Stuttgart is the capital of Baden-Wuerttemberg, a city of about 630,000, and it is built in a bowl. The centre sits at the bottom and the city climbs the sides on vineyard slopes, which means it has something no other German city has: roughly 400 public stairways, called Stafflen locally, adding up to around twenty kilometres of steps that function as ordinary streets. People commute up them. The Stadtbahn runs rack sections to get up the steepest parts, and there is still a working rack railway, the Zacke, that climbs to Degerloch.
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Vines grow inside the city limits, right down to the edge of the centre, which is unusual anywhere and nearly unique for a city this size. Underneath it is the second largest mineral water deposit in Europe after Budapest's, about twenty-two million litres a day, and the baths at Bad Cannstatt run on it.
The other thing Stuttgart is, of course, is where the car was invented. Both Daimler and Benz worked here, and the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Untertuerkheim and the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen are the two best automotive museums in the world, which is not a close contest. Both sit beside working factories.
The centre itself is a mixed bag, rebuilt after heavy bombing, and the Schlossplatz with the New Palace and the Koenigsbau colonnade is the handsome part. What makes a visit here is the combination: serious museums, a wine culture with its own vocabulary, and the slopes.
What you pack is set by those steps first, and then by a sheltered warm basin climate.
The Cars, the Centre and the Slopes
Two automotive museums, a palace square, and 400 stairways.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is a double-helix building you descend from the top, following the whole history of the automobile from Benz's 1886 Patent-Motorwagen forward, and it needs three hours. The Porsche Museum is smaller, tighter and more about racing, and takes two. Factory tours at both are free but book out weeks ahead, so arrange them before you travel rather than on arrival.
In the centre, the Schlossplatz is the main square with the Neues Schloss, the Koenigsbau colonnade and the Jubilaeumssaeule, and the Altes Schloss beside it holds the Landesmuseum. The Staatsgalerie has a strong collection with a famous Stirling postmodern extension, and the Kunstmuseum is a glass cube on the square. The Markthalle is an art nouveau covered market and the best lunch in the centre. The Koenigstrasse is the long pedestrian shopping street.
The slopes are the thing to actually do. The Karlshoehe, the Birkenkopf and the Weissenburgpark all give views over the bowl, and the Birkenkopf is a hill made of war rubble with a cross at the top and a plaque explaining what it is built of. The Stafflen between them are public rights of way and the Stafflalauf, a race up them, happens every autumn. The Killesbergpark in the north and the Rosensteinpark, Wilhelma zoo and botanical garden chain running down to the Neckar are the green spine, and the Wilhelma is a Moorish-styled nineteenth century complex and one of the better zoos in Europe.
Bad Cannstatt across the Neckar is where the mineral water surfaces, with the Mineralbad Berg and the Mineralbad Leuze running on it. The Kursaal and the spa park are there, and so is the Volksfest ground.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Region and Day Trips
Wine villages, castles, the Black Forest and Tuebingen.
The Neckar valley wine villages start immediately outside the city. Esslingen, twenty minutes by S-Bahn, has a nearly intact medieval centre with a hilltop fortress, timbered houses and its own vineyards, and is the single best short trip from Stuttgart. Ludwigsburg, also twenty minutes, has an enormous Baroque residential palace with gardens and a pumpkin festival in autumn that is odder and better than it sounds.
Tuebingen is forty-five minutes south, an old university town on the Neckar with punts on the river and a hilltop castle, and is one of the prettiest towns in Germany. Schwaebisch Hall, an hour northeast, has a monumental church stairway used as an open-air theatre. The Hohenzollern Castle, an hour south, is the dramatic nineteenth century reconstruction on an isolated cone that appears on every poster of the region.
The northern Black Forest begins about an hour west, and Lake Constance is two hours south. The Swabian Jura, the Schwaebische Alb, is forty minutes southeast and holds the caves where the oldest figurative art and the oldest musical instruments yet found were excavated, now a UNESCO site.
Getting around: the S-Bahn and Stadtbahn are good and reach everything including both car museums, the Volksfest ground and Esslingen. A day ticket covers the lot. The Zacke rack railway and the Seilbahn funicular to the forest cemetery are both ordinary scheduled transport rather than attractions. Walking the centre is flat; walking anywhere off it is not, and the Stafflen are the fast way up rather than a detour. Cycling in the centre is harder than in most German cities because of the gradients.
When to Go
May to October, with late September the peak and also the busiest.
