Home / Region Guides / Top-5 must-visit sites in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Top-5 must-visit sites in Baden-Württemberg, Germany

Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany bordering France and Switzerland


Hide Map

Baden-Württemberg is a state in southwest Germany bordering France and Switzerland. Stuttgart, the capital, is home to Wilhelma, a royal estate turned zoo and gardens. Porsche and Mercedes-Benz have headquarters and museums there.


1. Heidelberg Palace

Heidelberg Castle, Baden-Württemberg
Heidelberg Castle, Baden-Württemberg

Heidelberg Castle is a ruin in Germany and the landmark of Heidelberg. The castle ruins are among the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. The castle has only been partially rebuilt since its demolition in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is located 80 meters up the northern part of the Königstuhl hillside and thereby dominates the view of the old downtown. It is served by an intermediate station on the Heidelberger Bergbahn funicular railway that runs from Heidelberg’s Kornmarkt to the summit of the Königstuhl.


2. Europa-Park

Europa-Park, Baden-Württemberg
Europa-Park, Baden-Württemberg

Europa-Park is the largest theme park in Germany, and the second most popular theme park resort in Europe, following Disneyland Paris. Europa-Park is located in Rust, in south-western Germany, between Freiburg im Breisgau and Strasbourg. The park is home to 13 roller coasters, the oldest being Alpenexpress Enzian, a powered coaster that speeds through a diamond mine, and the newest coaster being the Ba-a-a Express, a small kiddie roller coaster.


3. Hohenzollern Castle

Hohenzollern Castle, Baden-Württemberg
Hohenzollern Castle, Baden-Württemberg

Hohenzollern Castle is the ancestral seat of the imperial House of Hohenzollern. The third of three hilltop castles built on the site, it is located atop Mount Hohenzollern, above and south of Hechingen, on the edge of the Swabian Jura of central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The first castle on the mountain was constructed in the early 11th century. Over the years the House of Hohenzollern split several times, but the castle remained in the Swabian branch, the dynastic seniors of the Franconian-Brandenburgian cadet branch that later acquired its own imperial throne. The third, and the current, castle was built between 1846 and 1867 as a family memorial by Hohenzollern scion King Frederick William IV of Prussia.


4. Mercedes-Benz Museum

Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Mercedes-Benz Museum, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg

The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of Daimler AG.


5. Wilhelma

Wilhelma Zoological-Botanical Garden, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg
Wilhelma Zoological-Botanical Garden, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg

Wilhelma is a zoological-botanical garden in Stuttgart in the Bad Cannstatt district in the north of the city on the grounds of a historic castle. Wilhelma Zoo is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Baden-Württemberg, seeing more than 2 million visitors annually. The Zoo and Botanical Garden have been staffed since 1846. The Moorish Revival style echoing the Alhambra has been maintained and supplemented since 1960. Today, the zoo has an area of about 30 hectares, houses around 11,500 animals from around the world composed of roughly 1,200 species and roughly 6000 plants from all climates.