UNITED
TO STUTTGART
New Direct Flight from Newark/New York
I
get to Germany a lot. Stuttgart more than a few times. My first Christmas
Market was in Stuttgart. But I’d never flown direct
to Stuttgart before. In June of 2011, United Airlines (the combined
United/Continental) inaugurated a new direct international flight from
Continental’s hub at Newark Liberty (the New York departure airport
that’s just across the river in New Jersey) to Stuttgart’s
new modern updated airport. The equipment chosen to fly to the route
is the modest sized Boeing 767-200. Less of a cattle car than the busier
route to Frankfurt. Seatback individual entertainment screens make
the cross Atlantic just under 7 hour flight (9 hours back from Europe)
in coach a breeze. Though if you make a connecting flight from Los
Angeles as I do, you might burn out the movie selection before arriving
back home. As a small bonus, if you sit on the right side of the plane,
you'll arc right over Manhattan, with a bird's eye view on the Empire
State building and the new rising Freedom Tower.
Why Fly to Stuttgart?
The
common entry destination from the U.S. had been through the massive
sprawling Frankfurt or Munich, and now Berlin, but the new Continental/United
operated Stuttgart route begins a fresh convenient alternative to get
to the German southwest. Ah, but why go to Stuttgart, you ask. The
capital city of Germany’s state of Baden-Weurttemburg is the
closest major city to the famed Black Forest, the sunny southwest wine
regions and castles of the Neckar River and the original most romantic
tourist town of Heidelberg with its famous castle (see Heidelberg
Castle)
and the notorious original chocolate kiss (see Heidelberg’s
Student Kiss). Oh, and cars. If you’re a fan of
the fast or classic automobile, Stuttgart is where it was invented
and home to two of the world’s
great car museum experiences, Mercedes (see Mercedes-Benz
Museum Stuttgart)
and Porsche (see Porsche
Museum). Or go for a fast lap around the Hockenheim
Formula
One race track (see Hockenheim
Ring).
Castles and Palaces
Looking for those magnificent castles and palaces, you find some of the best near Stuttgart. Ludwigsburg Palace, just 15 minutes by train from Stuttgart is one of the best you’ll find in Europe, (see Ludwigsburg Palace and Baroque Gardens), and though the fairy tale faux castle of Mad Ludwig (see Ludwig’s Fairy Tale Neuschwanstein) is only about 20 minutes farther from Stuttgart than from Munich, discover the more authentic mountaintop crown of the Hohenzollerns (see Hohenzollern Castle) of the Black Forest. Follow the Neckar River from Heidelberg for the castles of Germany’s castle road along the Neckar Valley (see Germany Castle Road).
Volksfest
Forget Oktoberfest. Going to Germany for the traditional autumn experience
of the beer festival of drinking songs and Schweine Haxe? Avoid Munich’s
tourist crowded Oktoberfest when it’s nearly impossible to get
a reasonably priced hotel room in the Bavarian city, and enjoy the
more communal and just as traditional Canstatter Volksfest the October
Beer Festival in Stuttgart, with the beer tents and Alpine drinking
village and all the fun - and it goes on longer anyway.
Wine Roads
If wine vineyard touring tickles your taste buds, you’ll find the most diverse wine growing regions in the sunny southwest of Baden and next door Rhine-Palatine. Sleep in a wine barrel hotel at Sasbachwalden in the Black Forest, stroll the steep hillside vineyards of the Stuttgarter Wine Trails, or venture along the Baden Wine Route, the German Wine Road (Deutsches Wine Trail) or the vineyards of the Neckar Tal.
Christmas Markets
Stuttgart has two of the best last Christmas Markets in Germany, at the center of the city in the Schlossplatz square in shadow of the old palace and at the Canstatter Festival grounds with the addition of the carnival rides to the ice skating and warm Gluewein. Or head out to the Christmas decorated gingerbread center of Heidelberg or the villages of the Black Forest.
Stuttgart Airport
The
ease of flying through Stuttgart is a bonus over a port like Frankfurt.
It’s a small modern facility. The security check lines are a
breeze (though can’t say the same for Newark). The airport is
27 minutes from the Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof (main train station), served
by an S-bahn rail line right at the terminal. For business travelers,
the Stuttgart Messe (Convention Center) is located on the airport grounds,
with the Movenpick Stuttgarter Airport Hotel footsteps from the terminal.
For seeing more of Europe or connecting through, Stuttgart is served
as a hub by German
Wings,
the discount airline owned by Lufthansa, AirBerlin, Germany’s
second largest carrier (see AirBerlin) and Condor (see Condor
to Alaska). © Bargain
Travel Europe
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See Also:
STUTTGART
MUSEUMS
WINE MUSEUM STUTTGART - UHLBACH
GERMAN ICE TRAIN – FAST INTER-CITY EXPRESS