The basin traps heat, which makes Stuttgart one of the warmest cities in Germany and the reason the vines are there: daytime highs from about 4C in January to 26C in July, with humid still spells in summer when the bowl holds the air. Rain is spread through the year.
Spring, April to June, is the best weather for the Stafflen and the viewpoints, with the slopes greening up and the Fruehlingsfest at Cannstatt in April, which is the smaller spring version of the Volksfest.
Summer is warm and sometimes close, and the museums and the mineral baths are the answer on the worst days.
Late September into early October is the peak: the Cannstatter Volksfest, which is the second largest beer festival in the world after Oktoberfest and far less known abroad, runs for about three weeks, and the Stuttgarter Weindorf in the centre takes over the squares with wine tents in late August and early September. Both are excellent and both make accommodation scarce and expensive, so check the dates and book early in either direction.
Winter is cold, grey and damp at 2 to 6C, with occasional snow that makes the Stafflen genuinely treacherous. The Christmas market is one of the largest and oldest in Europe, filling the Schlossplatz and the surrounding squares, and it is the reason to come in December.
Is Stuttgart Safe for Women Travelers
Stuttgart is a prosperous and safe city, and its real risks are the gradients and the festivals.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Germany, and its terrorism wording is the strongest it uses: terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks in Germany, with restaurants, MARKETS, shopping centres, places of worship, sporting events and crowded public spaces named as possible targets. That is worth knowing in a country where a Christmas market is often the reason for the trip, and the response is awareness rather than avoidance. On crime the FCDO puts German levels on a par with the UK and names theft and pickpocketing at airports, railway stations and in crowded places, with the specific advice not to leave bags unattended. It also gives one unusually concrete warning: exchange currency only at banks and legitimate bureaux, because counterfeit notes are passed to visitors at street kiosks.
The theft warning applies at the Hauptbahnhof, on the Koenigstrasse, and above all at the Volksfest and the Christmas market, where dense slow crowds and a lot of drinking combine. A closed bag worn in front of you handles it. Change money at a bank rather than a street kiosk. The terrorism wording names markets among possible targets, relevant in December.
Beyond that this is an easy and affluent city with low street crime. Public transport runs late and is well used, eating alone is unremarkable, and violent crime against visitors is rare. The area immediately around the Hauptbahnhof is the scruffiest part of the centre and is unremarkable in daylight.
The Volksfest is where ordinary care is worth more than usual. It is a beer festival on the scale of Oktoberfest, held in tents, with a great deal of drinking over three weeks, and the same issues attach to it: keep your own eye on your drink, agree where your group will meet when phones stop working in the crush, and take the S-Bahn rather than walking back across the Neckar alone at two in the morning. It is a well-run family event most of the day and a very drunk one by late evening, and both things are true.
German sauna areas, including those at the mineral baths, are textile-free and mixed. Cash is still expected in wine taverns.
Germany is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free: German healthcare involves patient contributions and the card does not cover repatriation or private treatment, so travel insurance sits on top of it. German hospitals are excellent and English is widely spoken in them, particularly in university cities. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems without an appointment and the duty rota for out-of-hours is posted in the window. Tap water is drinkable everywhere. Dial 112 for an ambulance and 116117 for the non-emergency medical service.
The genuine physical risk here is underfoot and seasonal. Four hundred public stairways built into vineyard slopes are wonderful in May and slick in November, and they are the main way people get hurt in this city. In frost or wet leaves they are serious, they are not all handrailed, and the sensible move in winter is to take the Stadtbahn up and walk down the road rather than the steps. Note too that the gradients make this a hard city for anyone with a mobility limitation, and the Stafflen are not an optional scenic route but in many places the only direct way between two streets.
The Stuttgart Packing List
Shoes with grip, and this is the first item for a reason
Walking shoes with grip. Stuttgart has around 400 public stairways totalling twenty kilometres and you will use them whether or not you planned to, because in much of the city they are the street. Wet stone, wet leaves and frost are all common here and the steps are not uniformly handrailed. This is the one city in this batch where footwear is a safety item rather than a comfort one. Merino wool socks, which keep working damp and handle a lot of climbing without blistering.
Base layers, for a basin that swings
The bowl traps heat in summer and cold damp air in winter, and climbing a hundred steps warms you up fast even in February, which means you will be adding and removing layers all day. That is where merino earns its place: at 160gsm it keeps insulating when damp with sweat, and it resists odour across several days of this. Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron with no synthetic blend. A long sleeve merino wool base layer for women is the right single layer in any month.
A hooded waterproof
A packable rain jacket for women. Rain is spread through the year and the viewpoints and vineyard paths have no shelter.
