The best reason to go to Stuttgart, of course, would be to take delivery of your new custom Porsche direct from the factory and put it through its paces on a high-octane weekend in the Black Forest. But even if you are merely picking up a cheapo rental with the horsepower of a golf cart, Stuttgart makes a worthwhile stop on its own merits. As home to industrial powerhouses like Bosch and Mercedes-Benz, Stuttgart may be the Detroit of Germany, but this green and cultured city nestled among forests in the gentle Neckar Valley amply rewards visitor seeking its more easygoing side.  They leave with memories of a vibrant, livable city. Stuttgart has medieval origins and was the capital of the Kingdom of Württemberg during the 19th century, but after the destruction of WWII, little remains—the Opera House was the only significant building left standing. Although the city center has been beautifully rebuilt in both classic and modern styles, Stuttgart does not have big historic monuments or the typical tourist attractions, so it is usually passed over by leisure travelers. That’s too bad, particularly for fans of cozy cafes, world-class ballet, fine art, relaxing spa treatments, exotic gardens, fast cars, stylish shops, and cutting-edge architecture. Stuttgart proves that it’s possible to be both urbane and gemütlich at the same time.

For such an auto enthusiast’s paradise, the city is easily explored without one. A €2.50, half-hour ride on the S2 or S3 train will get you from the airport to the central rail station, from which all the major cultural sites are within a 10-15 minute walk. Frankly, the city bus tour is easily skipped—almost everyone abandoned the tour before the end anyway, right about the time the guide started pointing out major intersections and “world famous” piston manufacturers. You are better off on your own or opting for one of the off-the beaten-track tours, like the one of major construction sites. On the Stäffele tour, an excellent workout can be had climbing the hundreds of hillside stairs that used to meander through vineyards but now provide a romantic—if steep—path through exclusive neighborhoods. Pick up a city map or book tours at the “I-Punkt” Tourist Information Center across from the Central Rail Station at the beginning of the Königstra. pedestrian shopping street.//

Only in Stuttgart
Despite its heavy-industry profile, Stuttgart has a surprisingly small-town feel. Not a skyscraper or smokestack in sight. More than half of the city’s acreage is green, and there are no fewer than 19 mineral springs that daily spout some 22 million liters of crystalline mineral water. No wonder they fill swimming pools and fountains with it. Since some are attributed with healing properties, there is a booming local spa industry. The Leuze and Bad Cannstatt mineral baths offer every conceivable high-tech water adventure, from waterfalls and hydrojets to chlorine-free cold and warm bathing pools. The Berg mineral baths offer a more tranquil 1950s feel, complete with rubber bathing caps. VitaParc serves up a smorgasbord of wellness treatments and internationally themed baths, including the lavish Swabian Springs. Hint: In Germany, the timid should check bathing suit and mixed bathing policies.

Contact
Leuze Mineral Baths, Am Leuzebad 2-6, tel. + 49/0711/216 4210; open daily; “textile-free” bathing Wed.-Sat. 9 -11pm;
Bad Cannstatt, Sulzerrainstrasse 2, tel. +49/0711/216 9241;
Berg Mineral Baths, Am Schwanenplatz 9, tel. + 49/0711/923 6516;
VitaParc in the Si Centre, (Plieningerstrasse 100, tel. +49/0711/725 253.

The water is excellent, but for slightly stronger libations, search out the local wines. For centuries wine was the region’s most important industry, and there are vineyards everywhere, even interspersed among the car factories and next to the rail station downtown. The main varietals are Trollinger and Reisling, and the nearby village of Uhlbach boasts a small winery museum.

The easiest way to sample the local hooch is in one of Stuttgart’s numerous cozy wine pubs, accompanied by a few hearty Swabian dishes. We visited several, detailed below in the restaurant reviews, but unfortunately missed the most celebrated Weinstube Zur Kiste (Kanalstrasse 2, tel. +49/0711/244 002).
Open Mon.-Fri. dinner only, 5pm-midnight, Sat. 11:30am-midnight.
Main courses cost €15; €4.80 for wines by the glass.)

