Short Trips Europe
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Germany · City break

Stuttgart City Guide

A big city in a valley basin with vineyards growing on its slopes right inside the city limits. Stuttgart pairs its palace square and Art Nouveau market hall with two world-brand museums and the world's first television tower. More than 400 stairways, the Stäffele, climb the hillsides. Two ready-made routes split the city, one for the centre on foot, one for the icons from Mercedes to the TV tower by train.

🗺️ Open Stuttgart interactively with map & navigation

Our walking tours of Stuttgart

Ready-made routes from the station guide you through Stuttgart, to the right spots from the very first step, with no planning needed.

Palace Square, Market Hall & Karlshöhe

From the main station to the palace square, where the goddess Concordia stands on the column instead of the king, and into the Staatsgalerie with its riotously colourful postmodern wing. On to the collegiate church with its two unequal towers and the Art Nouveau market hall of 1914, then through the changing Leonhardsviertel to the Hans im Glück fountain. And finally up the Karlshöhe, where the beer garden serves the whole valley basin.

  1. Schlossplatz. Stuttgart's living room, with lawns, fountains and the baroque New Palace as a backdrop, flanked by the Königsbau and its colonnade. In the middle rises the Jubilee Column of 1846, erected for the 25th anniversary of King Wilhelm I's reign. But look up and it is not the king you see. Wilhelm refused a statue of himself, so the Roman goddess of concord, Concordia, balances on the column instead. Four reliefs on the base tell scenes from his reign. Sit on the steps a moment and watch the square live its life before the route moves on. A few minutes' walk beyond lies a detour hardly any guidebook skips. The City Library on Mailänder Platz, a white cube by the architect Eun Young Yi, opens inside into a five-storey, all-white "heart chamber". Probably the city's most photographed interior, free to enter.
  2. Staatsgalerie. From outside you see at once why this building made architectural history. James Stirling's 1984 wing mixes natural stone with a curving green glass front and handrails in pink and blue. A postmodern icon that was fiercely argued over at its opening. Its heart is the open rotunda, a roofless sculpture court crossed by a public footpath. Inside, the collection runs from Old Masters to Picasso and Beuys; the Swabian twist is that one of the country's most important museums sits beside an eight-lane road. Give it at least an hour and a half.
  3. Stiftskirche. You recognise Stuttgart's landmark church by its twin towers that aren't twins. When rebuilding began around 1240, two equal towers were planned. Only the southern one was completed, the northern stayed lower, and they stand unequal side by side to this day. The Stiftskirche is the city's oldest medieval church foundation, its predecessor reaching back to the 10th century, and beneath the choir lies the burial vault of the House of Württemberg. Today it is the main church of the Protestant regional church. A short, rewarding stop between palace square and market hall.
  4. Market Hall. A historicist palace outside, a surprise inside. When the market hall opened in 1914, behind the facade sat state-of-the-art reinforced concrete beneath an airy glass roof. Architect Martin Elsaesser had beaten Paul Bonatz, builder of the main station, in the competition. Today it counts among Germany's most beautiful market halls, home to some forty delicatessen stalls with olives, cheese, spices and Swabian fare, plus a balcony restaurant overlooking the bustle. Come hungry. And look up; the glass roof is the secret star.
  5. Hans-im-Glück-Brunnen. On the little square by Geißstraße, fairy-tale Hans and his pig have stood since 1909, created by Josef Zeitler as the finishing piece of an old-town renewal. Six small ducks spout the water, and Hans was reputedly modelled on a farm lad from the Filder plateau. Around the fountain today crowds the densest bar neighbourhood in the centre. Just behind begins the Leonhardsviertel, Stuttgart's small red-light district in transition. Wine taverns and bars are moving in among the old establishments. It is quiet here by day, and at night you simply stay in the bustle of the main lanes.
  6. Karlshöhe. To finish, you earn the basin view. The Karlshöhe is a green hill in the middle of the city, laid out in the 19th century by the beautification society around an old quarry. Up top you sit in the beer garden under trees while the view tips over vines down onto the rooftops of the valley basin. Want the Stuttgart speciality thrown in? Right by the Karlshöhe, the Willy-Reichert-Staffel descends over 400 steps, the longest of the Stäffele, those stairways that once served the vineyards. Downhill, all 400 feel a great deal better.

Mercedes, Wilhelma & TV Tower

The day of Stuttgart's icons, linked by train, starts at the Mercedes-Benz Museum, where 140 years of automotive history spiral down a double helix. Then the Wilhelma, the zoological-botanical garden inside King Wilhelm I's Moorish palace grounds. For the finale, up to Degerloch and the television tower of 1956. The world's first and the model for all that followed.

  1. Mercedes-Benz Museum. Here, where the motorised carriage learned to run in 1886, stands perhaps the world's most elegant car museum. The 2006 building by UNStudio winds upwards as a double helix. You take the lift to the very top and walk 140 years of automotive history down in a spiral, past 160 vehicles from the Patent Motorwagen to the Silver Arrows. The audio guide is included and adapts to where you stand. Even those indifferent to cars stay for the architecture. And the contemporary history running alongside every ramp. Plan generously; hardly anyone gets out in under two and a half hours. And if that's not enough, on the other side of the city the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen tells the second world-brand story. Hardly any other city has two automobile museums of this calibre.
  2. Wilhelma. The Wilhelma is a zoo in royal dress. From 1842 Wilhelm I had a Moorish palace complex built here with domes, arcades and water-lily pools. "Alhambra on the Neckar", people quipped at the time. Animals only moved in after the Second World War, so the ornate buildings are older than the zoo itself. Today around 1,200 animal species live among 8,500 plant species, making the Wilhelma one of Europe's most species-rich zoos. And Germany's only large zoological-botanical garden. Honest note. The grounds are big; with less than two hours, skip the Wilhelma and head straight for the TV tower.
  3. TV Tower. Every television tower in the world has its ancestor here. When civil engineer Fritz Leonhardt proposed a slender reinforced-concrete tower with a viewing pod instead of an ugly steel lattice mast, it was a world first in 1956. And the Degerloch silhouette has been copied around the globe ever since. The tower measures a good 216 metres; the pod with platform and panorama café sits at 150 metres, above the forest, looking over the valley basin, the vineyards, the Swabian Alb and the Black Forest. Honest note. The visit is short for the ticket price, and in fog it is not worth it. But in clear weather the view ranks among the best in the south.

Planning your visit

Two days fit well. The first route from the main station runs 3.5 kilometres across the Schlossplatz to the Staatsgalerie, the collegiate church, the art nouveau market hall and up to the Karlshöhe with its view over the basin. The second takes in the Mercedes-Benz Museum, the Wilhelma and the television tower over 1.5 kilometres. Vines grow on the slopes right inside the city, which is a rare thing. Six evening tips are ready, and Ludwigsburg is a short train ride away.

Going out & nightlife

Rooftop bars

Nightlife quarters

Food & restaurants

Bars & clubs

Stage & concerts

See all stops for Stuttgart in the app →

Practical information for Stuttgart

Public transport

Operator. The Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Stuttgart, known as VVS, covers the state capital Stuttgart and the districts of Böblingen, Esslingen, Göppingen, Ludwigsburg and Rems-Murr-Kreis, plus a handful of transitional municipalities in neighbouring districts. Within this area a single fare applies to the S-Bahn, local trains, the Stadtbahn, buses, express buses, the rack railway and the cable car. The lines are operated by Stuttgarter Straßenbahnen AG, known as SSB, by DB Regio, and by numerous private and municipal bus companies across the region. VVS tickets are also valid on the IC trains between Stuttgart and Bondorf.

Network. S-Bahn, light rail, buses and two funiculars. The city sits in a basin, so it is constantly uphill.

Modes of transport. S-Bahn · Stadtbahn · Bus · NachtBus · Rack railway · Funicular

Operating hours. During the day, the S-Bahn, Stadtbahn and buses run at close intervals into the late evening. After that, the night bus lines take over the network. According to VVS's fare zone plan, tickets valid until the end of service are good until 5 a.m. the following day, which marks the end of the regular service day for fare purposes.

Night service. Within the Stuttgart city area, night bus lines N1 to N10 run every night of the week. The connecting night bus lines out into the districts of Böblingen, Esslingen, Göppingen, Ludwigsburg and Rems-Murr-Kreis, along with the night S-Bahn, on the other hand only run on the nights of Friday to Saturday, Saturday to Sunday, and before all public holidays. SSB is responsible, phone 0711 7885-3333.

