Porches, Mercedes and more importantly Beer (Stuttgart)

Member Name: pookie_rabbit

Product:	Stuttgart
Date:	15/10/04 (424 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Small is good for this festival

Disadvantages: What apart from a hangover??

First off I am not going to claim that you are going to learn too much about Stuttgart itself from this review. If truth were told I could hardly remember half the time I spent in the City. That's not to say I didn't have a good time or enjoy the place - to the contrary. I shall explain.

My reason for visiting this fine city was not to explore the shops of Koenigstrasse, climb the TV Tower or find out the inner workings of a Porsche or Mercedes for that matter. No the reason was the "Cannstatter Volksfest".

Having decided around early summer we wanted a 'lads' trip to a beer festival Munich was naturally muted as the obvious choice. However the logistics of managing to book a hotel anywhere remotely near Munich made me look for other alternatives. It was at this point I heard about the Volkfest. The Stuttgart version happens at pretty much the same time, 2 weeks including the end of September into the beginning of October.
Now calling the Volkfest a beer festival is not entirely true, and the same can be said about Munich I am sure. At the end of the day a Volkfest is I guess a peoples festival with fairground type rides with the added bonus of (as it would appear at most German festivals) beer tents. So in an English way it is a beer festival!

I was told originally that this was the second biggest beer festival in the world although other figures show this may not be the case. Either way it’s big, with millions of visitors each year. Each year there are around 10 tents each with there own atmosphere, style and clientele. To give you an idea we spent most of our time in the Grandl tent which I would describe as the most likely associated with say Munich – big, full of tables, perhaps not entirely traditional in some of the music played and with the most foreign visitors.
Other tents differ. For instance the Laub tent attracted an older clientele whereas one of the others had pretty much no tables and a large disco.
Part of the fun is of course exploring the tents but if you are a large group of people (say 8 or so) you would be well advised to book a table well in advance via the web sites of the tent owners. I booked us a slot starting at 3PM in the Grandl tent via their web site. To give you a rough idea of costs this cost 30 Euro’s each but included 3 litres of beer and a roast chicken each.

Whilst on the important subject of beer here are a few little facts learned from bitter although enjoyable experience. First the cost of a litre was fixed at about 7.20 Euro’s although normally rounded up to 7.50 with a tip. Second the strength and volume can catch you out. We drank 5 litres from 3PM until 6PM and where no use to anyone after this time.

In summary of the festivals itself then I haven't been to the beer festival in Munich so really cannot compare the two. What I would say is there are more than enough tents here to satisfy even the most die-hard beer fan. Add to that your chances of getting accommodation and actually into a tent I would highly recommend it.

Having done the beer festival it surprise you to hear we did manage to drag ourselves out of bed and have a quick look at Stuttgart itself. Here is a quick rundown of some of the things to do with that hangover -

Koenigstrasse – A very long shopping street. Would appear to have more than its fair share of high street chains and eateries. You could spend a good day shopping down here.

TV Tower (Fernsehturm) – Superb views over Stuttgart. Open from 9AM to 11PM (last ride up 10:30PM) so well worth a visit by both day and night. Has a restauarant too. 3 Euros per person. To get there take S-Bahn 15 to “Ruhbank”.

Mercedes Museum – You can visit the factory and the museum. I believe the tour is free.

Porsche factory – Again a factory tour but you have to book well in advance.

Getting Around

Transportation includes an extenstive network of s-bahn and u-bahn lines. You can buy various tickets including a 3 day pass from the tourist office. There is an office just outside the central station and also at the airport. Your ticket bought from the airport can then be used to get in to town from there (train every 20 minutes).

Getting There

From a UK point of view we flew with Hapag-Lloyd Express from Manchester.

As well seeing the sights we also had to eat and yes drink some more. In an effort to combine both I can recommend Calwer-Eck-Brau a brewpub also serving food. As far as bars go we had a nice leisurely afternoon in Zeppelino’s which can be found as part of a hotel right next to the main train station. If you are looking for an expat crowd Biddy Earlys Irish bar is the place to be.

All in all Stuttgart isn’t the sort of city you would visit like London, Paris or Rome but certainly has enough to keep you going for a weekend especially if you are also there to sample the local brews.

Links

Official site of the festival - http://www.cannstatter-volksfest.de
Stuttgart Tourism - http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/english/index.html
Grandl beer tent - http://www.grandl.com
Hapag Lloyd Express - http://www.hlx.com
Calwer-Eck-Brau brew pub - http://www.calwereck.de
Biddy Earlys Irish Pub - http://www.biddyearlys.com
TV Tower - http://www.fernsehturm-stuttgart.com/

Prost!

Summary: