On a Monday in May my wife and I will be in Karlsruhe from 9am to 2pm. My wife's grandfather was born there, so she had an interest in visiting the city. Trying to figure out what we can do to pass the time. Is the palace interesting at all? What else can we do in 5 hours?
Any recommendations for lunch?
Check out the museums, one of which (Badisches Landesmuseum) is in the palace. The palace itself is not that interesting (if you are not interested in the museum, that is); but you should have a look from the outside, and perhaps walk through the park (also to the botanical garden nearby). The ZKM is the most unique museum in Karlsruhe, so have a look at their website to see whether this could be of interest to you.
I visit my relative in Karlsruhe regularly, had just spent the last 3 days there. 3-4 hours is enough to see the interesting part of Karlsruhe on foot. I'd recommend the following: store your luggage in lockers at train station (Hbf), walk out of station's main entrance/exit to the Tourist Information office directly across the street, pick up city map from friendly English-speaking staff, ask them to mark the lovely walking path thru the green parks to the Schloss, you'll get to the grounds of Schloss Karlsruhe in about 15-20 min by foot. The grounds of the Schloss is quite lovely in spring and worth a stroll, you could pick up food on Kaiserstrasse and have a picnic there (many benches, especially around the lake). I find Schloss Karlsruhe (4 Euro) visit-worthy b/c it is about the city's history, high quality well-arranged display with lots of historical items. It takes under an hour to visit. The main shopping street is Kaiserstrasse (5 min walk from Schloss Karlsruhe), particularly busy b/w the tram stops of Marktplatz and Herrenstrasse. My favorite place for a quick sit-down meal is the cafeteria of the big department store Galeria Karstadt (right on Kaiserstrasse in the middle of these 2 tram stops) --lots of hot entree/hot&cold salad/soup/dessert/juice choices, spacious dining room, very clean WC. There is a good supermarket in the basement level of this department store. If you like German sausages and porky items, the butcher/sausage shop Schlemmermeyer (right at the Herrenstrasse tram stop, at Kaiserstrasse 100) has good quality hot meat item/sausages/typical regional German salads (sold by weight). At the Herrenstrasse tram stop, there are several good bakeries and places to pick up beverages (DM/Müller/Rossmann drug stores). S1/S11/3 tram goes from Herrenstrasse to Hbf in 10 min (2.6 Euro single ride, buy ticket at tram stop or on board).
very helpful! thanks to both of you!
Hi, AshleyMIA, thank you for your quick reply. I was wondering if you per chance knew what was currently at 62 Gartenstrasse in Karlsruhe. On my genealogy search, that was the last known address where my grandfather lived before being sent to America at 18. I would like to visit there if something still at that location.
tahmomma, web/map search shows the address is currently a baby clothing store. Knowing the Germans, I'm sure you would be very welcome to take a good look at that place. https://shop.strato.de/epages/63949048.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/63949048/Categories/Ladengeschaeft_Karlsruhe
The shop is right by the tram stop Lessingstrasse (S5, S51). KVV staff (in the booth right outside Hbf entrance) can tell you how to get there from Herrenstrasse or Hbf tram stop. Karlsruhe's S-Bahn network map -- https://www.kvv.de/fileadmin/user_upload/kvv/Dateien/Fahrplaene_Netzplaene/Schiene/2020/KVV-Liniennetzplan_Schiene.pdf
FYI, Karlsruhe is a friendly English-speaking university town.
that's pretty cool. Thanks Ashley, you just made my wife's day.
I put "Karlsruhe, Gartenstrasse 62" into the search box on Google Maps. It appears to be one unit in a block long line of 5 story apartment buildings. Look for yourself. In typical European fashion, there are probably businesses on the ground floor and apartments over.
You could also check out the Naturkundemuseum (Natural History Museum) which is just spectacular.
Vogelbräu for a good, typical German restaurant with its own brewery.
