Stuttgart, Germany — Activities
Stuttgart Culture
Stuttgart has a particularly strong arts offering, evidenced by the numerous major venues dotted around the city center.
Music is a major focus, the city being home to the International Bach Academy and the world famous Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and frequent classical concerts rub shoulders with Stuttgart’s lively jazz scene and thriving hip-hop culture. Top opera and ballet is also offered.
The Württemberg State Theater has three major venues - the 1,400-seat Stuttgart Opera and Ballet house (tel: (711) 19703; website: www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de), the adjacent 800-capacity Playhouse (tel: (711) 202 090; website: www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de), both located in the gardens by the new Palace, and the Altes Schauspielhaus (Old Theater) in Königstrasse (tel: (711) 226 5505; website: www.schauspielhaus-komoedie.de).
There are numerous other theaters around the city, among them the Three Penny Theater, Stuttgart’s smallest such venue (tel: (711) 606 000; website: www.dreigroschentheater.de) at Marienplatz, which stages a range of classic plays, and Theater am Faden (Theater on a String), in Hasenstrasse (tel: (711) 604 850; website: www.theateramfaden.de), which features productions with a cast of marionettes, along with specialized music and dance.
Stuttgart is well supplied with cinemas - but most films are dubbed in German. Mainstream productions are shown at Ambo, in Arnulf-Klett-Platz (tel: (711) 22577) and Cinemaxx in Robert-Bosch-Platz (tel: (711) 2200 7978; website: www.cinemaxx.de). For more specialist film, Arthaus Filmtheater in Hohestrasse (tel: (711) 616 211; website: www.arthaus-kino.de) is the top choice.
Stuttgart Tours
A varied range of city tours is available in Stuttgart, all of which are arranged by the tourist office (tel: (711) 222 8240; website: www.stuttgart-tourist.de). Among these is a city bus tour taking in the sights of the center, plus some of the elevated sections of the city, the 1920s Weissenhof ‘model’ housing development, and a trip to the top of Stuttgart’s 217m (712ft) TV tower.
Other options include city walking tours and a number of themed walks, covering such topics as the arts, city architecture and current building projects. An evening walk includes visits to traditional bars and a night-club.
Boat trips on the River Neckar are offered by Neckar Käpt’n (tel: (711) 5499 7060; website: www.neckar-kaeptn.de), which operates cruises and scheduled services during the summer months.