Also very appealing were Amadeus (Charlottenplatz 17) and  Zum Paulaner (Calwer Strasse 45, tel. +49/711/224 150.) For beer, you can’t go wrong at Calwer-Eck-Braü, Stuttgart’s oldest brewery tavern. Unfiltered, unpasteurized, bottom-fermented beer made according to a medieval recipe is served with enormous skillet dishes in a polished, turn-of-the-century wood-paneled room with leaded glass windows (Calwer Strasse 31, tel. +49/0711/222 4944-0, www.calwereck.de).

Nothing, however, symbolizes Stuttgart more than its legendary cars. Stuttgart’s name, “Garden of Mares,” harkens to its days as an aristocratic stud farm, but now most of Stuttgart’s horsepower comes from an internal combustion engine. The tristar Mercedes logo crowns the main rail station’s tower, and the world’s oldest car factory lies on the banks of the Neckar. When it opened in May, the swank new Mercedes-Benz Museum helped kick off the World Cup ’06 party . The ultramodern double helix of glass and steel houses everything from historic “silver arrow” racecars to trucks to Princess Di’s limo. There are also workshops and studios, shops and a restaurant in the spiraling17,000 m2 space. (Mercedesstrasse 100, Stuttgart 70372, tel. +49/0711/173 0000. www.mercedes-benz.com/museum; closed Mondays.) To find the museum, take the S-Bahn (S1) towards Plochingen to the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion stop, then follow the signs.
Not to be outdone, Porsche plans opened its über-cool, €50 million museum in 2007. (Porsche Museum, open daily, free entry. By train, take the S6 towards Weil der Stadt, to the Neuwirtzhaus [Porscheplatz] stop.)
Cultural Monuments

The heart of the city is clustered around the central park behind the Tourist Information Center and is an easy stroll. The broad avenue called Konrad-Adenauer-Strasse, which marks the park’s eastern border, is better known as the “Cultural Mile.” The colonnaded sandstone Opera House, also home to Stuttgart’s distinguished ballet company, stands opposite the Staatsgalerie, which houses a medieval to classic modernist art collection. When we visited, a temporary Monet exhibition was in full swing, but the building probably attracts as many visitors as the art. The original 1840s neoclassical building has been dwarfed by the postmodern addition, completed in 1984 by English architect James Stirling. It comprises a monumental horseshoe of sandstone and local travertine marble punctuated by bright pink and blue tubes and floors that look like acid green Legos (Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, Konrad-Adenauer-strasse 30-32).

When you reach Charlottenplatz at the end of the Cultural Mile, look for the Café Grand Planie at Charlottenplatz 17. This would be a great time to fortify yourself with something from their huge selection of bistro dishes, cakes, and coffees. The cheery, yellow fin-de-siècle dining room overlooks Karlsplatz, which during our visit was rollicking with the annual fish market fair from Hamburg.

Cross Karlsplatz to reach the fortress-like Altes Schloss, the heavily refurbished 16th century traditional seat of the Counts of Württemberg. It now houses a regional archeological museum, including the Württemberg crown jewels. (Landesmuseum Württemberg, Schillerplatz 6; open Tues.-Sun. 10am-5pm; closed Mon.). On the other side of the castle is the picturesque Schillerplatz. Here you will find the Stiftskirche, the basilica whose two mismatched towers also survived the bombing. Schillerplatz was formerly the site of the original stud farm, but it now hosts a flower and fruit market every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Market rules forbid the sale of anything not locally produced.

Crossing Planie back toward the park, you will find yourself in Schlossplatz facing the grand baroque/Neoclassical façade of the Neues Schloss. It was once the palace of the Württemberg kings and now serves as a government reception hall and ministry offices. At the corner of Planie and Köningstrasse is the beautiful new Kunstmuseum, which houses a modern art collection in a cool new glass cube that seems to float above the plaza. The star of the collection is Otto Dix, but other Swabian modern artists get good billing. Restaurant CUBE on the top floor is the hot spot for a table with a stunning view of the city (see Stuttgart Restaurants, below). Contact: Kleiner Schlossplatz 1, tel. +49/711/216 2188. Open Tues.-Sun. 10am-6pm, Wed. 10am-9pm.

