Although we spent 3 days in the city, we could have spent 1 and returned home via the comfortable train. That's because my biggest takeaway was that hotels in Stuttgart are expensive! I looked for a while before settling on the Hotel Unger - mostly for location, breakfast, and the four-star rating. At 161 euros / night, it wasn't exactly cheap. Although the staff and breakfast were great, it was more in line with a 2-star Ibis hotel in any other city - older interior, poor ventilation in the rooms (and importantly, no air conditioning until the outside temp was 24C. I was melting at night), and near a bar which got very noisy between 12-4 am. Our experience at the Ibis Styles in Nice (still my favorite) far outranked this one, at nearly half the cost - in Nice, no less! Our friends stayed at the Schlossgarten hotel, and we briefly considered the Steigenberger, but their breakfast prices were out of control. And, well, kids + hotel breakfast (usually) = relaxed parents. Unless those parents didn't sleep all night.
I digress. In short, our hotel experience in Stuttgart left (much) room for improvement. Here's how we spent our time in the city:
Day 1:
Wandered around the old town. I made it to Uniqlo and Zara, only to find the kids' and womens' workwear section of Uniqlo were minimal here. Zara, happily, had a great sale in the kids' department. This part of Stuttgart was exactly like the Zeil in Frankfurt. Lots of shopping, not much character. Cafes abound, charging 4 euro for coffee and 3.60 for a beer - that is to say, Frankfurt-level pricing.
Dinner was at Vapiano, which is normally a go-to for fast-casual, kid-friendly dining. Not here. The pasta lines barely moved, taking 15 minutes per order. We waited 50 minutes for a bowl of pesto pasta. The kids (and adults) were all cranky by the end.Day 1 impression of Stuttgart: it's a place to wait in line, and spend more money than you planned on.
Day 2:
The main plan was to hit the zoo, but not before wandering a Sunday flea market that took over the old town. This was pretty neat - lots of stands, food trucks too, and not super crowded around 9 am. We hopped on a tram to the zoo for the rest of the day.
The Zoo was easy to get to by tram, and huge. Downside - it costs 16 euro per adult to enter. Thanks for making me miss DC, Stuttgart, where the zoo is free and just as good! Anyway, we followed the elephant path and the kids had a blast seeing the animals, especially the lions (at lunch!), monkeys, and fish. The dining options were pretty rough, heavy on the meat and potatoes and once again, overpriced. We didn't make it the whole way through, instead cutting out at Rosenstein to rest at the hotel before dinner at Carl's Brauhaus.Carl's was solid for a Swabian meal, once again heavy on the meat and potatoes. It was the perfect volume (loud) for covering up the tantrums of a few tired children. Good beer selection as well.
Day 2 impression of Stuttgart: this city is crowded!
Day 3:
We spent day 3 trying to get to the Mercedes museum, failing (note: do NOT attempt to get there via the Blick tram stop, and also the holiday S6 schedule is really terrible), and crossing the whole city to get to the Porsche museum instead. I had to wonder whether Mr. Benz, Mr. Daimler, or Mr. Porsche (or all three) set up an anti-transit conspiracy in Stuttgart. It is remarkably difficult to get around by transit, considering how large of a city it is.
So, the Porsche museum it was, but not before lunch at the Boxenstopp Cafe outside. The menu was healthy and kid-friendly, and after eating we headed up to see the cars. The museum was neat, but I was expecting more interactive areas for kids (based on pre-reading). There wasn't much beyond a simulator (aka video game) and a bunch of buttons to press and make horns honk and engines roar. Whoopty doo. I did get a pic of the kiddos in a Porsche, but I could do that at a car dealership if I really wanted to, right? This is all to say, if you're not really into cars, this isn't worth a stop. I'm not really into cars, but it did pass the morning.
We spent the afternoon at the Schlossgarten Biergarten, where they had a live band, lots of people dancing, a pretty nifty playground, and a lot of green space to sit on surrounding it.
The kids wore themselves out just in time for the train ride home - which couldn't have come soon enough. One major upside of the hotel breakfast was the ability to snag a few mini champagne bottles to go.If I enjoyed one thing during our three day trip, it was watching the boys climb all over their seats on the train while enjoying my mini champagne.
Day 3 / overall impression of Stuttgart: I'm grateful I live in Mainz!
Comments
Post a Comment