A warm mid layer, most of the year
A fleece mid layer from October to April, and essential for the Christmas market, which is outdoors and in December.
Microspikes if you come in deep winter and intend to walk
Not for most visitors, but worth stating: iced stone stairways are the reason. If you are here in January and plan to walk the slopes rather than ride up, microspikes turn an unwise descent into an ordinary one. Otherwise take the Stadtbahn.
A swimsuit
The mineral baths are a real part of the city rather than a tourist stop, and the pool areas at the Mineralbad Berg and Leuze need one. The sauna floors are textile-free, as everywhere in Germany.
Sun protection in summer
A wide brim sun hat and sunscreen. The vineyard slopes and the viewpoint hills are open, and the basin is hotter than most of Germany.
The small things
Cash in euros for wine taverns and festival tents, several of which are cash only. A European two-pin adapter. A refillable bottle; tap water is drinkable and the mineral springs are a local point of pride. Factory tour bookings made before you travel, because both sell out weeks ahead. And a check of the Volksfest and Weindorf dates, in whichever direction you want.
Essential Resources for Women in Stuttgart
Emergency numbers: 112 for police, ambulance and fire, free from any phone including a locked mobile, with operators who will find an English speaker. It is the single number across the whole European Union.
Non-emergency police: dial 110 for police in Germany and 112 for any emergency. A theft needs an in-person report, the Anzeige, to produce the document an insurer will require. There is a dedicated police presence on the Volksfest ground during the festival. English is widely spoken.
Main hospital or clinic: the Klinikum Stuttgart Katharinenhospital has a full emergency department in the centre, and the Robert-Bosch-Krankenhaus is the other large one. Dial 112 for an ambulance and 116117 for the non-emergency medical service. An Apotheke, marked with a red A, handles minor problems and posts the duty rota.
Official health authority: the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's public health body. Germany is in the EU, so a UK GHIC or EU EHIC gives you state-provided care on the same terms as a resident, which involves patient contributions rather than being free and does not cover repatriation
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Berlin. Berlin, with a consulate general in Frankfurt, which is the nearest to Stuttgart at about ninety minutes by train
Official tourism authority: the German National Tourist Board. With the Stuttgart tourist office for the StuttCard, the Cannstatter Volksfest and Weindorf dates, and the free Mercedes-Benz and Porsche factory tours, which book out weeks ahead and cannot be arranged on arrival
The stairways: around 400 public Stafflen, twenty kilometres in total, and in much of the city they are the only direct route between two streets. They are slick in wet leaves and genuinely treacherous in frost, not uniformly handrailed, and they are how people get hurt here. In winter, ride up on the Stadtbahn and walk down the road.
The Volksfest: the second largest beer festival in the world, three weeks from late September, and the city's busiest and drunkest period. Ordinary festival care applies: watch your own drink, agree a meeting point, and use the S-Bahn rather than walking back across the river late. Accommodation is scarce and expensive throughout.
Mobility: the gradients make this a hard city for anyone with a mobility limitation. Both car museums and the centre are accessible; the slopes largely are not.
US State Department travel advisory: the Germany advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/germany, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
Solo women safety assessment: Stuttgart is a prosperous, safe and easy city to travel alone, with late-running public transport, low street crime, and enough business travel that eating alone draws no attention. Violent crime against visitors is rare and the area immediately around the Hauptbahnhof is the scruffiest corner and unremarkable in daylight. The FCDO's theft warning applies on the Koenigstrasse, at the station, and above all at the Cannstatter Volksfest and the Christmas market, where dense slow crowds and heavy drinking combine, and a closed bag worn in front of you is the answer; change money at a bank rather than a street kiosk, which the FCDO advises specifically. The Volksfest deserves the same care as Oktoberfest because it is the same kind of event at nearly the same scale: a well-run family festival in the afternoon and a very drunk one by late evening, so keep your own eye on your drink, agree where your group will meet when the phones give up in the crush, and take the S-Bahn rather than walking back across the Neckar alone. German sauna areas, the mineral baths included, are textile-free and mixed, and cash is still expected in wine taverns. The real risk in this city, though, is not social but underfoot: four hundred public stairways built into vineyard slopes are the ordinary way to move around here, they are slick in wet leaves and treacherous in frost, they are not uniformly handrailed, and they are how visitors actually get injured. In winter, ride up and walk down the road.
Reading On
For the country-level picture, start with the Germany travel guide for women. For why fine wool suits a city where every hundred steps changes how warm you are, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