Buying tickets. The EinzelTicket and EinzelTagesTicket are available at VVS ticket machines, from the bus driver, at some sales points, and as a HandyTicket or online PrintTicket through the app. The HandyTicket is around five percent cheaper than the printed ticket. The VVS Mobil app handles timetables and ticket purchases, and for SSB tickets there's also the SSB Move app.

App and payment. VVS Mobil is the official app for timetable information and ticket purchases across the whole VVS area. SSB also offers the SSB Move app for tickets on its own lines. With CiCoBW, the check-in-check-out system for Baden-Württemberg, you just board and go, the app automatically books the cheapest fare option. No explicit official confirmation could be found for contactless payment by bank card directly at the machine or on board the vehicle.

Which ticket. The EinzelTicket is valid for three hours from purchase, for one journey in one direction, transfers and breaks in the journey are allowed, round trips and return journeys are not. In zone 1, which covers the main station and city centre, it costs 3.50 euros as a paper ticket and 3.35 euros as a HandyTicket, children aged 6 to 14 pay 1.70 and 1.60 euros respectively. The EinzelTagesTicket for zone 1 is valid for one person, unlimited use on the chosen day until 7 a.m. the next day, and costs 7.00 euros at the machine or 6.70 euros by phone. Mathematically, the day ticket's price equals exactly two single fares, so every further ride that day is effectively included in the day ticket. For groups of up to five people there's the GruppenTagesTicket from 14.30 euros, for four separate rides the 4er-Ticket from 13.40 euros, and for ten rides in one day the 10er-TagesTicket from 51.00 euros. These prices apply until 31 August 2026, from 1 September 2026 EinzelTicket prices rise by an average of around 5.95 percent, with zone 1 then costing 3.70 euros or 3.45 euros by phone.

Fare zones. Zone 1 covers the main station and the whole city centre, a zone 1 EinzelTicket is enough for most of the sights. For trips to the airport you'll need a ticket covering more zones.

Tip. The Zacke rack railway runs from Marienplatz to Degerloch and counts as an ordinary ride.

Links

Getting there

Main station

Location. A building site for years due to the conversion to an underground station. The tower with the star remains.

Long-distance trains. Stuttgart main station is marked as a crossing point for several long-distance lines on Deutsche Bahn's official ICE/IC network map for the 2026 timetable, and connects the city with the major German and European rail hubs. Since routes and frequencies can change from one timetable year to the next, it's worth checking the current connections in the journey planner on bahn.de.

Opening hours. The main station isn't open around the clock. The city of Stuttgart lists its opening hours as daily from 4.30 am to 1 am, the station is closed in between. The shops inside the station are open daily from 6 am to 11 pm, at night only a travel essentials shop stays open.

Airports

STR

Into the city. S-Bahn lines S2 and S3 take 27 minutes to the main station. Stadtbahn line U6 runs every ten minutes during the day and takes around half an hour.

Frequency. U6 runs every ten minutes during the day. Regiobus X10 from Kirchheim (Teck) and X60 from Leonberg run direct to the airport twice an hour at peak times, as does the X3 from Reutlingen. The Metropolexpress MEX from Aalen, Geislingen, Heilbronn, Murrhardt, Pforzheim and Tübingen runs every 30 minutes. On weekdays an early S3 from Backnang reaches the airport as early as 4.57 am, connecting from Plochingen, Herrenberg, Schorndorf, Marbach, Bietigheim and Weil der Stadt.

Local quirks

Good to know

Currency
EUR €
Emergency number
112
Plug type
C · F
Time zone
Europe/Berlin
Driving
right

Speed limits. built-up areas 50 km/h, outside towns 100 km/h, motorway no general speed limit (advisory speed of 130 km/h, not subject to fines)

Many motorway sections have no fixed maximum speed, which surprises drivers from almost every other country. By law, the 100 km/h rural limit explicitly does not apply on the motorway. Signposted limits at roadworks, curves, or in built-up areas, however, are strictly enforced with speed cameras and section control.

Tipping. Five to ten percent, said when paying rather than left on the table.

Tolls. No tolls for cars. The Warnow tunnel in Rostock and the Herren tunnel in Lübeck charge a fee.

Access restrictions. Many city centres are environmental zones open only to vehicles with a green sticker, foreign vehicles included. The sticker is available at test centres and garages.

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