I%26#39;m travelling to Boeblingen on business next week. I%26#39;m flying into Frankfurt and will have all day Sunday to drive down. I%26#39;m an avid wine lover and would love some recommendations for places to visit on Sunday - or throughout the week on my evenings. I know so little about German wines - now is my chance to learn.
My biggest drawback - I don%26#39;t speak a lick of German!
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Winter is probalby not the best time for a wine tour.
stuttgart-tourist.de/english/…index.html
…germanwine.de/germanwineregions.0.html
Drive from the airport to Darmstadt and from there the highway B3 through the Bergstrasse (wine region) to Heidelberg.
http://www.diebergstrasse.de/index.php?id=40
From Heidelberg follow the river Neckar (B37 + B27) to Stuttgart.
Heidelberg to Heilbronn is part of the Castle Road
http://www.burgenstrasse.de/?lang=uk
Than you are already in the wine region of Württemberg.
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The vineyards in February don%26#39;t look so nice, but there are plenty of them, even within Stuttgart. The suggestion to drive along the Neckar River is a good one to see a few castles and the vineyards. Besigheim is a nice small town to visit on a ridge between the Neckar and the Enz. There is a wine museum in the Uhlback part of Stuttgart and the neighboring hills are covered with vineyards. It will also be possible for you to visit a Besenwirtschaft where the winery is allowed to sell food as long as the new wine lasts (the wineries now rotate this so the season has been greatly extended). The name derives from their placing a broom outside to advertise this. These can be quite fun as you will share a table with others often in the owner%26#39;s dining room. Unfortunately, I can%26#39;t find my current guide to them so I can%26#39;t tell you which ones will be open during your visit, but there will be some.
If you arrange another visit, 30Aug to 10Sept would be good this year for the Stuttgarter Weindorf (wine village) where local wineries serve their wines and local Swabian food is served. Foodwise, make sure to have a Bretzl (Swabian pretzel, best sliced in half with butter), Maultaschen (described as ravoli, but not really), and kaesespaetzle (cheese on excellent noodles).
Things to visit nearby: my wife and I prefer the old college town of Tuebingen to Heidelberg, and on the way there from Boeblingen on the back road is the well preserved Bebenhausen monastery. World heritage Maulbronn monastery is NW of Stuttgart, and if you don%26#39;t want to drive along the Neckar, it would make a nice stop on your way from Frankfurt. The castles of Hohenzollern (Hechingen) and Lichtenstein are wonderful, almost as picturesque as Neuschwanstein, both are fairly close to Boeblingen (south) amid the cliff-side scenery of the Schwaebische Alb. Calw and the northernmost part of the Black Forest are a few miles west. The old town part of Esslingen is nice, just take the S-bahn S-1 from Boeblingen through Stuttgart and it is just on the other side. For the large Baroque palace (Swabian Versailles) in Ludwigsburg, change in Stuttgart to the S-4 or S-5.
For Stuttgart itself, I recommend taking a tour through the tourist office across the road from the train station, or get a map of a walking tour there. The Mercedes Benz museum is excellent and well liked even by people who particularly don%26#39;t care for cars. You might avail yourself of the opportunity to attend the opera or ballet in the evening, or a music concert.
There is really too much to see and do in and around Stuttgart for your short stay, and it is compounded by your having to work, short opening hours, and fairly short daylight.
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I%26#39;ve been thinking about your Sunday of travel. If it was bad weather (snowing, freezing rain) I would just drive to Boeblingen (A-5 to A-8 by Karlsruhe and to A-81 by Stuttgart to Boeblingen). Then use the S-bahn to visit Stuttgart (S1), Esslingen (S1) or Ludwigsburg (S1, change to S4 or S5 in Stuttgart).
If the weather is good, and you want to see an excellent walled town, visit Rothenburg ob der Tauber (A3 east to by Wuerzburg, A7 south to Rothenburg ob der Tauber exit). This is one of Germany%26#39;s top tourist attractions, and hopefully not too over run by tourists at this time of year. The SE corner of the town is the nicest. Also make sure when leaving to drive down in the valley below for an excellent view up of the town. A road goes down on the west side of town. Return to the A7 going south a short ways to the A6 going east towards Heilbronn, where you take the A81 south toward Stuttgart. If you have time exit at Besigheim for this pleasant old town on a ridge between the Neckar and Enz Rivers. On leaving, again take the A-81 south to Boeblingen. This would make for a nice day, and you will pass vineyards.
Alternatively, instead of an excellent walled city, you would like to see a very picturesque castle, drive the route for bad weather and continue past Boeblingen on the A81 to the Haigerloch and/or Hechingen exit. Go to Hechingen where Hohenzollern Castle is a very short distance to the south off Highway 27. The restaurant just off the highway is a good place to eat, but they also have a restaurant within the castle. With your limited time, take the bus up from the parking lot instead of walking if it will save you time. If you want to see the inside of the castle, take a tour, and if an English language tour isn%26#39;t available in a short time, take the German tour. You%26#39;ll see the non-spectacular inside, and maybe the tour guide or a fellow tourist could give a short explaintion of what was said. After your visit, take Hwy 27 in the opposite direction back toward Hechingen (north) to see the old college town of Tuebingen, and just north of it on the road to Boeblingen, Bebenhausen monastery. That would certainly fill a day with nice sights.
Save your wine-related visit for another time, when the vineyards are green or the grapes are ripe. Sample a few local wines by buying them at the grocery store. Trollinger, Lemberger, Schillerwein, and Kerner are typical of the region, and of course Riesling. Within Stuttgart itself, even almost down to the train station, are vineyards. The areas of Stuttgar to the NW, N or NE have the most, and are most scenic along the Neckar River or the valley of the Rems River. A nice view of one of the most recognizable buildings in Stuttgart is to drive the A27 into Stuttgart from the south, or take the U5 or U6 to Weinsteige, for the picturesque house in a vineyard on the east valley hillside. To me, the staeffele, the stairways on the hillsides used to connect the valley floor with the hillside vineyards are the essence of Stuttgart. They still exist, but now mainly to connect the roads and houses on the steep hillsides, and many pass through small parks with excellent views of Stuttgart in the valley floor.
Have an enjoyable trip, and next time visit longer.
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Hi
If you have a car, take a run up the autobahn to Lauffen am Necker - all surrounded by vinyards and a great old midievil town with all its ancient walls intact - not at all touristy. They have a great restaurant with a wine store. One of the few areas that grows red wine grapes. The vinyards will be bare right now of course. This wine is not all imported to the US and its quite good. Here are some summer pics - http://www.africa-usa.com/germany/day4.html
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