Nightlife

Listings of the various cultural events, as well as tickets, are available from the tourist office. The magazine Lift, available at newsstands, lists all the happenings around Stuttgart.

The Performing Arts

Staatstheater, Oberer Schlossgarten (tel. 0711/202090; www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de; S-Bahn: Hauptbahnhof), is the leading cultural venue in Stuttgart. The theater consists of the Grosses Haus for opera and ballet, the Kleines Haus for theater, and the Kammer-Theater, which puts on experimental works. This is home to the world-class Stuttgart Ballet, established by the American choreographer John Cranko in the 1960s and now led by Reid Anderson. It also houses the respected Staatsoper (State Opera). Tickets are 8€ to 126€ and can be purchased at the Staatstheater box office (closed Aug).

Classical and other concerts may be heard in the three halls of the Liederhalle, Berliner Platz 1-3 (tel. 0711/2027710; www.liederhalle-stuttgart.de; U-Bahn: Liederhalle/Berlinerplatz), which is home to the Stuttgarter Philharmoniker, under the baton of Gabriel Feltz, and the Radio-Sinfonieorchester Stuttgart. Tickets for all concerts are on sale at SKS Russ, Charlottenplatz 17 (tel. 0711/1635321; www.sks-russ.de; U-Bahn: Charlottenplatz). Prices are 8€ to 40€.

The Bar, Cafe & Club Scene

Start your evening with a drink at Amadeus, Charlottenplatz 17 (tel. 0711/292678; www.amadeus-stuttgart.de; U-Bahn: Charlottenplatz), where students and locals gather. It's open Monday to Saturday noon to 2am and Sunday 10am to 2am.

For a trendier locale, and one where you're likely to meet counterculture Stuttgart (complete with purple hair and piercings in unpredictable places), head to Palast der Republik, Friedrichstrasse 27 (tel. 0711/2264887; U-Bahn: Keplerstrasse), a century-old bar that has tended to draw an arts-conscious crowd throughout its long history. DJs play funk and soul. It's open Monday to Wednesday 11am to 2am, Thursday to Saturday 11am to 3am, and Sunday 3pm to 1am. Café Stella, Hauptstätter Strasse 57 (tel. 0711/6402583; www.cafe-stella.de; U-Bahn: Österreichischerplatz), is a see-and-be-seen kind of place that serves drinks and food; it hosts local jazz bands, on a varying schedule, several times a month. Sunday brunch is a particularly stylish venue for the hip and hipster wannabes.