Hanging Out
Swabians might be busy as bees, but they also know how to chill. In summer, it seems like every patch of sunshine was decked out with café tables and people enjoying the fresh air. Cheerful beer gardens tucked in green courtyards invite a leisurely pub crawl. Here are some favorites:

Stuttgart Hotels

Der Zauberlehrling
Tired of faceless business hotels or fake rusticity? The “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” is the ultimate designer boutique hotel, right in the heart of the trendy Bean Quarter. It’s like staying in a conceptual art gallery, or a so-hip-it-hurts club. The 17 spacious rooms are a decorator’s dream, all done by the owners, and each is completely different in style. “Sunrise” is all black and white and urban Zen, complete with a gold circular headboard and small Hindu statues. A rooftop garden and open-air tub aid meditation. The stunningly modern bathroom features a wood-floored minimalist shower room with black brick and glass walls. The sink is a mere curve of thick glass thrust into a porcelain stand. “Chalet,” with its cowhide floor and antler chandelier, is clean, white and bright, sort of dude ranch meets the city. “Floor to Heaven” has a round white bed and exposed, whitewashed beams partitioning off the super funky living room with oversized gilt throne, zebra-striped cushions, and glowing pink wall panels. A shower of crystal drops cascades from ceiling to floor. The huge bathroom has three separate rooms painted in hot tropical colors. The black granite sink runs the whole length of one wall, layered with huge leaves.

The shower is a mango-colored room wired for sound, with a constellation of tiny LED lights in the ceiling. “Titanic” has a waterbed, clawfoot bath and turn-of-the-century nautical theme, while “Paddington” is a Victorian fantasy. “Zeitfalle,” the smallest and cheapest double room at €140 including breakfast, qualifies as a high-fashion bargain. It’s an imaginative use of 18 square meters, and it has a balcony overlooking the garden.

All rooms have private bathrooms, minibar, flatscreen TV, CD players, and high-speed Internet access. There are two separate buildings, and be warned that corridors tend to be dark, lighted by glowing panels in the floor.
There is also a popular but pricey international fusion restaurant.

Contact: Der Zauberlehrling, Rosenstrasse 38, 70182 Stuttgart, tel. +49/0711/23 77 77-0, fax 23 77 77-5, kontact@zauberlehrling.de, www.zauberlehrling.de. Proprietors: Karen and Axel Heldmann. Karen is the principal designer.
Daily rates: Singles €140, doubles from €240. Zeitfalle rates: single €110, double €140.
Rating: Quality 18/20, Value 15/20

Flair Hotel Wörtz
In a good location near Charlottenplatz and the Bean Quarter, the family-run Hotel Wörtz might best be described as quirky. With its abundance of dark carved wood, stained glass windows, and ornate ironwork, it looks like a medieval castle remodeled in 1950. In reality, the building dates from 1870. Rooms at the economy end are clean and well appointed if somewhat dated, but they exude a certain old-fashioned character. At €120, Room 111 is a bargain with white plaster walls, exposed beams, a heavy leather desk chair and a balcony overlooking the garden and “castle.” The dark red flowered carpet has seen better days, but everything is immaculate. The bathroom has a tub and shower with cream-colored wall tiles, scallop shell sink, and gold fixtures. Room 115 across the hall was slightly cheaper but more cramped, with only a shower, two single beds, and no balcony. Carpet was lime green and swirly, but equally faded. The “castle” has brighter and more luxurious rooms, including the hilariously baroque “Louis XVI” suite with colonnaded freestanding round jacuzzi. Ask for a courtyard-facing room, not a front room on the busy street.

Hallways and public areas feature heavy carved wood accents, columns, and swirling ironwork. Breakfast is served on a positively baronial carved wooden counter, the light filtering through the stained glass.

