I'm wondering about costs for living in Heidelberg for the summer. Also about transport and places to swim.

Question

My husband will be working there for the summer for his company. We need to find housing and possibly a vehicle. We have 4 children. We need to figure out what costs we might incur so we can take them to the company and see if they will cover it. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Is your husband's company American or German? I would expect the company to do some research on the cost of living. At least that's what large international operating companies in Germany do when they assign their employees to foreign countries.

Anyway, Heidelberg is a beautiful medium-sized city (175,000 inhabitants) nestled between hills on both sides of the Neckar river. The climate is warmer than in many other parts of Germany. Heidelberg has several nice public indoor/outdoor pools and a cute old city with the world famous castle.

As for housing, if your husband's company cannot help you with you should contact a real estate agency. I added the contact of one agency. They should have agents who also speak English if you don't speak German. But be prepared housing is not really cheap in Heidelberg!

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Phone: country code for Germany should be 01149 plus 6221 4799-0

Fax: see above  plus 62 21 47 99-90

E-Mail: [e-mail]

Like German cities of that size Heidelberg has a good public transportation system (buses and streetcars) connecting all neighborhoods of the city.

Good luck!

Answer 2

I lived in heidelberg for 3 years in a small town called Altneudorf about 15 miles outside of town...problem is the traffic so it took about 40 minutes to get home. We had a huge town home that rented for 1200 euros - it had 5 bedrooms, two bath, and was 4 stories - it was wonderful and our landlord was great. The problem with living outside of the city center is that they only have the "subway" in town and its pretty small compared to Frankfurt or Stuttgart so you have to take a bus or a train. Its slow going and not that cheap. Heidelberg is so beautiful I hope you have a great time...stay close to the city for better public transit, but if you don't you can get a larger place for a cheaper rate. Keep in mind that the landlords usaully want first and last months rent -- sometimes 3 months up front. Your utilities are crazy too. Its not cheap by any means to live there with the exchange rate, but if you pull it off its wonderful!!!!

Answer 3

I think you'll need to look at renting a whole house with 4 kids.

You should get into contact with some real estate agents in Heidelberg and ask about potential offers. This way you'll get a feeling for the market. Due to the presence of the US Armed Forces you should have no problem finding estate agents who speak English.

Another thing you could do is to offer to do a house swap with a family from Heidelberg. The best way to go about it would be to place an ad in a local newspaper. Most families will only want to do it for 2-3 weeks, but hey - it would be free and better than nothing.

Transport: Heidelberg is on train network and relatively small. You can get to many places walking and using public transport. I would put off thinking about a vehicle until you know where you will be staying. The problem is that with 4 kids you'll need a special car (van, minivan or 7-seater) to legally transport all of them and both of you. (Each kid needs a safety seat and must be belted.) Look at leasing a Renault Traffic from a French car trader if you must.

The next places to swim in Heidelberg are the public pools:

Baden-Badener-Str. 14, 69126 Heidelberg

Schillerstr. 1, 69226 Nußloch.

Vangerowstr. 4, 69115 Heidelberg

And in case you need a cheap place to stay while you look at real estate to rent: http://www.camping-haide.de - play at going on an adventure and get 2 huts for 59 EUR per night for all six of you. Your kids will love it and the price cannot be beaten.

1st EDIT:

BTW, one of the biggest financial ouches is going to be the flight tickets for the kids. In summer the prices for flights across the Atlantic can jump to 1200 USD return per person and more.

You should also keep in mind that when you rent a house it will normally come completely empty. That means that you need to buy camping beds and sleeping bags as well as a camping stove and cooking utensils. With this in mind and since you are already paying for the flight tickets you could also shell out for a decent family tent (Robens Triple Dreamer or Robens Evening Star XL) and stay on a camping site all summer. My family did that in the early 90's when we were in a similar situation (but we were only 3 kids and could take the car and all the existing camping gear with us). This would have the advantage that you could easily travel to say, Paris in France or down to Italy for a bit of holiday. Camping is the only economical way to do this with 4 children.

A place where you could buy all the above would be the Globetrotter store in Frankfurt.

Globetrotter Ausrüstung

Hanauer Landstraße 11-13

60314 Frankfurt/ Main

http://www.globetrotter.de/

If you buy everything there, you need to budget around 1500 EUR for all the stuff you need. Drop them an email in advance so that you only need to pick things up.

Be warned: To the cost of the tent and camping gear would then come the cost of renting space at a camping site. There are several not too far away from Heidelberg though.

2nd EDIT: I did some more digging, and apparently the German government considers roughly 2200 EUR per month necessary for a family like yours. This is just the bare, not going hungry minimum. This sum does not include rent for a place to live, heating or insurance. (Note that health insurance is mandatory for foreigners in Germany.)

Answer 4

Heidelberg is so beautiful. The dollar is weak so everything will cost more.

Answer 5

First of all, Heidelberg is an awesome city to live in.  I know I lived there for 2 years and you will love it.

Ok, it depends on what company your husband works for.  Housing in Heidelberg is not cheap.  And the Euro to Dollar exchange is really bad for Americans.  I have a 2 bedroom, nice apartment about 15 min. from Heidelberg and I pay 1320 euros a month.  That's roughly 2000 dollars a month.  With 4 kids you would be best served by finding housing on the outskirts of Heidelberg in cities like Schwetzingen or St. Leon Rot or even Mannheim where it is cheaper than Heidelberg.  The inner city of Heidelberg is just far too expensive with a large family, and there is mostly only appartments.  So, like I said, look for a place just outside of the city and you will find a much better deal.  Enjoy your time!  I know I did.