Five more things you maybe didn’t know about Stuttgart

It gets better and better.

A few years back, I wrote a blogpost and a column on Stuttgart for The Korea Times. It was about five things you may have not known about our city and I believe it’s time to update with five more facts.

1. The Fernsehturm

It’s the oldest, thus the first of its kind in the world. Yup, not in Germany, not in Europe, but in the world. And you can now go visit the tower and see the entire city from above. They recently went through a facelift so it’s all glitz and glam.

If you get hungry or thirsty, they have a nice cafe that has a killer view.

2. The restaurant scene

I have to admit there weren’t a lot of places to choose from even three years ago, but now, it’s getting better. There are just too much to list everything here, so I’m planning to write a more in depth blog post about some of my favs and some of my no’s (because let’s face it, there are bound to be bad ones.)

Some favorites of ours these days include:

For Gelato, Kaiserbau (the best, I would say) and for Italian, we’re really into La Signorina for pizza and Cavallino (photo below. Their pastas are amazing.) for everything else. Asian is a bit tricky because what type of Asian? Breitengrad 17 is overall great (I like to order the crepes), Takeshii is also a favorite, Lek’s is a great authentic Thai restaurant (they used to be close to Stadtmitte but they moved close to Neckator so it’s now much spacious.)

Sonnengarten is a also a favorite, not a lot of people know about it, but once you do, you keep on going for more. It’s run by a Chinese couple and they husband makes all the dishes himself from start to finish and the food is brilliant. I even like their takeout, which come out in clear and simple plastic containers, all neat and nothing getting soaked and yucky over time. Another gem that we recently discovered is Sichuan China Restaurant. It’s real Chinese and so good (some people can find it TOO Chinese…). You usually order a bunch of menus (we like the chicken menus, dumplings but not so much the soups.) and share with everyone, typical Asian style. Simple, modest interior, but kid friendly, affordable and very authentic Chinese.

We used to go out for burgers a lot but now, not so much. Triple B (photo below) is good, Hans im Glueck is everywhere now and they do have good burgers and drinks but not really kid friendly so a pass for us. To be fair, a lot of burger places are not so kid friendly. We also really liked The Burger Republic but these days we just prefer homemade. Burger night, anyone?

Cafes seems to be a thing too. The new LIS Cafe offers authentic pastel del nata (haven’t tried them yet) and The Gardener’s Nosh (photo below) is drawing a lot of attention too. I’m a bit torn with The Gardener’s Nosh; the brunches were okay although some were not authentic enough to say it’s a proper fantastic brunch, the staff were kind but we were once completely ignored for about an hour waiting for our drinks that later never came. Not sure what’s going on there. Wine places around Calwer Strasse are also a favorite, especially on warm sunny days.

3. Shopping

They have pretty cool shopping centers now, so if you want to shop, head to either Gerber, Breuninger, Dorotheen Quartier or Milaneo. Or just Koenigstrasse. Uniqlo opened on the famous shopping strip not too long ago (one of my favs), along with TK Maxx, Primark and there’s also a Saks Off Fifth. It seemed Koenigstrasse was giving it all up for the fancy shopping centers but with new shops and new constructions popping up here and there, I guess I was wrong.

Interior shops seem to be a trend too, such as Sostrene Grene, Home24’s showroom, Bolia.com, BoConcept and Hema. (We don’t have a Flying Tiger yet but I’m sensing it will happen soon…) I talk more about these interior shops here.

4. A book + design lover’s dream

The Stadtbibliotek is amazing. Seriously. Not kidding. Just look at it. It was also one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, according to CNN Travel. (I wrote it, so I guess the article is a little bit biased.)

5. Tours here and there, everywhere

It can get a little daunting when you first visit a new city, including the big ones like London or Barcelona. You would think it’s so much easier with the internet, social media and travel blogs and articles everywhere, but I find it sometimes overwhelming and just too much. Which is why it’s interesting to try out the tours that the city provides, such as the city card services or bus/boat tours. If you want a little bit more than the basics, go for places like instagram, which I do and enjoy very much, but for the basics, there’s nothing much like the official tours. The city of Stuttgart joined the tour bus trend in 2014 and it’s been going strong ever since. For a more in depth tour, click here or here. You can also get more info about tours here.

All photos by rachelsanghee. April, 2018.