Immersive Experiences in SouthWest Germany’s Stuttgart
Local wine and beer festivals, beautiful cars, food, interactive museums and cultural performances, offer deeply immersive experiences.
New York, New York – May 5, 2022 Easily accessible, immersive experiences, from fast cars to relaxing wine hikes, offer varied and satisfying escapes in this traditional yet innovative and creative capital of SouthWest Germany. Stuttgart is one of Germany’s greenest metropolises – surrounded by gently rolling hills, woodlands, orchards and vineyards. It is easy to fall in step with the rhythm of local life and, within a few hours, feel comfortable, relaxed, energized and inspired by all that you can experience.
New! Starting October 30, Delta Airlines once again will be providing a direct flight between Atlanta and Stuttgart, just in time for the Christmas markets.
Cool Cars
You can begin your exploration of the city’s famous car scene with either of the two world class auto museums: Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. In the Mercedes-Benz Museum you can experience the over 130-year-old history of the automobile and the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand from Day One to the present. Among the 160 cars and 1,500 exhibits are the Popemobile, Princess Diana's red SL, the "Grand Mercedes" Type 770 owned by the Emperor Hirohito and the bus used by the 1974 German national men's football team. In a large banked curve, legendary record-winning “silver arrows” are on show, including the Phoenix racing car, the "Blitzen-Benz" and Nico Rosberg's F1 World Championship winner from the year 2016.
The Porsche Museum documents the history of the famous Stuttgart sports car manufacturer and is aptly named a "rolling museum," as its automobiles are still raced today! They take part in various races, such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed, for example. In order to guarantee expert maintenance of the historical racing and sports cars, the museum has its own workshop. A glass partition allows visitors to watch experts at work on the classic Porsche cars. Best of all, visitors can truly immerse themselves in the experience and reserve the model of their choice at the Porsche Museum's Porsche Drive rental station.
Even if you are not a gear head, you will love the design and luxury of the state-of-the-art racers and celebrity cars presented in the context of social and industrial history. The museums defy all expectations. Car connoisseurs and greenhorns alike enjoy spending hours wandering the halls amazed by the slick and sexy cars made for millionaires, celebrities and notorious leaders. The tour guides are passionate and well-informed, and there are audio tours for adults and children. The restaurants and gift shops round out a very satisfying and educational day.
The car experience can continue with factory tours as well as the Gottlieb Daimler Memorial house where Daimler and Maybach made the first engine. Viewing the vintage cars for sale at MOTORWORLD is a three-for-one experience as this unique facility is a combined design hotel (please see below for car dreamers), event location and an exhibition of mobile classics.
Your automobile dreams can also come true off the road in the 26 V8 theme rooms. In the V8 Hotel Classic, guests can make themselves at home for example in the Car Wash Room between wraparounds, pipes and a tunnel controller – just like in a proper car wash. Or they can soak up the scrapyard flair in the Nostalgia Room. Other rooms with themes such as motor racing, workshop, vision, tuning, filling station, Route 66, drive-in cinema and V8 Camp are guaranteed to make a night at the V8 Hotel a unique experience.
Wine is an important characteristic of Stuttgart’s city life as it is made and sold in the vineyards all around the city. Throughout the year, the wine hills of the Württemberg wine region offer endless opportunities for hiking, biking, tastings and tours and beautiful views of the city. Many of the seasonal pubs offer their local wines along with traditional fare in their courtyards. Festivals, talks and the wine museums offer a fun and interesting wine experience in and around Stuttgart. The annual wine festival at the end of August and early September (August 17 to September 4, 2022) on the main castle square (Schlossplatz) is a chance to mingle with locals and enjoy tasting 500 different types of wines from the region along with traditional local fare.
You can even enjoy cars and wine without drinking and driving. Among many of the creative tours that Stuttgart offers is a drive through the beautiful vineyard scenery: Departing from the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Stuttgart Wine Tour takes you to wine estates, the Stuttgart Museum of Viniculture with its Vinothek, and the romantic Royal Burial Chapel on the Württemberg. At the stopping points there’s an opportunity to sample some of the local wines or take a short wine hike through the vineyards. You can even book this wine tour right on the website in advance and there is a great pdf of a map to put your wine trail in context.
Stuttgart is not only about wine however. The annual beer festival on the Canstatter Volksfest is second only to Oktoberfest in terms of size and popularity. From September 23 to October 9 this year, the beer festival offers food, tents of beer halls, rides and entertainment and an agricultural fair. Each year the festival opens with a grand procession with magnificently decorated brewery drays drawn by four or six horses, and with groups from all over the region dressed in traditional costumes.
Christmas Markets City
The highlight of the year however is unquestionably the annual Christmas markets. There are three Christmas markets in and around Stuttgart, including the main Christmas market that winds its way through Stuttgart’s old town through the Market Square, the Schiller Square and up to the Castle Square; the baroque market at the castle of Ludwigsburg; and the medieval market in the half-timbered town of Esslingen. Stretching from the New Palace to Schiller Square, the main Christmas market is a gathering place for all ages. Friends, relatives, classmates and visitors stroll through the 300 decorated stalls buying treats and decorations for the home; gathering for a post-work hot mulled wine or a stand-up dinner of Bratwurst and Brezel (pretzels) at the various eateries. It is a joyous time for all ages and the lights twinkle from twilight until about 10 pm.
The holiday magic continues at the Stuttgart Christmas Garden in the Wilhelma Zoological and Botanical Gardens and in the courtyard of the Old Castle where singing groups from around the state come and perform Christmas music in the open air. And, the enormous light sculptures comprising the Stuttgart Highlights showcase some of the city’s tourism highlights, including the Stuttgart horse, the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Porsche Museum, the Television Tower and the Jubilee Column decorated with thousands of lights. Every half-hour there’s an unforgettable light and sound show against the atmospheric backdrop of the New Palace. It is all together an utterly magical experience.
Around Stuttgart
Within 20 minutes of the city center, the surrounding region has a lot to offer. Just north of Stuttgart lies Ludwigsburg, a Baroque city and former royal residence of the dukes and kings of Württemberg. Not far from Ludwigsburg there's Marbach, the birthplace of Friedrich Schiller. To the east of Stuttgart, on the banks of the R. Neckar, you'll find Esslingen, a medieval town steeped in history. Also to the east, in the borough of Rems-Murr, lies Schorndorf – the town where Gottlieb Daimler first saw the light of day.
Stuttgart-Marketing GmbH,
offizieller Touristik-Partner der Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart
Rotebühlplatz 25, 70178 Stuttgart