Hi -
Thinking of taking a trip in March, and was wondering what city would be the best for my first visit to Germany.
I don%26#39;t want to travel too much...basically want to stay in one place for about a week.
I enjoy art, fine dinning, museums, cafes, and history...not really a typical tourist, just rather want to hang out and soak in the German lifestyle...
Berlin is an obvious choice, but was also thinking of Munich, Bonn, Frankfurt %26amp; Cologne.
Thanks!
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For a first time 1-week visit I would choose between Munich or Berlin. Both cities and their surrounding areas will keep you busy with visiting museums, castles (from Munich), etc.
Berlin is the trendier and more casual city out of the 2 and a little more history to see, also politically and obvisouly about the war.
Munich has a more sophisticated feel to it.
You can also do a search in the forum for comparisions to see what city might suit your interests better. There are several.
An alternative IMO to Berlin and Munich would be Cologne/Dusseldorf. Both are a 40-min train ride from each other so you would be able to see both and both are easy to explore on foot.
March generally will not be the best time to visit Germany. It might still snow in some parts or it can be rainy. But of course you can also be lucky and have sunny warm Spring weather.
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Also consider Stuttgart ( www.stuttgart-tourist.de ), birthplace of the automobile, and home to many fine museums including the Mercedes Benz and Porsche ones. For fine dining, it has the third most Michelin-starred restaurants in Germany after much larger Berlin and Hamburg, and the excellent local Swabian cooking. You can also go to Germany%26#39;s best restaurant about an hour%26#39;s drive away in Baiersbronn in the black Forest, the Schwarzwaldstube (Black Forest Room) of the Hotel Trauben Tonbach (click on my name for my review), defininitely worth making reservations for it now!
In central Stuttgart are the three palaces, the old Stiftskirche (church- the one nextdoor in the Old Palace is the second oldest Protestant church in Germany), the Opera House, three art galleries including the Staatsgallerie, and the Markthalle (Market Hall) with sights and smells of gourmet foods from around the world. There are many cafes in which it%26#39;s possible to sit outside almost the entire year. Stuttgart is usually Germany%26#39;s second warmest city, but last year it was the warmest.
Stuttgart is also home to Wilhelma ( www-wilhelma.de ), Europe%26#39;s largest combination zoo-botanical garden set amidst the nice Moorish architecture of this former palace which my American son prefers to the San Diego Zoo, three large mineral baths associated with western Europe%26#39;s largest mineral waters (in the Leuze one you can swim in bubbly carbonated water), the world%26#39;s first modern TV tower has an observatiuon deck, Weissenhofsiedling with the architectural gems designed by world-famous architects for a 1927 international architectural exhibition, and extensive panoramic vineyards in which you can take walks with wineries and places to eat along the way ( www.stuttgarter-weinwanderweg.de ) obviously not at their best in March, world-reknown opera and Germany%26#39;s opera house of the year 6 out of the last 11 years.
Stuttgart is rightfully called Europe%26#39;s greenest city surrounded by forests on three sides and vineyards on the other, many parks, and the steep hillsides are have hundreds of Staeffele (stairways) that now connect streets instead of giving access to vineyards. And if you are homesick for a cable car, there is one that goes up to a peaceful cemetary in the forest on the south side of town, as well as Germany%26#39;s only urban cogwheel railway. Stuttgart isn%26#39;t flat (except for the valley floor), like most other German cities.
15 minutes away by S-bahn are:
Esslingen ( www.esslingen.de ) with its well preserved medieval center
Ludwigsburg ( www.ludwigsburg.de ) with Germany%26#39;s largest perfectly preserved Baroque palace (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ), the Swabian Versailles, with the longest and best palace tour that I%26#39;ve been on in Europe, four excellent museums (the fashion one has lots of clothes from the 1700s), extensive gardens including a nice fairytale one, porcellan sales and manufacture (Ludwigsburg Porcellan celebrated their 250th anniversary last year), and two smaller associated palaces set near a deer park (I%26#39;ve visited at least for 4 days and still have things left to see).
Any town at the ends of the 6 S-bahn lines are worth a visit of a few hours such as Weil der Stadt, birthplace of the mathematician/astronomer Keppler, Marbach of the poet Schiller, and Schorndorf of the automobile inventor Daimler. All have museums dedicated to their favorite son.
I%26#39;ll mention two other places, but there are countless others, Tuebingen ( www.tuebingen.de ) which is avout a 50 minute train ride away, our favorite town to repeatedly visit in Germany, with its hilly cobblestone streets, half-timbered houses, castle, interesting nontourist shops, and one of Europe%26#39;s oldest universities, simply delightful, as is the well preserved medieval Bebenhausen Monastery (in www.schloesser-und-gaerten.de ) just north of it. Then there is Metzingen ( www.metzingen.de ) home to Hugo Boss and has Germany%26#39;s most factory outlets for some inexpensive shopping, although Stuttgart has excellent shopping and the second largest department store in Germany, Breuninger, which is also the world%26#39;s second largest private department store after London%26#39;s Herods.
You can fly directly to Stuttgart from the USA from Atlanta with Delta.