Evenings are convivial at the hotel’s extremely well-regarded wine pub and restaurant “Zur Weinsteige,” noted for its 15,000 bottle wine cellar dating from the 19th century. The hotel has private parking and is located a few steps downhill from the Dobelstrasse U6 stop.

Contact: Flair Hotel Wörtz and Restaurant Zur Weinsteige, Hohenheimerstrasse 28-30 (at the corner of Charlottenstrasse), 70184 Stuttgart, tel +49/0711/23 67 000, fax 23 67 00 7, info@hotel-woertz.de, www.flairhotel.com/woertz. Proprietors: Scherle family
Daily Rates: Singles €85-160, doubles €100-300
Rating: Quality 14/20, Value 15/20

Abalon Hotel
This newly built, economical, but stylish efficiency hotel is well priced if a tad out of the way, tucked below street level in an attractive Art Nouveau residential neighborhood behind the Bean Quarter. The parking garage entrance is easiest to find on Olgastrasse, but the main entrance is around the block on Zimmermanstrasse. The entrance and lobby look like an ultramodern Montessori school, all glass and bright blue steel tubes curving to form a giant skylight. Since the hotel is built into a steep hill, all of the rooms are dug into the ground and are lower than the entrance. However, all of the clean, bright rooms are flooded with light. They are done with light-colored European modern furniture and parquet floors, all very practical with plenty of storage space and looking very new. Some open out into private terrace gardens, while others are designed for family holidays. Room 212, for example, sleeps 4 in one spacious room with a kitchenette and shower.

Breakfast is served in the bright, glassed-in rooftop terrace off the lobby and features a well-stocked hot and cold buffet. Excellent value and quality.

Contact: Abalon Hotel Ideal, Zimmermanstrasse 7-9, 70182 Stuttgart. (Garage entrance at Olgastrasse 79), tel. +49/0711/21 71 0, fax 2171 217, info@abalon.de, www.abalon.de
Rates: Singles from €76, doubles from €96, suites €112.
Rating: QUALITY 16/20, VALUE 17/20

Hotel Le Meridien Stuttgart
This is a choice, newly renovated business hotel in a prime location across from the Schlossgarten and within easy walking distance from the central rail station. Unimaginative and pricey, but practical. Our deluxe double room fronted the busy street, but we could not hear a thing. The room was opulently and urbanely appointed with dark contemporary woods, white walls, and a black granite bathroom. Flatscreen TVs and high-speed broadband are par for the course.

Contact: Hotel Le Meridien Stuttgart, Willy-Brandt-strasse 30, 70173 Stuttgart, tel. +49/0711/22 21 0, fax 2221 2599, info.stuttgart@lemeridien.com, www.lemeridien.com
Daily Rates: Singles from €235, doubles from €275. Breakfast not included.
Rating: QUALITY 15/20, VALUE 12/20

Steigenberger Graf Zeppelin
(Review by Tom Bross)
Location, location. Some travelers enjoy being hosted by Herr und Frau Innkeeper, who welcome them to their charming little place in a suburban or countryside setting. Others like staying smack-dab in the Innenstadt, walkably close to citified attractions. If you’d prefer the latter option and are heading for Stuttgart, Steigenberger’s 189-room property stands imposingly huge and deluxe. Directly across Arnulf-Klett-Platz, architect Paul Bonatz’s massive Weimar-era Hauptbahnhof sports a 56-meter (183-ft.) tower topped by a Mercedes-Benz star for can’t-miss orientation and as a symbol of local automotive prominence.

Dating from 1931 and named for Swabia’s dirigible pioneer, “das Graf” dominates the sleek, five-story Zeppelin Carrè complex. Virtually around a corner: Königstrasse, high among Germany’s standout shopping corridors. Comparably close: access to the vast Schlossgarten, flanked by vineyard-covered hillsides.

