Saturday, March 25, 2023

[STUTTGART] The Stuttgart Side Trip


I’ve already been to Baden Württemberg. Remember that one month in 2017 when I did an intensive summer German course in Freiburg? But Freiburg is more or less a small university town. THE city in this state is Stuttgart, which I really had no intention of visiting. In the end, it became more like a means to an end, a cheap way to get from Barcelona to southern Germany without giving in to Lufthansa’s abusive pricing for Munich flights. And so we land in Stuttgart, train to Nuremberg, and then another to Munich.


Since time is limited, the plan for Stuttgart is a quick stroll wherever. After checking out of my accommodation, I headed straight to the Hauptbahnhof to hunt for lockers, which I found almost next to the platforms themselves. True enough, the large ones that can accommodate check-in baggage just cost €‎5 (~PHP300) for 24 hours. If you are just passing by for the day with just a few hours to spare, you can defo leave your baggage there after alighting the train and just get it back before you hop on another.


Stuttgart’s main train station is undergoing intensive repairs so it’s quite a mess now, although the pictures of how it will end up looking seem actually impressive. For now, just make do of what they have. Once you get out of there, just cross the road to a pedestrian street lined up with shopping options and well-manicured trees. That will lead you all the way to Schlossplatz, named as such because there’s a Schloss or a castle there. The plaza is a looker and you will be spending quite some time in this area just camwhoring.


The palace in question was once the residence of royalty. Nowadays, it plays host to government offices. Nevertheless, the grandeur was not lost with the passage of time. It still looks regal although on the day of my visit it felt as though people were snubbing it. I’m not sure if visitors are allowed inside that building. In any case, it looks great outside anyway. There is a giant fountain between it and the park facing it. The building on the opposite side also looks legit but I don’t know what it’s called.


The Altes Schloss, which the name suggests to be the older of the two, is just across the street and has been converted to a state museum. It has its own small square, Schillerplatz, which is also photogenic thanks to the neighboring church called Stiftskirche. A few cartwheels down the road heading towards Charlottenplatz leads you to yet another plaza called Karlsplatz, which has a guy on a horse. Because there always needs to be a plaza with a guy on a horse.


Heading back south, farther, leads you all the way to the Rathaus which has its own metro stop. I no longer bothered to go because it was already getting cold due to the rain, not to mention I saw pictures of the town hall online and it looks like a normal modern building. And that was my short Stuttgart side trip. It appears to me as though the main area of interest, tourism-wise, is that area south of the train station from Hauptbahnhof’s metro station all the way down to Rathaus’ station. Overall, it’s an area four metro stations wide.


Anyway, DB changed the route of the IC train, the ticket for which I booked months ago. The train does not stop in Stuttgart anymore. In cases like this, you can always go to the DB Reisezentrum to have this sorted out for you. They usually stamp your original ticket or print you a new one so you can board a different train or one that has connections to wherever they rerouted your original itinerary.

[STUTTGART] The Stuttgart Side Trip

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