Stuttgart

Yes, I thought about Baden Baden and then thought I had better not create further "ammunition" for brothers to torture each other with, or ME (their Mom) for that matter! The car thing might be a tad better! I don't see that Rick recommends any particular hotels/inns in Stuttgart and from what I looked at on Trip Advisor earlier, they really are expensive. Where did you stay when you were there, or was it a day trip?

Hmmm, so spending 2 nights there is crazy?

Thanks for your help, everyone!

I think there are a whole lot of things to do and see in Stuttgart and staying there for 2 days is not a bad idea. Your sons are going to like it there a lot more than staying in Baden-Baden. If you should happen to feel the need to see another town, Tübingen is quite close and is a gem of a university town.

If you would like more information about Stuttgart, there is a guy named Marco over on Trip Adisor that is as passionate about Stuttgart as I am about Frankfurt. He will give you suggestions that will fill up a weeks worth of sight seeing. Go check out some of his posts or post your own question about what would be interesting for your sons and you too.

Marcopolko is indeed the source on Stuttgart. We visited Stuttgart in December and stayed in the City Hotel. It was in a nice residential neighborhood not far from a lively city center.

http://www.cityhotel-stuttgart.de/

We made our reservations through hrs.com. You will find a range of prices there.

We were there to visit the Christmas Market, so I can not help much with other sights.

Regards, Gary

To me, sleepy towns and castle are kind of the essence of Germany. What do they call "fun", amusement parks (you can see those at home)?

Absolutely no theme parks, they are past that stage. They do like the sights and sounds of bigger cities and love music so it would be great to see something related, a concert or something.

Cities can be a lot of fun, due to the festivals going on, fascinating museums, or exciting events. Why associate fun with a theme park? Some people are bored to tears staying in a small town, others like it. Neither are wrong or right, they just enjoy doing what interests them.

A country is everything about it, small towns, big cities, the language, the various foods in the different regions, the products made and sold, the culture and whatever makes it unique, the various kinds of scenery and of course its history. Pretty much all countries have something in them that will be interesting for everybody and it doesn't have to be the same thing that interests me or you or the next person. We all find different things to be fun too. Mine be paragliding, you might like white water rafting and the next person might adore antique book stores or visiting a farm or walking a beach or visiting a nightclub with the local DJ or rap artist, or a Mercedes factory.

Jo, the local DJ at the nightclub sounds up their alley, as well as the Mercedes factory. They like the modern architecture of skyscrapers as well, and like to take photos. We will be visiting several small towns so we need to break it up with a big city until we finally get back to Frankfurt on the 26th. I'm excited about that! I always appreciate your suggestions!

We also try to mix small tourist oriented towns with places that Germans work and live. It gives us a good feeling for the culture. Going to a department store in a foreign country can be an interesting event in itself; we liked the Stuttgart Galeria.

There are several Weinstuben (wine restaurants) near the Olgaeck Ubahn stop, which is also near the City Hotel that I mentioned above. If you ask Marco about restaurants, he will likely mention La Piazza:

http://www.la-piazza-stuttgart.de/

In the city hall is a continuously running hop-on/hop-off elevator that may be one of the last of its kind. A little different angle on history. The threat of lawsuits would have long ago stopped its operation in the USA?

Have fun with Stuttgart. We did.

Regards, Gary

Those never ending elevators are called "Pater Noster". Really fun to ride!

Frankfurt has several, one is in the Fleming Hotel next to the 600 year old guard tower, Eschenheimer Turm, and then the Goethe University has 4 of them. Part of the school is located in the former IG Farben building, once headquarters for the Americans and Gen. Eisenhower. Fascinating building in its own right, and pretty much open to the public. The Pater Noster only run on weekdays though, when the students are going to class.

This is exactly what I was hoping for, thanks everyone!