Stuttgart

If you want to drop into your freshly made hotel bed right after arriving in town, you should book a room in the Hotel Unger. It is only one minute away from the train station, right in city centre. The disadvantage: It is not exactly tranquil. The advantage: The availability of public transport is perfect, and many highlights in the city can be reached on foot. The hotel is therefore the perfect place for business travellers and jet-setters. The 130 rooms are clean and furnished with natural materials, so that allergic persons can spend the night here without problems. The breakfast is legendary, and you will be perfectly set for a busy day in the city, whether you are on a private or business mission: smoked salmon, shrimp and the best regional delicacies. Doubles start at about 175 euros a night.  

The Steigenberger Hotels are primarily known for their luxurious atmosphere and full service. The almost 200 rooms of the hotel are elegant and innovative, deliberately decorated more like private than guest rooms. Despite the hotel size one feels at home, and the anonymity can have a certain charm, too. The standard room is not smaller than 25m². When it comes to the categories Superior, Deluxe and Executive, the feel-good rooms grow to 58m²...Welcome to the Superior suite! If you've seen enough of that, just hurry up to the 5th floor, where you can wind down and chill out: The Shiseido SPA has been established according to ZEN philosophy and is a boon and blessing for body and soul.  In the gourmet restaurant Olivo the up-scale theme continues on. This time it's not your tired limbs but your taste buds that are spoiled. Chef Marc Rennhack has already earned a star for the restaurant. He spices up German cuisine with Spanish and French accents. The indulgence isn't exactly cheap, the delicious lunch menu costs around 48 euros. Compared to that, 200 euros for a double almost sounds like a good deal.

You don't care about a central location? Then the Hexenhäusle (witch house) is a charming and authentic alternative to the hotels in the city centre. It's hardly possible to get a cheaper place - which is why you can take the liberty to hire one or the other taxi. The rooms are bright, decorated in a sunny yellow and spotlessly clean. The hotel was last renovated in 2007, and since then everything has been shining in a warm glow. There are sinks in the rooms, yet no showers - those are on the floors for common use. If you want to save even more, you can bring your own towels and bed linen, otherwise you have to rent them. And if you don't feel like making your way into the city centre at night, you can settle down in the hostel garden or play table football with the other guests. Doubles start at 16 euros a night per person, and for longer-term residents (one month stay) there is a special tariff of 11 euros per person.

It's always twice as fun if you do something in a foreign city that normally only locals do. Such as visiting city libraries. Try it out in Stuttgart at the Mailänder Platz. In case of this new facility one is even prepared for sightseeing visitors. An audio guide leads through the architectonically interesting addition to the inner city of Stuttgart. Two routes can be chosen from in the guide: apart from a library route that introduces offer and usage there's also an architectural route which might be particularly interesting for city tourists. The latter will explain to you the extraordinary concept of the South Korean architect Eun Young Yi who has equipped the cuboid shaped building with an outer shell  of glass blocks and an inner one with glass. Don't miss the so-called heart, a room which is four levels high located in the middle of the building. Above the heart, you'll find a funnel-shaped gallery hall that is limited by a glass room - for a divine reading experience.

Are there actually any corners left in Stuttgart where no man or woman of letters would have been inspired to write? One doesn't know. We do know, however, that men and women of letters have left their traces in the Academy Garden, the Wilhelma Zoo, the Eugenstaffel, in the pedestrian area and the Palace Garden. The team of Hanh&Kusiek funnel this interest in poetic footsteps, offering literature walks where visitors stroll along those same steps. You will hear all about the writers' past, including the reasonable, the amusing and the private. A walk over the cemetery is particularly nice, the one to poets' monuments informative. For families the children's tour is interesting, where everything revolves around fairy tales.

Once upon a time... there were people with lots of money. For example King William I., who had a private garden built that would put row house owners on the brink of a nervous breakdown. Today the former retreat of the royal has been converted into a public garden, attracting 2.1 million visitors a year. Special feature: It's a zoological-botanical garden, with exotic animals as well as unusual plants. Free guided tours will help you when your biological and botanical knowledge is exhausted after the first few steps. The complex was designed in a Moorish style by the architect Karl Ludwig von Zanth. The Swabian kign flirted with the idea of an Alhambra at the Neckar. Today the Moorish country house, the ballroom and the Damascene Hall are reminiscent of that. Take your time, there's a lot to discover that even turns the most hardened city dwellers into nature lovers: magnolia, lily pond, subtropical terraces and a sea of flowers. On top of everything you have lots of wild animals that you would expect in a zoo.

