Stuttgart; Friday, 15 July, 2005

With a leisurely breakfast behind me I caught the U-Bahn into town and went to the Tourist information centre to buy a StuttCard which gives unlimited travel for three days and discounted entry to many of Stuttgart's attractions. I wandered over to the main station building and went into the station tower.

This has now been turned into an exhibition space that shows the plans for the complete redevelopment of the area over the next 10 years or so (The main plan appears to be rotating the entire station, tracks and everything else by 90°, only a small task!) Of course, as its a tower the roof has been converted into a viewing platform and offers stunning views over the city and the surrounding countryside (which is mostly made up of vineyards).

Out into the suburbs I headed for the next stop. Located about 3 miles south of the centre is the Funicular railway which takes you up (steeply) into some of the hills surrounding Stuttgart, unfortunately the trains don't go high enough to take you over the tree line so all there is to see are lots of trees!

After wandering around for a bit I caught the train back to the bottom of the hill and the tram back a couple of stops to the Marienplatz. From there another of the cities transport oddities departs. The rack railway (similar to the cog wheel railway in Budapest) again climbs steeply into the hills overlooking Stuttgart, this time going above the tree line before it reaches the town of Degerloch.

From here I caught the metro round to the TV tower to take the view from there; unfortunately the tower was shut, for four month, for repair work so I didn't go up it. Instead I caught the tram back down through the woods into the centre of town and from there out to Untertürkheim and on to Württemberg in the hills above it. Here, in days gone by, was a royal palace, which was eventually knocked down and turned into a mausoleum. However the building is partly irrelevant, though still interesting to visit. What is worth the trek are the views. From there you can see across the city, the surrounding spa towns and into the start of the Black Forest (though no Gateaux!). The views are beautiful with the deep valleys and hills covered with vineyards.

After spending some time there I went back into town and out on the tram again to some of the places it had gone past, getting off and taking in more stunning views at Eugenplatz, Geroksruhe and Weinsteige. After that I caught the Metro back into town and a bite to eat before a well earned rest.