As we move further south we come across Kaiserslautern in the Rheinland-Pfalz region and Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. Kaiserslautern takes it name from the Hohenstaufen Emperor (Kaiser) Barbarossa, who built an imperial palace here 850 years ago – and while much of the city’s heritage survives it is now a modern student city at the heart of the beautiful Palatinate region. Stuttgart, generally considered Germany’s hip-hop capital and ornamented by architectural styles from medieval to post-modern and Bauhaus, can boast an equal mix of cultural variety, history and natural beauty.

Kaiserslautern

Kaiserslautern is situated on the borders of the Palatinate Forest nature reserve and is an interesting place to visit.  It hosted one of Germany’s biggest garden shows in 2000 and you can still visit all 22 hectares of it during the annual event.

It’s a wonder that the city also finds room for museums on everything from modern art to beer steins, for countless taverns, bars and restaurants serving Palatinate specialities, and for an extensive pedestrianised shopping area around Marktstrasse.

Just outside Kaiserslautern lies the German Wine Route – a must for bons vivants – and the magnificent cathedral at Speyer.

Stadium and football team: Fritz-Walter-Stadion, FC Kaiserslautern

Travelling to Kaiserslautern: By road, use autobahns A6 (Mannheim – Saarbrücken) and A63 (Kaiserslautern – Mainz). The city is connected by InterCityExpress (ICE) and InterCity (IC) services, and served by three airports: Frankfurt am Main (100km away), Saarbrücken (60km) and Hahn (90km).

Stuttgart

The forests, vineyards and rolling green hills that surround Stuttgart form one of the most beautiful settings of any European city. Even so, the city centre contains a full eight kilometres of parkland (colloquially known as the ‘Green U’).

One of its most popular green spaces is the Wilhelmina zoological and botanical garden, also home to some stunning Moorish buildings. They’re just some of the city’s beautiful exteriors, but a wealth of galleries, theatres and concert halls ensure there’s plenty going on indoors too. Recommended excursions include Schloss Ludwigsburg, the largest baroque palace in Germany, and Lake Constance, which also has shores in Switzerland and Austria.

Stadium and football team: Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion, VFB Stuttgart

Travelling to Stuttgart: By road, use autobahns: A8 (Karlsruhe – Stuttgart – Munich) A81 (Würzburg – Stuttgart – Lake Constance). Stuttgart’s central station is the main hub of the international North-South and East-West railway lines (InterCityExpress (ICE), EuroCity (EC), InterCity (IC) and InterRegio (IR) services), offering direct services to 13 European capitals. Stuttgart-Echterdingen airport is 13km from the city centre (S-Bahn S2/S3 urban rail services).

Now try answering the following questions. You’ll need to take account of the information on this page, and do some further reading at www.germany-tourism.co.uk. Pay particular attention to:

Destination Germany
Major cities

Events
2006

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