8 days in Germany, Stuttgart is base camp,11/30-12/08
 

First time going to Europe, visiting a militay friend in Stuttgart. We plan to see the Christmas markets, black forest and what ever else I have time for.
I have 2 questions, what day trips are a must see, near Stuttgart and what can I eat that does not include meat, I only eat fish and dairy for my protein.

I would like to see a castle or two,see some art and beautiful scenery....any ideas. I could do one overnight trip but prefer to do day trips from Stuttgart.

thanks....

Stuttgart is a great base city for daytrips. Rothenburg, Munich and Fussen for King Ludwigs castles are all options that can easily be reached by train.
You will not have any problem finding fish, dairy and vegetarian dishes in Germany.

bookmarking to respond when I have a little more time! (I spent 2.5 years in Stuttgart...)

You'll need a car to drive south to the hilltop castle complex Burg Hohenzollern near the town of Hechhingen. I actually like it better than the Bavarian castle especially without the mega tourist crowd.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:S...henzollern.jpg

I'll let hausfrau give you all the other daytrip options from Stuttgart.

On Tripadvisor there is a gentleman living in Stuttgart that loves to sing the praises of the area, especially the local Christmas Markets.

http://tinyurl.com/625om8

Click on marcopolko as the author of the third message and you will find links to many of his suggestions.

Regards, Gary

Burg Hohenzollern is lovely. It's about an hour south from Stuttgart. Nearby is Tuebingen, Hechingen and Herrenberg which we visited in 2007.

We truly enjoyed Bad Wimpfen which is about an hour north of Stuttgart.

http://www.badwimpfen.de/showpage.ph...ang=2&sn=1

If interested, you can check out our photos of these areas.

http://travel.webshots.com/album/561038806XxDcvw

You should have no problem finding plenty of good food that fits within your requirements.

These are options:

- Heidelberg
- Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl
- Würzburg
- Strasbourg and Alsace

Every German restaurant has fish dishes; most have vegetarian dishes too. If you want fast food look for Nordsee, a popular fast food chain with fish dishes.

Here some popular fish names:

- Forelle (trout)
- Saibling (char)
- Lachs, Salm (Salmon)
- Zander (pike perch)
- Karpfen (carp)
- Hecht (perch)
- Scholle (plaice)
- Seezunge (Dover sole)
- Steinbutt (turbot)
- Seeteufel (monkfish, anglerfish)
- Kabeljau (cod)
- Hering (herring)
- Seelachs (pollock)
- Aal (eel)
- Barsch (perch)
- Wolfsbarsch, Loup (sea bass)
- Krabben, Garnelen (prawns)
- Flußkrebs (crayfish)
- Krebs (crab)
- Hummer (lobster)
- Languste (spiny lobster)
- Jacobsmuschel (scallop)
- Muschel (mussel)
- Auster (oyster)
- Schnecke (escargot)

Fish is prepared in many ways:

- geräuchert (smoked)
- Tatar, Carpacchio (raw)
- mariniert, Rollmops (marinated)
- Matjes (raw herring)
- Bismarck- (in jelly)
- blau (boiled)
- Müllerin (seared in butter)
- gebraten (seared)
- gegrillt (grilled)
- gebacken (baked, sometimes fried)
- frittiert (fried)
- paniert (battered)

Guten Appetit!

First off, there are lots of vegetarians in Germany these days, so you'll have no problem finding plenty salads and seafood. And you can't visit Swabia without trying Käsespätzle (egg noodles with cheese, usually garnished with crisp fried onions), a sort of Swabian mac and cheese.

Other posters have already mentioned some good options for possible day trips, so I will repeat a few and suggest a few more. You don't mention whether you will have access to a car, but I am assuming that you will, although you can get to the larger towns by train as well.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Stuttgart has a fantastic Christmas market. It's huge, has a lot of high quality goods and great food, and is very atmospheric, centered around the oldest square in Stuttgart.

If you are at all interested in cars, you should also check out the Mercedes Museum while you are in Stuttgart.

Burg Hohenzollern is THE castle you want to visit. Even if you are going to do most of your travel by train, get a car for a day just to visit this castle! The tour is only in German, but you can purchase an English guide. Be sure to check out the casements under the castle as well. The restaurant at the castle (called Burgschenke) offers excellent and reasonably priced Swabian cuisine.

If you are interested in a good hike and an atmospheric castle ruin, a favorite of mine is Ruine Hohenurach near the town of Bad Urach, about 14 km east of Reutlingen. You'll get a taste of the beautiful hill country known as the Swabian Alb and a distant view of the impressive Uracher Waterfall. As I recall the hike up to the castle takes 20-30 minutes; you can also hike to the waterfall.
(see http://www.flickr.com/photos/hausfra...7604271092232/)

No visit to the region would be complete without a visit to the Residenzschloss in nearby Ludwigsburg - the Versailles of Germany. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwigsburg_Palace) The guided tour is excellent, and offered in English at least once a day. There's also a beautiful Baroque Christmas market in Ludwigsburg.

The following three towns are listed in order from largest to smallest. These are my top 3 choices for "town" day trips from Stuttgart.

Tübingen is a lovely, bustling university town. Definitely worth spending an afternoon exploring its winding streets. Try to time your visit for a market day for an added bonus (although it will be more crowded and harder to get a seat at lunchtime). You could make a stop at the nearby Bebenhausen Monastery on your way to or from Tübingen. It is a beautifully-preserved Cistercian monastery with an excellent audio tour.

Schwäbisch Hall is a good-sized town situated on the river Kocher and has one of the most gorgeous panoramas of half-timbered houses that I have seen in Germany
(see http://www.flickr.com/photos/hausfra...7603859079991/)

Bad Wimpfen is a small town perched on a cliff overlooking the Neckar River with beautiful half-timbered houses and impressive fortifications. Also worthy of a morning or afternoon stroll, with a few cafes and restaurants where you can grab a bite to eat.

That's about all I have time for at the moment...but it should give you a good start!

Hausfrau, as you know, the problem is there are too many wonderful places to visit in that part of Germany!!