Trip to Germany early Oct 2019

Around Stuttgart there are several car things to do. We really enjoyed the Mercedes Museum (one of the best museums I have been to) and the Porsche Muesum. In Böblingen (right outside Stuttgart) there is a place called Motorworld that my hubby and dad had a great time walking through. They were like little kids in a candy store when they were finished.

Stuttgart is quite a bit aways from the North Sea and the Baltic, so maybe save them for another trip.

To be honest: 2 weeks are not much time in Germany.

Until Oct 6 Munich will be full and expensive (Oktoberfest).

Car stuff: I guess the typlical things like BMW world in Munich, Porsche facility visit and Mercedes-Benz Museum you already have on radar. Two real interesting oldtimer places are the Remises in Berlin and Düsseldorf. BMW has also interesting driver training facility aorund Munich.

"castles": more defense-oriented castles (example) or representation-oriented palaces (example)?

Tip: A lot of Germans and Brits like to fly over to Mallorca or Ibiza for a few days. Short flight time, likely sun and warmer and interesting landscape (also Schengen area).

As to castles that are close to Stuttgart . . . just to the south there are two:

Hohenzollern Castle: https://www.tourism-bw.com/Media/Attraktionen/Hohenzollern-Castle

Lichtenstein Castle: https://www.schloss-lichtenstein.de/en/

Stuttgart also has the Pig Museum: https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/the-pig-museum-stuttgart-germany

Like you, my wife and I have been doing our research for our "bucket list" trip this summer and have never been out of the US. Scouring the Travel Forum has become a part-time job for me but the wealth of experience and advice cannot be more helpful. Be sure to explore the links on money, packing, technology, etc. Maybe the latest "Germany" travel guide would be useful too.

Take a look over at TripAdvisor‘s forum for posts by Marcopolko. He has dozens of places to visit in the Stuttgart area.

For a short visit to Italy, I suggest Venice if there are inexpensive flights from Stuttgart

Thanks for the reply's! I think my wife is going to want to see the "Pretty" castles. However, we enjoy history now what we are older and would like anything like that probably. I have added all of these links to my favorites! I wish we could stay longer but we both still work and it is hard to be away for longer than that. In fact we have never been away for 2 weeks before. Son still lives at home although he is grown. He will probably burn the house down while we are away haha.
I realize we are not going to get to see much in 2 weeks so I want to make it count. I was looking into a river boat cruise on the Rhine the other day with stops at some castles but most are overnight. I would probably just do a day trip. I think we will have a car at our disposal and usually someone that can at least pick us up or drop us off places. Other times full travel companions. They lived in Germany several years ago and just moved back a few months ago. My wife does not want to be there in the heat of the summer hence the Oct timeframe.
Rob

Check out Stuttgart Steps for great walking tours in Stuttgart and in Esslingen. http://stuttgartsteps.com/

Good advice about Marco on Trip Advisor. He is as passionate about Stuttgart as I am about Frankfurt and knows all the interesting sites there.

It is Jan. so you have almost 10 months to start getting yourself into better walking shape. Start slow, even if it is just one block per day. Next week, make it 2, the week after 3 and before you know it you will be easily walking a couple of miles without it being tough. The more you walk, the easier it gets. Maybe join a fitness center too? One is never too old to improve your fitness and you are only 50. Go for it. You will be so happy you did and you will enjoy your time in Germany so much more. Stuttgart is a town with a lot of steps, so get ready.

Thanks for the info on Stuttgart! We are going to start walking more for sure. It is pretty cold here now and we live out the country on gravel. Actually we just got 20 inches of snow this weekend. But as spring starts we will be getting out and walking more for sure.
On a side note, I've been trying to find flights. How far out should I buy my tickets? I found what I would consider a good price on tickets today but it is still 10 months away. Any advice?
Rob

I will second the Stuttgart Steps recommendation. I did a Stuttgart tour and an Esslingen tour with Sarah. They were both very good, and Sarah recommends places to eat and to visit while on the tour. Esslingen is gorgeous -- the town was spared bombing during WWII because it's industrial center was on the river, far from the center of town. Esslingen is only about a 15-minute train ride from the center of Stuttgart.

On a side note, I've been trying to find flights. How far out should I
buy my tickets? I found what I would consider a good price on tickets
today but it is still 10 months away. Any advice?

If I'm certain I'm going somewhere and find a good deal, I grab it. I'm going to be in Berlin in November. I found a $636 round trip airfare from my smallish local airport (Greenville-Spartanburg, SC) to Berlin last week and snagged it while I could. Airfares had been running $1700-$1900. That airfare was gone the next day.

There are also two very large and interesting car museums owned by the same enthusiast society at Speyer, and Sinsheim (a smaller town near Heidelberg).