Stuttgart Area Travel Guide

Planning to visit Stuttgart or the Black Forest region? Start your trip planning here!

Keep reading this page for an overview of what to do and see in the Stuttgart area. Or check out one of our more in-depth guides:

• 31 things to do in Stuttgart
• Best day trips from Stuttgart
• Stuttgart Christmas market guide
• Best hotels in Stuttgart

Ok, let’s a take a look at the beautiful Stuttgart area and everything you can do and see here!

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With the Black Forest to the south, the Schwäbish Alb (Swabian Alps) to the northeast, and France to the west, Stuttgart has a lot to offer.

Home of the legendary Cannstatter Volksfest (better than Oktoberfest!), a huge historic Christmas market, and vineyards right in the city, you’ll find plenty to do, see, and experience in and around this off-the-beaten-path city.

This city guide is an introduction to Stuttgart and will help you start planning your visit to this vibrant city north of the Black Forest.

I lived in Stuttgart and have returned several times since then. I’m excited to now help you plan your dream trip to the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Let’s get started!

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What to Do and See in Stuttgart

READ our guide on 31 things to do in Stuttgart

Whether you’re into food and drink, history, architecture, nature, art, or spontaneous adventures, you’ll find plenty to see and experience in and around Stuttgart! Here are a few ideas to get you started:

READ our Stuttgart Christmas market guide!

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Where to Stay in Stuttgart

READ our Stuttgart hotel guide here!

Most recently I stayed Motel One and Hotel Unger near the Königstrasse shopping area, museums, and the Christmas market. I highly recommend these hotels! Both are an easy walk to the train station and many downtown sights, yet they’re quiet, comfortable, have A/C, and offer breakfast.

You can also check out our Stuttgart hotel guide here for more options.

TIP: Book your room in advance! They tend to fill quickly during peak travel times so I recommend seeing what’s open for your travel dates now!

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Stuttgart Tours & Tickets

READ our guide on 31 things to do in Stuttgart!

Stuttgart has so many tours and special tickets to make your visit extra special. Here are some fun things to do!

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Stuttgart Day Trips

READ our Stuttgart day trips guide!

One of the best things about making Stuttgart your home base while visiting Baden-Württemberg is that you have countless day trip options!

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Getting To Stuttgart

Stuttgart is located in southwest Germany in the German Bundesland (state) of Baden-Württenberg. It’s just a few hours away from France and Switzerland.

Stuttgart is easy to reach via train, bus, car or plane. If arriving from the US, consider flying directly into Stuttgart International Airport. I often fly in and out of Stuttgart because it’s so easy and stress free (Delta has a direct flight from Atlanta and it’s a quick hop from other European hubs).

You can then take the S-bahn into downtown Stuttgart in 40-ish minutes, a bus to Tübingen if you’re heading in that direction, a taxi right to your destination (it takes about 30 minutes to drive into the city center) or you can reserve an an easy airport transfer ahead of time.

If you’re arriving via train or bus, you’ll arrive at the central train station downtown (Hauptbahnhof). From there you can walk to many downtown hotels (check out our Stuttgart hotel guide here) and tourist sights, take public transportation or grab a taxi.

Getting Around Stuttgart

If you stay in the city center, you should be able to walk to most sites. For the sites that are further away (e.g., TV tower, vineyards, BMW museum) you can hop on a tram, bus, U-bahn or S-bahn or use the Hop On Hop Off bus.

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Best Germany Travel Guides

These are our two favorite travel guides. We typically buy a Rick Steves guide whenever there’s one available. His Germany guide doesn’t include Stuttgart but if you’re traveling to the Black Forest or elsewhere in Germany, you’ll find it useful.

We also highly recommend the Culture Smart books. I always read one before visiting a new country because they have so much useful cultural information (I usually read it on the plane) that gives me much-appreciated insight into what I’m doing, seeing, eating, and experiencing.

You can get a hard copy or Kindle version for each book.

• Culture Smart Germany: the essential Guide to Customs and Culture
• Rick Steve’s Germany

Stuttgart Basics

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ULTIMATE GERMANY TRAVEL RESOURCES

We’ve gathered some of our essential travel guides, websites, and other information to help you plan the best vacation! We use these resources ourselves and share them to save you money, time, and stress so you can focus on enjoying and making the most out of your time in Germany. GERMANY TRAVEL BUNDLE: Our Ultimate Germany Travel Bundle gives you the best tools, up-to-date tips, and expert insights to easily and efficiently tackle the travel planning process. You’ll get our custom Trip Planning Map, which shows you the best sights, hotels, castles, and more – because seeing where things are in relation to each other makes trip planning SO much easier! You also get our Trip Planning Spreadsheet, City Cheatsheets, How-to Videos, Germany Trip Planning Guide, and Trip Planning Spreadsheet! BOOKING FLIGHTS: To find the the best flights deals, we recommend checking Kayak, Skyscanner, Expedia, Travelocity. These websites are also great for getting rental cars. ACCOMMODATIONS: We recommend using Booking.com since they have widest range of accommodations available from hostels, boutique hotels, luxury chains, aparthotels, at the best prices. For vacation homes, we suggest checking VRBO. We also have accommodation guides on different destinations (Hamburg, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart, and more to come!) in our website. TRAINS & BUSES: For point-to-point or regional train tickets (great for day trips or groups) within Germany, or tickets originating in Germany to other European destinations, we recommend buying them on the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail System) website. If you want to buy a rail pass for Germany (or elsewhere in Europe), buy them on Rail Europe. For buses, FlixBus offers tickets for routes within Germany and to other European countries. FlixBus is often cheaper than trains but can take longer. TRAVEL CREDIT CARD: One of the best ways to make travel to Germany more affordable is by booking free flights. Using the points accrued with our Chase Ink credit card (and a few others), we haven’t had to pay for flights to Europe in the past 10 years! TICKETS AND TOURS: We always recommend exploring a new city for the first time with a Hop On Hop Off Bus tour (ride it all the way around for the entire 1.5-2 hour tour). Here is our guide on the best Hop On Hop Off Bus tours for different German cities. For guided walking tours, day trips, private tours, and skip-the-line tickets, Get Your Guide is our go to! WHAT TO PACK: Not sure what to bring to Germany? Check out our 2-week minimalist packing guide for tips on traveling light, and our Germany packing list for our must-pack items. Bonus: check out our guides on finding the best travel purse and best travel scarf with a hidden security pocket. TRAVEL CONSULT: If you feel like you need more help and guidance beyond these resources, book a travel consult with us! We offer personal live sessions where we’ll help you with things like planning your itinerary, showing you how to book train or skip-the-line tickets, and answer any other questions you have about traveling to Germany.