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My recommendation is to split your time between Munich and Berlin or stay in Munich the whole time. Especially since this will be a trip in March I think you%26#39;d enjoy Munich more. Day trips to the snowy mountains would be very enjoyable IMO.
Definitely do not go to Stuttgart. It is not a good choice for a first timer - an average city where you won%26#39;t find the things that foreign travellers usually associate with Germany. Berlin and Munich both have more of everything you list as your interests.
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Thank you so much!
I was thinking of Bayern, but I think I%26#39;m going to Berlin for my my first visit.
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Berlin would have been my choice too, though I do try and get people to come to Frankfurt if possible since there is enough stuff here and in the surrounding towns to please just about anybody. Some of us are quite passionate about our %26quot;hometowns%26quot; and we do promote them a lot.
There are many side trips you can make from Berlin too, like Potsdam, Sachsenhausen, or Dresden.
Berlin is cheaper than Munich, especially if you consider getting an apt. instead of staying in a hotel. Food is reasonable, public transportation is easy to use and the city certainly has their share of museums.
You will have a great time there!
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%26quot;Definitely do not go to Stuttgart. It is not a good choice for a first timer - an average city where you won%26#39;t find the things that foreign travellers usually associate with Germany.%26quot;
As I look out of our apartment windows at the three central palaces, Stiftskirche, the world%26#39;s first modern TV tower, and the vineyards and greenery on the valleyside across the way, all I can say is %26quot;What hogwash!!!!!!!%26quot;
And then suggest Berlin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Marcopolko is notorious for advertising Stuttgart. Even German locals from Stuttgart (who do not work in tourism-related business, though) admit that Stuttgart is not a place where they would send first time travellers to Germany.
Stuttgart definitely cannot compete with Berlin and Munich in the slightest when it comes to art, architecture and history. Berlin is much livelier, has the fantastic club scene/nightlife (re: hanging out), and of course is *the* place to go for 20th century history. Has something happened of relevance in Stuttgart in that century? Hm ...
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%26quot;you won%26#39;t find the things that foreign travellers usually associate with Germany.%26quot;
Let%26#39;s see, all the pleasant half-timbered houses, vineyards, old medieval castles, pleasant small villages, etc. At least Stuttgart has one of those three- vineyards (the Old Palace has been rebuild since WW II, but it also still has pleasant small villages that have been incorporated into it), unlike either Berlin or Munich. To see the places most foreigners associate with Germany, you don%26#39;t go to the large cities that were obliterated during WW II, you go to the countryside, and many of the places I mentioned were such places easily reachable from Stuttgart. You go to Berlin for more modern things, and being Germany%26#39;s largest city and it%26#39;s capital it certainly has many more cultural attractions including museums,and of course an interesting post-war history. How many real mineral baths do Munich and Berlin have, vineyards, and panoramic vistas from the ground?
%26quot;when it comes to art, architecture and history%26quot;, Stuttgart is a smaller city so certainly doesn%26#39;t have the number of such places, but the quality is high of what there is. And you certainly don%26#39;t know your architecture, Stuttgart has several world or German firsts. But let%26#39;s see, which museum has man%26#39;s first art and musical instrument in it, the Wuerttemberg Museum in the Old Palace, 36,000 years old from caves in the nearby Swabian Alb, so there is very early history there through modern times.
By the way, I have nothing to do with Stuttgart tourism, I have lived in it for over 5 years enjoying it immensely, and have had time to really enjoy it being retired, none of those boring flat German cities for me! And I still enjoy living here, it%26#39;s just a great place!, whether for a first time visitor to Germany or a resident. It just doen%26#39;t have the name recognition.
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For a first time visitor, with the interests the OP states, Munich. Berlin is a fascinating city, but very complez and constantly evolving. It has changed almost beyond recognition since I lived there in the late 1960%26#39;s. Great nightlife, and lots to see, but spread out over an enormous area. It is a very modern city with a long history that isn%26#39;t readily apparent unless one does one%26#39;s homework. Also, in March the wind and rain are going to be a serious consideration if one likes to simply stroll through neighborhoods and %26quot;hang out.%26quot;
Munich is a great city for one week, and has a very good subway (U-Bahn) system. There are museums and palaces for art and architecture, as well as technology and science,and lots of interesting neighborhoods stroll, eat and drink (not just the touristy Hofbraeuhaus). The Alps and Bavarian countryside are nearby, as well as Salzburg for a day trip. March weather is the only consideration.
I think markopolko provided an excellent defense of his adopted home, Stuttgart. I have bookmarked many of his posts for a future trip. It is a little off the usual tourist path, and that%26#39;s what I seek when I can...perhaps for that reason it would appeal to the OP, cookiecal. But is M. %26quot;notorious%26quot; for recommending Stuttgart? Poor choice of words...he is one of the best TA posters for providing detailed descriptions and other websites for that area.
That said, Munich would be my vote for a first-time visitor who wants to spend a week in one German city. ...and I commend him/her for wanting to enjoy one place...look at all the TA posts wanting ideas or an itinerary for a week or LESS in all of Germany.
Cheers for slow travel!
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Well, people in the East are *notorious* for not liking the Swabians and the rest of Eastern Germany is also notorious in disliking the Saxonians, especially one famous Saxonian with a pointy beard...
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