Stuttgart

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!

The blood sisters have long been a star at the fashion heavens that no one wants to miss! And where did this never-ending family story begin? 2001, in a little shack near the Stuttgart train station. The founders of the label, Christina Haneberg and Karin Ziegler, have long passed this stage: As early as 2003 they won the first award for best fashion designer newcomers. Blood sisters attract attention, after all. Their collections are popular all over Europe, but since you happen to be at the point of origin you should absolutely visit the main shop in Stuttgart, the L'aufbrezelsteg. Take at least one piece of this unconventional, authentic, amazing, unique, exciting and passionate fashion home with you.

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.

If you come here you'll hit two fleas at one blow, because not only the flea market is great, the Karlsplatz, too, is worth a trip. In the middle of the square, which is lined by trees, you find a mighty stone lion. On Saturdays, however, the beast seems to disappear behind the immense accumulation of antiques, trinkets, useful and beautiful stuff. If you look for it you'll really find anything on this market. The quality is variable, you do have to push aside a lot of rubbish to find true gems. Yet this is part of the game, and locals have been enjoying it for 25 years now. Two things that are absolutely part of a visit to the flea market: Dedicated haggling - something is always possible - and a small beer at the takeaway. Maybe a sausage to go with it and you've made your day.

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.

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.

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.

What should a gourmet absolutely eat in Stuttgart? Spend a night in the Fässle and eat as much as he can. Eva and Rudolf Schmölz put Haute Cuisine onto the tables of their restaurant. The owner and chef is dedicated to Swabian cuisine - with a French touch. Put together your menu from different vegetable, fish and meat choices, and order one of two daily menus, which guarantees the perfect combination for your palate. You could start the fish menu, for example, with a surprise from the kitchen and then look forward to salmon tartar with potato-leek dumplings, rucola and oranges. After that you can have sea bass fillet with wild garlic gnocci and as a dessert raspberry mousse with vanilla ice cream. While you feast, Eva Schmölz keeps the service staff on their toes. Whether you eat on the wonderful terrace or in the rustic, wood-panelled lounge room - a friendly service and diligent advice are part of the standard.

If you have enough of the bustling Königstraße shopping mile, just follow the flow to the listed building of the Parliament of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Here you fill find the Plenum, a culinary oasis of calm in Stuttgart. In principle you can, while waiting for your order to arrive, continue with sightseeing: The restaurant is entirely glassed-in and offers the most beautiful view of the Eckensee, the castle, the opera and the palace gardens. If you look around the inside of the restaurant you will discover dark parquet flooring, discreet tables and Phillip Starck chairs. This is where the chic and elegant locals come to enjoy coffee and cake or one of the many fascinating main dishes. The menu includes extraordinary delicacies made of primarily regional products, without appearing over-the-top. Whether a sandwich with buffalo mozzarella or braised veal cheeks, everything is reasonably priced. Except for the dessert. Yet those are really quite something: Coconut tart on sheep's milk yogurt-chamomile ice cream and papaya sauce, pralines of goat and cow milk cream cheese with pepper compote or sweet caprese - buffalo mozzarella sorbet with strawberry salad, fried Thai basil, vanilla olive oil and pine seed brittle. Yummy!

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. 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.

Classy ambiance, nice atmosphere and yet... it is a motel, after all. However, one of the most elegant far and wide. It is not surprising that the Motel One is relatively affordable, despite its stylish design: The rooms are not exactly spacious, and obviously the bathroom is also quite small, so that the sink had to go and was built into the desk. Or is that simply a crazy design idea? Whatever: Motel One is a friendly and affordable alternative for your city tour, which you won`t primarily spend in your hotel room, anyway. Unfortunately, the hotel is located at the much travelled Heilbronn Road, yet inside you will hardly worry about street noise. Rain shower, flatscreen TV, workspace. All of it in elegant white and granite, with a splash of turquoise here and there.

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.