Jaunted

Geographically, Stuttgart is among the more pleasant German cities to visit, sitting in a valley between Black Forest and the Swabian Alb hills. There are plentiful vineyards mixed with centuries of buildings mixed with 250 mineral water springs, all within the urban area. The River Neckar runs through the city's central park, which stretches all the way up to the main square, Schlossplatz. The downside is that it's subject to some pretty insane thunderstorms during the summer. But even those are a break from the unbroken sweltering heat that blankets the rest of the country.

The city is littered with ancient landmarks, from the 12th century Collegiate Church to the 14th century Altes Schloss to the 17th century Hoppenlaufriedhof cemetery. There are five state museums in the city, including the 19th century State Gallery. They house thousands of works by European masters, with Rembrandts and Monets aplenty.

Even if you're not into zoos and botanical gardens - and we've tried to give you good reasons why you should be - you absolutely positively have to visit Stuttgart's Wilhelma Zoo. It's Europe's only combined zoological and botanical garden, with over 8,000 animals from 1,000 different running the gamut from rare apes to polar bears to the weird things in their renowned aquarium. The Wilhelma itself is a former royal palace, so the entire thing is gorgeous and worth seeing independently of the plant and animal life.

Plus, have we mentioned the part about absurdly cheap airline fare?

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· Penguin and Polar Bear Problems [Jaunted]
· Stuttgart Travel [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]