Thick, gold-accented blue carpeting, discreet lighting, and potted greenery soften the lobby’s overt business-clientele atmospherics. Solid Buche beechwood-furnished guest rooms are outfitted with hookups for global communications. Exemplary soundproofing (notice the extra-heavy draperies) muffles the clamor of traffic down on the Platz. Hotel amenities include a Shiseido Day Spa (massages, sauna, solarium, Schwimmbad, “wellness” treatments).    

Küchenchef Thomas Heilemann’s meal planning justifies Restaurant Olivo’s Michelin star for Italian-influenced offerings that include a menu of white truffles from Alba (€42); full meals range €25-30 for such entrée choices as pork chops and sautéed tuna. Swabian specialties (Spätzle, Maultaschen, red Württemberg Trollinger wines) make woodsy  Zeppelin Stüble a worthwhile, much-less-costly alternative. Cuban-kitschy Zeppelino’s triples as a restaurant-bistro-cigar lounge. In its €17-28 entrée category, opt for beefsteak, swordfish or escalop of turkey (Putenschnitzel). Guests gather for buffet breakfasts in a fifth-floor room-with-a-panoramic-view.             

Daily Rates: Singles €185-225, doubles €220-240.
Contact: Steigenberger Graf Zeppelin, Arnulf-Klett-Platz 7, 70173 Stuttgart,
tel. +49/0711/2048-0, fax 2048-542, stuttgart@steigenberger.de, www.stuttgart.steigenberger.de.
Rating: QUALITY 17/20, VALUE 15/20

Stuttgart Restaurants

Weinstube Schellenturm
Schellenturm is the place to come for a taste of Old Stuttgart. “Schellentum” means “bell tower,” and the name comes from the bells sewn onto the clothes of the prisoners who built the original tower in 1564. The current tower, formerly used to store Stuttgart’s plentiful wine, inherited the name when the original Schellenturm was torn down in 1811.

Since the Schellenturm’s restoration in 1980 by a group of local preservationists, the wine is still flowing freely in the squat, half-timbered stone turret. When we arrived, everyone was sitting outside at tables set under the trees, enjoying the soft lingering summer twilight. The gleaming wooden tables in the cozy round stone rooms seemed to be waiting for the winter fires to be lit and everyone to come back inside.

It took some time for the waitress to hunt up an English menu, always a good sign in a place that anywhere else would be a kitschy tourist trap. Meanwhile, we tried to decipher the specials handed to us on a little plate. Another great sign was that the chef works with only fresh market produce. It didn’t take long to spot the special wild mushroom menu.

Nobody would accuse Swabian cuisine of being delicate, but the feather-light, handmade maultaschen stuffed pasta pockets (€10.80, big enough for a main course) turned out to be the best of the trip. At Schellenturm, they layer a surprisingly summery minced pork and spinach stuffing loosely between four layers of fluffy handmade pasta. The effect is a light Swabian lasagna sauced with just a dollop of onion marmalade and served with a warm Swabian potato salad in vinaigrette and baby mache salad. Sour tripe (saure kutteln, €9.80) is an acquired taste, but it was also surprisingly delicate for such a hearty dish. Soft honeycombs of pure white tripe were bathed in a tangy tomato-burgundy sauce.

We washed the starters down with a simple, pleasant local reisling by Rotenberger Schlossberg grown somewhere in the vicinity of the Daimler factory. At €4.20 for a 250ml crockful, we thought it was a little pricey for the quality. However, it was far better than the syrupy, anemic, blood-warm Trollinger trocken by the same winery.  Auto factories don’t seem to do much for wine.

For the main courses, we took advantage of the seasonal specials by ordering chive crepes smothered in fresh chanterelles and creamy bechamel sauce (€12.80). The schweinefilet mit pfifferlingrahm (€16.80) turned out to be a trencherman’s portion of two giant pork chops on a mountain of handmade spätzle (you can tell by how irregularly shaped it is) and covered with a rich brown chanterelle sauce. Swabian food, as far as I can tell, always seems to come with a main-course sized side platter of yet more potato and green salads.

