Güten Tag Stuttgart!
- Raff
- Nov 15, 2019
- 2 min read
Germany has been a place we have wanted to visit in the motorhome for a long time. We have been for long weekends before, but by plane and hotel combos. On our journey towards Switzerland, we chose Stuttgart as a destination to explore, and we were not let down.
Stuttgart is the sixth largest city in Germany, the capital of Baden-Wurrttemburg and home to car manufacturing giants Mercedes Benz and Porsche - both have their own museums which you can visit. Much of the city was destroyed in World War 2, so there is a large mix of building styles.
We free camped at an aire in the town of Böblingen around 30 minutes south-west of the city. It would appear that Böblingen is almost a suburb of Stuttgart with many rail connections and commuters. There is also a US army base and you can see many of the American soldiers driving around in their American vehicles. The aire offers water drainage and there is a tap, but it wasn't working during our stay. Thankfully we filled up with 120 litres of fresh water and 10 litres of drinking water at our last site. This typically lasts us around 4 days with showers and washing up.
As with many of our visits to cities, we find the best way to explore is by foot - you get to see so much more. One exception is in large cities such as Barcelona or New York, the sightseeing buses are fantastic!
The weather was quite warm when we arrived and we enjoyed lunch sat outside in the Schlossberg with two pints of beer and gorgeous freshly made pizza. It certainly didn't feel like November! Just as we were finishing, it started to drizzle, so we grabbed the bill and headed out on foot again to window shop. The rain soon cleared and we were once again enjoying the afternoon sunshine and we meandered back through the city's parks and shopping areas, stopping to listen to a live street performance of latin jazz.
Our last city visit was to Strasbourg, and that had proved itself to be a tough act to follow, but Stuttgart is up there with the best. A fantastic tree lined pedestrianised area with a wide range of shopping and eateries. There was a pleasant atmosphere and we enjoyed the both modern art displays and the more historic statues and fountains. The city is surrounded by vineyards and residential areas and it feels very much a town in the country, rather than a busy city.
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