If you get a new outfit in the Weltenbürger (citizen of the world), you might as well just have come back from looting flea markets in New York. The shop is dedicated to American fashion, however, that of yesterday, or more precisely from the time between 1950 and 1990. Are you looking for Alice-Cooper shirts, like Boho dresses and Members Only jackets? How lucky you are: The shop's owner, Bryan Sanderson, has collected all of that for you. Be inspired by what you see: Bryan calls his concept fashion laboratory and asks his customers to experiment with the clothes. Boys' and girls' corners? Forget it. You will see whether or not it fits, says the vintage expert. The owner is a world's citizen himself, and his temporary shop might disappear as fast as it has sprung up. Tip: Great finds are always welcome. If you have got any chic retro clothes yourself you can swap or sell them here.

Sichtbar (visible) helps you to keep everything in perspective and look great at the same time: In the purist and stylishly designed shop you only find selected pieces, and many of the glasses have come in directly from one or the other trendy fashion week. Sichtbar not only promises the latest trends but also keeps its promise. The labels are national and international - a good mix. They include: Dsquared, Oliver Goldsmith, IC!Berlin, Mykita, Marni, Oliver Peoples, Paul Frank, REIZ, Robert La Roche, Tom Ford. And if you have perfect eyesight, don't be sad - there's a huge selection of sunglasses, too. You won't just find the perfect advice when it comes to style, the optician's team, too, is extremely capable and has an individual solution for every desire. Custom-made designs are part of the standard programme. Tip: For the lovely little ones you can get the wonderfully colourful glasses by Bbig.

Breuninger is known in Stuttgart as a fashion and lifestyle brand. Since last autumn the long-established company can be proud of additional 2,000 square metres for shoes in the flagship store on the Marktstraße. But let's take one at a time! In 1881 Eduard Breuninger opened his first store on the Münzstraße in Stuttgart. With a little sensation: he begins with a clearance sale. Eight years later the next surprise: the employees are allowed to take off Sundays - quite unusual for that time. Also holidays are to be introduced. 70 years later the next Breuninger vision follows: the Stuttgart company is the first company in Europe who would allow cashless payments via debit card. In addition, Heinz Breuninger installs a kindergarten for his customers as well as a garage and several restaurants. In 2006 the above-mentioned flagship store opens in order to display - six years later on the lower ground - high heels, flats and sneakers - 250 brands altogether. That's lived innovation that we like!

Have you had enough of Maultaschen? Then grab a pizza for a change. That is one of those perfect pizzas that far extend beyond the edge of the plate. True Italy lovers will even pass over the yummy pizzas and go for vitello tonnato, saltimbocca, crostini or scallopine. Lovely! Punto Fisso is more than a pizzeria, it's a trendy meeting spot for the young and old, for bobos and the creative class, for students and the alternative, for the babbler and taciturn - and it has been for 16 years now. The ristorante is authentic, a trattoria that also works as a pub. In summer time it's simply wonderful to sit in the garden watching people and eating. You can talk about anything here, the funny, the melancholic, the philosophical and the banal. And nowhere does a glass of wine taste better than here.

Cornelia and Gert Habener, the owners of the épicerie fine, love France, so much so that they apparently had a hard time coming to terms with Swabian cooking. So they started to import treats and ingredients from France. What they make from it? Croissants, cheese platters, ratatouille or entrecôte. The lunch menus for about 10 euros are particularly popular, and all of Stuttgart comes here to celebrate French cuisine. Who's surprised? The cuisine is light but excellent, and the carefully chosen glass of wine is a blessing. The shop is located in a former bakery, which was renovated and radiates in its renewed old charm. The guests cannot help but enjoy life and devote themselves to the most beautiful things in life: eating, drinking, music, talking, laughter, art - in short, everything that sweetens one's life. Come for the petit déjeuner, than you'll know exactly what we mean: The épicerie fine is a piece of Paris in the middle of Stuttgart.

Is this a nightclub? Or an escort agency? Don`t be fooled by the velveteen name of the restaurant. It`s a restaurant offering Haute Cuisine of the finest kind. Until not long ago, the chef, Matthias Herrmann. has cooked for the star-rated Zirebnstube. Now he has ended up in the red-light district of Stuttgart. Not because he fell from his glory, but because he can realize his own culinary ideas in the restaurant of Remo Heine. The menu changes daily and is just as short as it is creative. Rarely do you find more than six dishes, but all of them are so delicious that the gourmet will have a hard time deciding. The interior is, just like the name, reminiscent of Paris: Slightly luxurious, but not overly so. Very stylish and also comfortable.