We try to go on an “adventure” every week. This doesn’t have to be something super special but it takes us out of the area where we live and exposes us to new impressions and experiences. Here come my favorite places to go at the moment.

1 – Camels at Weil im Schönbuch

We LOVE to visit the camels at camel farm Weil im Schönbuch. It is a lovely hike from the car park to the enclosure. Most of the trails are paved. Only a short part leads you down to a small pond isn’t paved but it is manageable with the stroller, too.

It is an easy 3 km walk that takes us around 1.5 hours to complete (with a snack break on a bench and a stop at the enclosure to check out the camels). You even pass the pretty tree top houses of Oase Weil.

At the moment this is our most favorite excursion for small children in Stuttgart. Here comes a link to google maps .

2 – The beginning of Herzog-Jäger-Trail at Waldenbuch

Herzog-Jäger-Pfad is one of the most beautiful hiking trails in the area. It even got rewarded “Premium Hiking Trail”. The whole trail covers 13 km and is thus way to long for our little one. But we like doing just the beginning of it and ad our own little extra loop which brings us to a small historic house.

At first you walk through the forest and then you you arrive at a large meadow with wild flowers. Perfect for kids to go explore. There is even a huge Sequoya/Redwood Tree close by. Quite a sight for little children 🙂

Here comes a link to google maps that shows you how we walk.

3 – Donkey Mill at Leinfelden-Echterdingen

The Eselsmühle (Donkey Mill) at Musberg/Leinfelden-Echterdingen is one of our all-time favorites. It is a short walk from the car park on a paved road to the mill. There you find donkeys and chicken as well as a little shop with organic produces and a café.

Here comes the link to google maps.

4 – Wilhelma – Stuttgart’s zoo and botanical garden

A zoo is always a good idea 🙂 The Wilhelma in Stuttgart is not only a zoo but also a botanical garden with thousands of beautiful plants and flowers. Plus, the historic buildings will enchant you as well.

After it was closed for such a long time because of covid I was super eager to go there with the little one two weeks ago. And what can I say, even though the weather wasn’t great we still had a wonderful time. As always 🙂

These are our 4 favorite outings for small children in Stuttgart. What are yours?

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Maybe you have heard of the City of Esslingen am Neckar, the city which is just 10 minutes from Stuttgart but with such a significant history. How can a city with only 93,000 inhabitants attract over 2.5 million visitors per year? Certainly Esslingen’s annual Christmas Market specializing its’ medieval market is a major tourist draw, but something else brings all these visitors to Esslingen. This beautiful city on the Neckar river, with its 3.1 km of canals, 200 half-timbered homes and famous churches, city wall towers and castle inspires awe is certainly worth a visit. The city has many many buildings and homes from the medieval period, prior to the 16th century and these are authentic, as Esslingen was not bombed in World War II.

A brief history of the City of Esslingen

This city’s history started around 1300 BC during the late stone age. Later, around 1 AD, it was a Roman and Celtic encampment, followed by a period from the 12 to the early 16th century when Esslingen had its “Golden Age” under the Stauffer kings. Esslingen became a wealthy and politically and religious prominent city, the largest on the middle Neckar at that time. This was due to it becoming a “Free Imperial City” which provided them autonomy, along with a very lucrative wine and trading business along the trade route between Italy and Flanders (today’s Belgium). The trader’s crossed the bridge at Esslingen and not only paid a toll, but also resupplied and traded for their long journey ahead of them.

When visiting Esslingen….

There are many important and picturesque places to visit in Esslingen, but if you have a limited amount of time, these sights are sure to please every visitor.

St Dionysius Church (The parish church)

This is the heart of the old town and where the history started. This church, named after Saint Denis was built in the early 13th century and is the third church built at this location. It has its’ iconic twin church towers connected by a bridge (to keep one tower from leaning). It has splendid stained glass windows, incredible wood carvings in the choir area and also a museum under the chruch, where the crypt and the remains of first two churches may be visited.

Old City Hall

The iconic building decorated in Esslingen’s medieval colors – red and green. The north side has a beautiful baroque fassade with its famous astronomical clock, while the south side is much older has one of the best examples of half-timbered architecture in all of southern Germany. This building was originally used as a market hall, town meeting hall and dance hall.

Little Venice

This picturesque corner of Esslingen highlights the beauty of the canals flowing under the Inner Bridge and showcases part of the city wall and working water wheels. This was the industrial part of Esslingen in the middle ages.

The Inner Bridge / Maille

Today an island and a beautiful park area where many “Esslingers” and visitors enjoy spending time. With the canals on either side of the island and direct view and access to the Inner Bridge, this is one of Esslingen’s many highlights and must be visited.

My Favorite Restaurants in Esslingen

Esslingen has a plethora of restaurants and while I have not tried them all, here are some of my favorites.

Weinkeller Einhorn (means Unicorn) – an institution in Esslingen with a Weinstube (den), “bake raum” and 800 year old wine cellar. Traditional Schwabian German food, good quality and quantity. Reservations are a must.

Posthoernle – One of the finest restaurants in Esslingen on the old inner bridge street with a view of the very old Pliensau gate tower. A varied menu of German and Schwabian dishes. Certainly not for those on a budget, but a great place to celebrate and to enjoy fine food and excellent service.

Copper Bowl – On the market square and great vegetarian, southern Indian food. I have eaten there on numerous occasions and was never disappointed.

Kleine Traube – Wonderful old Haus, traditional Schwabian food and fair prices. Probably the best Schwabian food that I have had in Esslingen. Try the Kuteln (marinated intestines) or Nieren (marinated kidney) No credit cards or EC card accepted.

Kielmeyer Besen – Also on the Market Square next to the Keilmeyer Haus. Good Schwabian food at reasonable prices. This is the “go to” restaurant when you are hungry and don’t want to break the bank.