By the time the fresh berries and cream (€5.80) arrived, so had darkness. The soft streetlamps were glowing along the quiet back streets of the Bean Quarter, inviting an evening stroll to work off one of the best Swabian meals of the week.

Contact: Weinstube Schellenturm, Weberstrasse 72, 70182 Stuttgart, tel. +49/0711/2364 888, fax 226 2699. Closed Sun. and holidays.
Rating: QUALITY 15/20, VALUE 15/20

CUBE Restaurant
This was the hottest new place in town, mainly because it commands the top floor of the glass cube of the new modern Kunstmuseum, opened in 2005 and designed by Rainer Hascher and Sebastian Jehle. The minimalist restaurant was designed by Heinz Witthöft featuring all-glass walls and ceilings, furnished with banks of long chocolate wooden banquettes and clean-legged chairs set on a bare stone floor. From our sky perch, we seemed to be floating over the sea of red tile roofs and the rolling hills beyond.

The menu is modern international, rather fancifully described as “Pacific Rim.” The “light and fresh” lunch menu features a changing daily special for €7.80 and a three-course set menu for €28.80.

I’m not sure what Swabians mean by “light and fresh,” but it was simply too hot even for a diehard glutton like me to consider a lunch of roast saddle of veal (€18.80) or panfried perch with asparagus gnocchi and sundried tomatoes (€16.80) or even penne arrabiata (€8.90). We opted instead for salads, one with grilled chicken and coconut dressing drizzled on greens, and the other with salmon tartare on spring greens with toasted lemon crostini (both €10.80).  Although they were billed as appetizers, they were so huge that we decided against dessert. (Cakes for €2.80.)

Service from the handsome guy with perfect English was exceptionally cordial if a bit slow at the end. Food is nicely presented and well executed, if somewhat unimaginative. Location is unbeatable, especially for fans of Otto Dix. The museum houses the o.T. Bar as well as 15,000 works of contemporary, principally regional German art.  The lunch crowd seemed to be well-dressed local businesspeople.

Contact: Cube Restaurant in the Kunstmuseum, Kleiner Schlossplatz 1, 70173 Stuttgart, tel. +49/(0) 711 2804441, www.cube-restaurant.de
Rating: QUALITY 13/20, VALUE 13/20

Harris Kaehelofen
This restaurant is located in my favorite Stuttgart find, a perfect little plaza tucked behind Eberhardtstrasse, decorated with a small statue of “Lucky Hans” straddling a golden pig in a wrought iron cage. To find it, turn left out of Breuninger on Eberhardt. Look for an arched passage on the right between the Block House and Beauty House leading onto Geiss Strasse. You will come out into a tiny flagstone plaza ringed with tall, pastel-colored gabled houses and lined with wine pubs.

The one behind Block House is Harris Kachelofen, a local institution. Every city has one restaurant that attracts every visiting celebrity, and in Stuttgart they all seem to come here.  Dozens of autographed photos line the walls, and I was told that the owner, Mr. Beck, is quite a character and a fount of knowledge about the city and its food. However, neither he nor his lively clients were there the day I had lunch alone, so the room seemed a bit close and musty and abandoned. As luck would have it, rain made it impossible to eat out in the lovely little square, so I ended up in a corner table covered with a heavy lace cloth near a tiny wooden window.

The service, however, warmed the place. I couldn’t decide between the maultaschen in onion soup or the one with cheese (€10), so the chef made me a half portion of each and then came out to ask which one I had liked best. Again I couldn’t decide, but the soup version was both light and rich, while the cheese version had been a bit too enthusiastically grilled under the broiler. They came accompanied by one of those ubiquitous huge side salads. The chef turned out to be a brawny, Spanish-speaking Bulgarian, but he certainly can cook Swabian. The proprietress offered me an umbrella for the walk back. Honest home-cooked Swabian specialties for €10-15 won’t win gastronomic awards, but perhaps this place makes it on personality.

Contact: Harris Kachelofen, Eberhardstrasse 10, Stuttgart, tel. +49/711/24 23 78
Rating: QUALITY 12/20, VALUE 13/20