The Mercedes Benz factory/museum. How was it? Worth a visit?
What else would you recommend in Stuttgart? Hotels, restraunts, sights?
Thanks!

Yeh the factory and museum are neat, all the better if you're into cars. Otherwise Stuttgart is a relatively blah modern town, again, like Munich largely destroyed in WWII and pleasantly enough pieced back together. The Bauhaus architecture of a working class flats is a few miles out of the town center and very famous as is Stuttgart's modern art museum. Tubingen, a short rail ride south of Stuttgart, is a wonderful old university town, for a nice day trip. As for Stuttgart i'd chose some other town like Heidelberg, one of Europe's finest old-looking towns, over Stuttgart and many others as well. Just my opinion.

hi there,
the museum is very nice, also the tour. But: For the tour You need to book in advice. And I have heard the museum is closed for some work, don't know when it is open again. make sure to check this before going.
Other things to see:
The "Fernsehturm" (tv-tower), once the highest building in the world gives You a nice view over the town.
A river cruise, perhaps to Marbach (Schiller's birthplace), or Bietigheim, a nice old town with many half-timberd houses.
A trip to Esslingen, the biggest not destroyed city during WW II (takes 10 min with the d-train).
The market hall.
The Weißenhof-Siedlung, the above recommanded Bauhaus Architecture (nice guided tours).
The Old Castle (museum) and the New Castle, located both in the center.
A soccer match.
A walk trough the wineyards (depends on the season).
Hotels: How much You wanna spend? Hotel Walker, Plieger and Isis are in walking distance to the main station and cost about 60 Euro.
Restaurants: Local cuisine at "Stuttgarter Stäffele", "Urbanstube", or "Schellenturm".
Great Italian: Amici, near main station.
Special tip: Visit a "Besen", a seasonal wine bar. Ask the tourist information which one are open.
have fun
Gar

We loved our visit to Stuttgart. The tourist center in the hofbahn is very helpful.

The Staatsgalerie is huge and amazing. There are many more museums we didn't have a chance to visit. We were really there for the beer festival!

We stayed at the Avalon hotel, which was mostly business travelers as I could see. It was nice but I would choose one closer to a Ubahn station next time.

We had wonderful Swabian food at the Weinstubbe Schellenturm (Weberstrasse 72) and Kachelofen (Eberhard Strasse 10.

How do you get to the Mercedes factory/museum from the train station? How far is it? Thanks!

hi there,

from the main station Stuttgar You take the d-train (S-Bahn) number 1, will take about 10 minutes. Leave at station: Daimler-Benz-Stadium. Take a little walk, following the signs.

opening hours:

Montag:
closed
Dienstag:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Mittwoch:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Donnerstag:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Freitag:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Samstag:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
Sonntag:
9:00 bis 17:00 Uhr
 
Entrance is free.
 
Museum is closed on public holidays.

more infos see here:
http://www.mercedes-benz.com/content.../heritage.html

have fun
Gar

I went to Stuttgart a few times for work a few years back. I don't think its the most touristy place but I always enjoyed my visits...reminded me more of the U.S. for some reason.

Try eating in a typical Swabian restaurant. The food was really good (I tought I would HATE the food). The dessert was a tray of pancakes, potato cakes, fruts and creams in large heated dish. It was a fun place to eat. I cannot remember the name but it was not in the centre of the city.

Also the best part was the Wine Dorf. There is a wine festival each year and they set up these little wine houses theat serve red wine and traditional food. You visit several and have a taste of whats on offer. I never knew they made red wine in Germany...and my boss said its beacuse we keep it for ourselves and sell you the worse stuff .

You do need some German phrases. I have a tiny bit of German from school and found it extremely difficult to be understood/communicate with people when my work colleagues were not around.

oops, You didnt know there is red wine in Germany? There is a lot, even on Baden-Wuerttemberg. But the white is better. This year: 21.aug - 11.sept
Prost
Gar

I lived in Stuttgart through the mid-sixties and was quite a fan of the (then) "largest village in Germany".

I was back there a couple of weeks ago with a couple of hours to kill and thought a stroll down the Konigstrasse would bring back a few memories.

But the moment I set foot outside the main station I just freaked out - nothing left of the previous village character, now just another big bustling impersonal metropolis - so I just hightailed it out of there again.

Pity!

Harzer

Gargamel, it goes to show how little even people living in europe know about eachother sometimes! I can't remember the white but we shipped some cases of both to Ireland for a grand opening party and even the cater was fascinated by the German red. It was a novelty to us.

And Stuttgart offers one of the finest Bauhaus developments in 20's era apartment flats - modern for its day on the eastern edge of town.

hi Siobhan,
even I prefer the white Bordeaux (also here a few people asking "white Bordeaux"?) and red wines from the Marken, there are a few fantastic red wines, specially in the Southwest. If You get a chance to get one from Waldulm (Lemberger) or from the winery Graf Adelmann (Spaetburgunder) take time to enjoy. Adelmann also have a great Rieslling: Stetterer Brotwasser.

Harzer!!! You like Stuttgart like it was in the sixtys? Uuhh, yes, it was a village. Shops closed at 5.30 pm, bars at 10. No beergardens, no outside-cafés, no events, no party, no nothing. You won't find a lot of people that want back those time. (But I like to see old b/w pictures from those times.

have fun
Gar

Thanks Gargamel for the info. I am sure I have had the white but i don't recall it as I was fascinated by the whole idea of German red.

The shops did close at 6:30 when I was there and no one told me! I nearly starved to death trying to call Pizza delivery places until I got one who understood French as my German was not understood in any fashon as I speak so badly! Thankfully I was taken out after that first night.

Gar, Thank you for your directions to the Mercedes factory/museum!

Yes, Gar, sorry to disappoint you, but Stuttgart had a really nice comfortable feel to it back then (64 - 67). I don't remember being inconvenienced by the trading hours of shops and pubs at all - but then in Australia we had '6 o'clock closing' in those days, which meant you couldn't get a drink after 18.00 hours unless you had a meal with it, in a restaurantfor example. And the traffic was so easy to manage - when I joined Ernst Klett in 1964 I was the only employee below managerial level who had a car and, drove it to work every day. I parked right outside the factory in Rotebühlstrasse all day (no parking meters then), I think it was called - there was an ornamental lake in a park over the road, I remember. I had a rented room out in Gerlingen and loved the drive into work and back through the woods. And weekends were spent hiking in the Black Forest somewhere. And the girls were friendly, not like the ones back home.

harzer

hi harzer,
sorry, sometimes I'm a little bit to harsh with my hometown. You know, the gras is always greener in other towns ...
Thise late 60s where so konservativ in Germany, and Stuttgart seems to be the headquater of those that did not want to change anything. Except it brings money - for ex. they pulled down a lot of nice old buldings they are now crying for.
Anyway, we hve to live today and there are a lot of nice places to explore, even in Stuttgart.
have fun
Gar

Hey gargamel I will be staying in Bietigheom Bissingen. What can you tell me about that town?

Sorry
Beitigheim Bissingen

hi Katherine,
Bietigheim-Bissingen is a little town with town parts. Bissingen is not that nice, too much traffic going trough. Bietigheim is nice, old halbtibered houses, an art museum that is worth to visit (depends on what is in at that time - now it is Picassos woodcuts), a town museum which is also worth for the house itselfe, good Italian icedream, a new building which is very interessting to look at at the upper end of the mall. You can do a lot of trekking or bike tours along the river Neckar. Stuttgart, Ludwigsburg and Marbach are easy to reach by d-train, Maulbronn (Unesco heritage) and Heidelberg is easy to reach by car or train.
What else do You wanna know? Dinning? Hm, in the mall You find something like a spanish bodega that has nice little things to eat, also the little café at the art museum is nice to sit. The "Rossknecht" is goodd fo a beer (house brewerie), the food is not a hit. Shopping: Next to the Rossknecht a goldsmith, opposite a nice little shop (vom Fass) where You can get wine and liqueur. A little down, right opposite the museum is a gimmick-shop which has real nice things You dont need, but You may love.
Ok, that are my 2 pence on BiBi, ask for special things if You need more information.
Gar

Thanks Gargamel. I will be staying in Bietigheim Bissingen for anywhere up to 10 days. My friend has offered to take me on a weekend trip somewhere in Italy, France or Germany. He finishes work around lunch on Fridays. Suggestions have been Munich, Lake Constance and the wine road in France. I have heard that Lake Constance is more for older people. Our ages are are 32 and forty something. You seem very familiar with the area. Thanks