Argo Greek Restaurant – while actually not in Esslingen but in the neighboring town of Sirnau, this is my all time favorite restaurant in the Esslingen area. Consistently good food, great wines, friendly owners and Greek music on Saturday night. A must!

About the Author

Tom Hale is a retired engineering manager, and an official tour guide for the City of Esslingen. He has lived in Esslingen for twelve years after moving here from the USA and now calls this city home. If you are interested in one of his tours, or more information about Esslingen he may be contacted through his website: thomasleytonhale.wixsite.com/esslingencitytours

Picture credit title photo: Alastair Rankin

The post Exploring Esslingen – The Medieval City with Heart appeared first on Living in Stuttgart.

The guide book points out 13 walks in Leinfelden-Echterdingen, four of them are especially designed for families with kids.

The post New English Guest Guide with walks in Leinfelden-Echterdingen appeared first on Living in Stuttgart.

A “warning” straight ahead: The hiking book I point out in this post is written in German so if you don’t understand at least a bit of German, you might want to skip this article and browse through  former posts in order to find great destinations for hiking with kids in Stuttgart and the area:

Hiking from Waldenbuch to the hidden Lake Schönbuch

Hiking in the Schönbuch Nature Park

Did you know we have a waterfall in Stuttgart?!

On the Möhringer Witch Trail on a sunny winter day

Zavelstein Castle at the beginning of the black forest

Bärenschlössle Stuttgart – the cute litte castle in Stuttgart-West

But if you do understand German and if you want to have a great time outdoors with your family, this book is for you.

“Auf geht’s Kinder!” holds 24 tours in the Stuttgart region that start and end at train stops, operated by the public transit association VVS. The length of the tours vary between 2 km and 11,5 km. Some of the trails are extremely easy and short and thus suitable to bring a stroller, like the one leading through Höhenpark Killesberg. Others are more advanced, steeper and cover rougher terrain and will entertain older kids. This is true for the trail leading up to the ruins of Reußenstein in Göppingen for example. And a lot of tours are somewhat in between.

The destinations and highlights of the tours vary as well: You will find ruins and castles, grottos and caves, playgrounds and climbing high rope courses and more. But as I mentioned earlier, the book offers even more: As the child of a hiking enthusiast I know myself that hiking can be veeery boring for kids. Even if a fun attraction waits at the end of the trail, walking there is veeeery boring.

That’s why my dad and I came up with the idea that we want to entertain the kids throughout the whole hike. So we included stories that play along the trail. Like for example the story of the raven Tecki who knows the true story of the ruins of castle Teck – but who’ll only tell it when the kids solve three mysteries. Or the story of the little bandit Josef who needs to hide his loot somewhere along the Blaustrümpfler trail in Stuttgart and take care that he doesn’t get caught by the police – the help of the young hikers is highly appreciated here. Other tours offer quizzes where the kids need to spot for example a sign, solve a task or get active themselves. Thus, the hike doesn’t get boring and if fun for the whole family (and you can train your kids German at the same time ;-). Win-win!)

So if you want to go hiking with kids in Stuttgart and speak a bit German, check out this book! 🙂

More information:

You can buy the hiking book “Auf geht’s Kinder!” in most bookstores in the region or order it online on amazon.  [Affiliate link]

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Some of you might remember Siebenmühlental (Seven Mills Valley) from my former post about Eselsmühle (Donky Mill). But there’s much more to explore! Siebenmühlental is among the best-known, best-loved and most interesting valleys in the Stuttgart region. It is sometimes also known as Reichenbachtal, after the Reichenbach river that flows through it.

Siebenmühlental is the perfect setting for days out – whether you’re local or just visiting. The footpaths through the charming valley are popular with hardened hikers, leisurely walkers, families (with or without pushchairs), cyclists and skaters. They all come here to get their fix of the great outdoors.

Most people take the paved Bundeswanderweg trail from Musberg to the Burkhardtsmühle. But there are other footpaths that are much more secluded, that provide even more opportunity to get back to nature. Whether it’s the Reichenbachtalweg, which also runs through the valley but gets closer to nature than the Bundeswanderweg, or one of the various paths or walking routes that take in the magnificent woodland and countryside surrounding the valley, the choice is yours.

Hiking in the beautiful Siebenmühlental

If you want to walk through the Siebenmühlental valley, there are two options: the Bundeswanderweg (Federal Hiking Trail ) and the Reichenbachtalweg (Reichenbach Valley Trail ). The Bundeswanderweg runs along a stretch of disused railway a little way above the valley, and is fully tarmacked. The Reichenbachtalweg is a loose gravel trail with some short stretches of unmade paths. It regularly takes you alongside its eponymous river, and at some points you can get up close to the water.

If you want to combine the two routes, you are best advised to start on the Reichenbachtalweg and go as far as the Burkhardtsmühle, then go up to the beer garden and take the Bundeswanderweg back to the start. To make the walk shorter, you can start from the Seebruckenmühle car park. On the return leg, look for a path marked with a red cross shortly after the old Steinenbronn train station to find your way back down to the starting point.

Get your free copy of the new guide book!

The city of Leinfelden-Echterdingen has published a new and free guide book freaturing Siebenmühlental. It points out 14 tours for hikers and bikers – from well known trails to hidden paths.

And the best: it is also available in English AND it’s for free! 🙂

You can :

…download the guest guide as a PDF-document here: Guest Guide – Idyllic Recreation in Siebenmühlental (PDF)

… pick up the printed brochure at the town hall in Leinfelden (Marktplatz 1, 70771 Leinfelden-Echterdingen)

… or order it via ipunkt@le-mail.de

More information about:

Leinfelden-Echterdingen (only in German)

My visit to Eselsmühle in 2015

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