Summary
After a day exploring Stuttgart (and the markets at night), we decided to step out of the city in search of what lay outside of the city.
The recommendation, by and large, was to go to Tubingen and if I’m totally honest, I wasn’t too sure what to expect. I knew there was a row of colourful houses down by the river but that was about it.
With that in mind, we left for Tubingen, expecting to spend very little time in the city and mentally making lunch plans for Stuttgart that afternoon.
We started off with the beautiful and colourful timbered buildings down by the river, and they were every bit as picturesque as I’d expected.
On a whim, we decided it was probably worth venturing through the old town for a bit. We didn’t drive all the way here just to spend minutes checking out some colourful buildings.
Well, turns out, I was sooooooo wrong about Tubingen! There’s so much more to that city than we’d anticipated and the old town is easily one of the most beautiful we’ve been to in Germany.
Tubingen feels like stepping into a German fairytale book, with its many-hued medieval timbered houses. It looks just like a gingerbread town.
Tubingen is also a university town, so despite how ancient the town is, it somehow manages to feel very young and vibrant. It’s just such a great mix as it feels like there’s something for everyone here.
We decided to pop into the cathedral for a quick nosey around…
Leaving the church, we carried on through the city to the main square, where the market was in full swing.
Our sights were set much higher though and so off we went, climbing up through the city towards Hohentubingen Castle.
The castle is heralded by a rather impressive gate, where you can breathe a sigh of relief at the uphill climb coming to an end.
The castle is actually now part of the university, so you don’t have to pay to check out its grounds; you can just wander in pretty much whenever you feel like it.
Suffice it to say, I don’t think you can just randomly wander through its hallways, except for its museum. It is a university building after all, but it’s still definitely worth checking out when you’re here.
Eventually, we headed over to the Belvedere to check out the view over the city.
Walking through the old part of town, you don’t really get a sense of how huge the city is. However, from up high, you can really appreciate Tubingen in all its sprawling beauty.
It was just so much more than I was expecting; a lot more than just a series of colourful buildings by a river. I left genuinely wondering how we’d never heard about it until just a few days prior.
