barrage East of Heidelberg Old Town as well, but this simply does not feel to fit into the rather tight time corridor of the cruise. This is rather critical, as the map of the cruise clearly stated you do pass the bridge. Finally, a 50 minute round trip river cruise under a limited stream means that you more or less go 25 minutes in one direction, turn around and go the same trip back. That’s what the Sightseeing Cruise is about. The most interesting part of the cruise are definitely the very first ten minutes, where see Heidelberg Castle in the background, pass quite impressing villas, the Stadthalle convention center as well as the former stables, which nowadays host one of the cantinas of Heidelberg University.

There are some interesting points in the later parts as well. For example, I liked watching the Heidelberg people enjoying the sun at the parks at the Northern shore of the river or watching the training of the local rowing club. There are not too many architectural highlights any more. However, Heidelberg features some quite nice buildings. On the return part of the loop, quite many people went for a pee break. You do have some nice views, e.g. of the hills around Heidelberg, though.

 

 

MS Neckarsonne Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise – Service

I read something about an audio guide. In fact, there are recorded announcements during the cruise. They are multi-lingual, German, English and French. Honestly, as you saw in the section above, you also have quite a lot rather calm sections during the cruise. The toilets were in a really good condition, which I absolutely appreciated. A really nice feature of this cruise that you can help yourself with a complimentary soft drink or a beer. Additional drinks are charged with 4 Euro.

 

MS Neckarsonne Heidelberg Sightseeing Cruise – My View

The Old Town part of Heidelberg is absolutely amazing. However, there are rather modern parts, too, which don’t have the frequency and density of good views as much as the other part of town. The cruise suffers from that.  Nonetheless, I appreciated it and had a nice time. I just had a limited capacity of walking on that days and MS Neckarsonne gave me a compressed overview of town.

The Sightseeing Cruise – or Heidelberg Green City Tour, who the company calls the solar boat trip as well, is definitely must do. But it is a nice experience in a rather calm environment with good service. What I did not like at all, however, was that the cruise did not take the route advertised.

 

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