Things to Do in Old Palace (Altes Schloss)

Crown Jewels and Royal Apartments

The top floor keeps quiet company. Ludwig II's ruby crown glints in window light. Step into the queen's rose-painted boudoir. Beeswax still clings to the air. Above the royal bedchamber, Diana hunts across the ceiling. Most visitors race to the cars below. You may stand alone with crowns and frescoes.

Castle Church Bell Tower

The stair starts narrow, then spirals. Burst onto the bell platform; Stuttgart spreads below. Red tiles roll toward the Black Forest. Mercedes smokestacks prick the horizon. Bronze bells thunder at noon. Stone trembles under your palms. Spires spear the valley haze.

Medieval Kitchen Cellars

Descend stairs scooped concave by centuries. The palace kitchen hits you with woodsmoke and hot fat. Costumed cooks turn pork over open flame while recounting how dukes fed 500. Temperature drops ten degrees under vaults where iron spits and copper cauldrons recall feasts before gas.

Old Castle Christmas Market

December turns the courtyard into pine and Glühwein steam. Wooden huts sell hand-carved ornaments. A brass quartet bounces carols off Renaissance stone. Roasted almonds and cinnamon drift through frost. Your mug warms cold palms.

Württemberg Museum Collections

Past the crown jewels, upper floors grow stranger. Napoleon's death mask stares from glass. Celtic gold glints under spotlights. Rooms smell of old paper. Prehistoric cases hold mammoth-ivory miniatures. Lean close. Artists worked these 35,000 years ago.

Mittlerer Schlossgarten: tree-lined streets two minutes from the palace, with pension-style hotels in converted 19th-century townhouses

Marktplatz area: puts you above wine taverns and cafés, morning church bells included free

Königstraße pedestrian zone: chain hotels above shopping, convenient but can feel generic

Feuersee neighborhood: local vibe, cheaper rates, ten-minute walk through residential streets

Degerloch - hillside district with valley views, connected by frequent buses

Bad Cannstatt: across the Neckar but near the tram museum, old-world spa town character