Germany - July 08

As to Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ), it is Germany's sixth largest city and has lots of sights and things to do. It has been called Europe's greenest city, with lots of parks, vineyards, and forests. You can enjoy the outdoors while in the city, the "Green U" is 10 km of continuous parks from the city center (Schlossplatz) to Hoehenpark Killesberg on a ridge top and can be walked or biked without crossing a street at street level. It's enjoyable to walk up the hundreds of Staeffele (stairways on the steep hillsides that once gave access to the vineyards and now mainly just connect streets), many of which are associated with small parks which give an island of tranquilty with nice views in the heart of the city. The tourist information office ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ) has lots of free information including a free map in the language of your choice which has a suggested several hour walking tour of the central area sights and describes their architecture. They also have a nice booklet in English with three excellent panoramic walks, and also one in German with suggested walks through the vineyards.

Architecturally, Stuttgart has several important structures including: the world's first modern TV tower completed in 1956 which also has an observation deck; the houses in Weissenhofsiedlung designed by world-famous architects for a 1927 architectural exhibition (also museum); Germany's oldest "skyscraper"; the innovative double helix tower in Hoehenpark Killesberg which can be climbed for what I consider are the best views of Stuttgart; and many excellent examples of modern architecture.

There are many excellent museums, topping the list the Mercedes Benz Museum (also architecturally nice) which displays over 120 years of automotive history in the form of 160 vehicles. There is Europe's largest combination zoo-botanical garden Wilhelma ( www.wilhelma.de ), set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace. Germany's latest polar bear cub will be on display. The mineral waters are western Europe's largest, and there are three large associated baths. In the Leuze one you can swim in bubbly carbonated water. Nearby, 15 minutes away by S-bahn, is the well preserved medieval center of Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) and also Germany's largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace in Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) with several days worth of things to see. (Information on the Stuttgart palaces, Wilhelma and Ludwigsburg palace can be found in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de .) Almost any town at the end of the 6 S-bahn lines can be ebjoyably visited for a hald day. The old college town of Tuebingen ( www.tuebingen.de ) with its hilly cobblestone streets and one of Europe's first universities is nearby, and they do punting on the Neckar River there as they do at Oxford and Cambridge.

There are plenty of other enjoyable things to see and do in Stuttgart and its surroundings, or you can just relax in the many cafes or beer gardens and watch the world walk by.

Edited by: marcopolko

As concerns contemporary architecture, Cologne is among the most interesting destinations in Germany (ranks above Berlin, IMO), you might want to take a look at this online-guide on contemporary architecture in Cologne , which you can search by map, category or architect.

Since you claim that you want to exercise your German skills, a further ressource on contemporary architecture would be the homepage of Germany's leading architectural magzine, Bauwelt : Switch to 'Archiv' (at the right)and search by place, category etc. Only downside: For most buildings, a precise description of the whereabouts isn't indicated, so either search, contact the local tourist information or come back to this forum for details.

Besides the popular art-museums in Cologne (Museum Ludwig (20th century) and Wallraff-Richartz-Museum (pre-20th century)), there are regularly decent exhibitions on photography in the SK-Stiftung in Cologne. The Kunststation St.Peter is another place worthwile to check for current exhibitions. Visit the brand-new Archbishopric Museum at least for its architecture (by Swiss architect Peter Zumthor).

Most places are stuffed with 'history', yet there's an extremely high density of places to look at in Berlin, check this slightly older thread for a couple of them.

The river you forgot the name of is the Rhine, very likely the most mythical river in Europe. Though there are a number of boats going around Cologne/Bonn, the arguably most scenic stretch (including the probably largest number of castles) is further south between Mainz and Koblenz (or even Bingen-St. Goar, to narrow it further down). Largest and best known carrier is the KD shipping company. There are raillines on both sides of the river and a number of youth hostels, so getting around or staying in that area is pretty easy. Keywords for a thorntree-search could include: Marksburg, Burg Eltz (Mosel valley), Middle Rhine valley. Area very well suited for hiking, too.

Some comments on your travelling season: Weather in July (as at any other time of the year) is unpredictable, there might be a heatwave, there might be torrents of rain, so a backup-plan (more museums or else) could come handy. It's summer break in most states, and though most Germans will travel either to the sea or abroad, foreign tourists flock in. University break is mid-July, you can expect quite a number of partying going on in University towns (Münster, Cologne, ...) at that time.

Feel free to ask further.

P.S.

Shop (at some 'touristy' places, but mostly at stores with interesting/unique little nick nacks that we can bring back, most likely to be found in smaller towns?)

Do I understand corretcly, you're really looking for tourist stuff like lace tablecloths, wicker baskets and beer steins?

Frankfurt is not one of Germany's highlights and you would do well to spend as little time there as possible. It's not a horrible place for sure, but it's the least interesting big city I've ever been to in Europe.

I agree with #2 that Cologne has a lot of offer the traveler. It's my favorite city in Germany. The backstreets of Cologne have those touristy type shops that you are interested in and plenty of interesting museums and things to do. The Dom is quite magnificent and well worth a visit in my opinion.

Thanks so much for the replies, very helpful. Keep them coming! :]

#3, Yes, we would like to see some 'touristy' shopping places, but we would also like to find some shops that aren't so touristy.

Hi,

I envy you guys a bit ;)

You will have a great time in Germany and Berlin for sure. In terms of electronic music it is one of the top places to go in Europe.

I could recommend some clubs with electronic music. Check their websites if you wanna know more about the programs and check the artists on myspace etc.

Club Maria in Friedrichshain: industrial style
Watergate in Friedrichshain/Kreuzberg: Great location, based on the river
Tresor
Berghain
Club 103

... and many many other good places. Also look at this club guide

I love the atmosphere in Berlin clubs. Anyhow sometimes it is a problem to get inside the clubs if you are a group of men without women. So try to mix ;)

A must in summer in Berlin are in my opinion also the beach clubs along the river Spree. Look here to get an overview.

Enjoy the time!

Andreas

If you were back to Berlin by the 18th-20th you could catch the Melt! Festival in Ferropolis with Bjork.

The river cruise in on the Rhine, which you can catch in Koln KD Rhine River Cruises , but better to take the train down to Mainz and cruise back up, stop in a small town like St. Goar on the way down and somewhere like Koblenz on the way back.