The perfect holiday:
Karlsruhe

Start your day with a relaxed stroll along Kaiserstraße. In the morning, it is still peaceful and empty here. In addition to numerous shops, you will also find charming cafés away from the shopping mile in the small fan-like streets. If you follow one of the fan beams north, you will reach the castle, which houses the Baden State Museum. Do not miss a climb up the 42-metre castle tower. From the top, you will be treated to a fantastic view over the city’s fanlike layout. Before you leave the palace for lunch, it is worth stopping by the adjacent botanical garden. Here you will find a place of peace in the middle of the city.

Hungry? Even the journey to the Cantina Majolika is a pleasure. Follow a path marked with blue tiles through the palace garden into the nearby forest, where you can enjoy regional and international delicacies in the courtyard of the Majolika ceramics factory.

Reinvigorated after a relaxed lunch, it's time for the ZKM | Centre for Art and Media, the world's first interactive media museum! Despite being just 30 years old, this museum is ranked the fourth most important art institution in the world on ArtFacts.Net. The ZKM's collection is as innovative as it is ground-breaking: it includes photography, graphic art, paintings, and sculpture, as well as computer-based works, film, holographic work, kinetic art, sound art, visual poetry, and video art. A visit to the museum becomes an active experience: touching the works of art is not only permitted but is actively encouraged!

The proximity to France is evident everywhere in Karlsruhe, where joie de vivre and gastronomy are writ large! The acclaimed Baden cuisine includes numerous locally produced specialities, characterised by the finest regional ingredients. Our recommendation for dinner: the Oberländer Weinstube. The very best creative German gourmet cuisine is served in the stylishly furnished rooms of the 1826 building, with its secluded inner courtyard garden.

Take it easy on the second day with a morning stroll through the zoological gardens. At 150 years, the Karlsruhe Zoo, known as the "Green Lung", is one of the oldest zoos in Germany. Its unique charm is the combination of the zoo and its gardens, with 800 trees from many countries as well as themed gardens including the Japanese Garden and Rose Garden. At the centre of the Garden City are two lakes, connected by canal. From here you can take a ride on the Gondoletta - boats guided by pulley - to view the garden landscape and the spacious animal enclosures.

In the afternoon, take the tram to Karlsruhe Durlach - the historic heart of Karlsruhe. Medieval charm characterises Durlach's old town with its picturesque market square, city wall, the Schlossplatz (Castle Square), and the winding alleys and old walls. Cosy cafés and restaurants invite you to stop for a bite. Be enchanted by the historic charm.

The 256-metre high Turmberg is Durlach's local mountain, and a popular destination. Sören Anders’ award-winning restaurant is located there. Enjoy regional delicacies with a magnificent view of Karlsruhe and the Rhine plain.

Calling early risers! Karlsruhe's weekly markets have everything your culinary heart desires: fresh fruits or vegetables from the region as well as a variety of flowers – perfect as gifts or for the home. The market on Gutenbergplatz is quite probably the most beautiful, and is at its best on Saturdays, as it has been for 100 years. For food hunters and gourmets, this is the most enticing spot in Karlsruhe!

Completed in 1904, Gutenbergplatz is considered one of the most beautiful squares in Karlsruhe, thanks in part to the layout of the Weststadt. Not without good reason are the surroundings and square itself listed as a complete package. The square is particularly popular among Karlsruhe residents in the summer months, when the outdoor cafés and restaurants beckon you to linger and relax under the large lime trees.

To a shopper’s paradise: whether ETTLINGER TOR KARLSRUHE, POSTGALERIE or Baden's longest shopping street, the Kaiserstraße, enjoy pure shopping pleasure. Don’t miss the side streets, where many small shops and galleries offering unusual fashion, accessories, and objets d’art. Visit a cultural event in the evening, be it a first-class performance at the Baden State Theatre, live music at the Tollhaus cultural centre, or a stage show at the Kammertheater. Karlsruhe has a range of stages, as well as also almost-daily performances in the many small theatres in the city centre, ranging from cabaret to puppet theatre.

If you don't fancy a cultural event, then check out the restaurants, bars, and bistros around Ludwigsplatz. Numerous spots beckon after a shopping spree or for an after-work cocktail. There is always a lot on, particularly in summer when bands play, or after-work parties take place. There is a lot of hustle and bustle!