We are moving to Stuttgart! We’ve never been, but here’s what we know so far.
Even though we’ve never been, we know a couple people who have and they’ve raved about it. We’ve also seen one episode of House Hunters International filmed there so we feel pretty knowledgeable. 🤣
According to Wikipedia, it’s the capital of its region, Baden-Württemberg. It’s kind of like the Detroit/Seattle of Germany. There are a lot of car manufacturers there, as well as tech companies, like IBM and HP.
It’s considered the “gateway” to the Black Forest and is in the middle of German wine country (Hello, Reisling). There is a ton to do outdoors–hiking, biking, and skiing are some of the things that immediately come up in a Google search.
There are about 25k+ Americans living in the Stuttgart area that are associated with the US military, as there are five bases in the area that make up U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart.
Things we are THRILLED about:
1. Access to “Mini-America.” I will be working on one of the military bases and the kids will attend the schools on base. Additionally, the bases have shopping centers, restaurants, a movie theater, bowling alley, and lots of organized activities. When we are missing America, we will have access to the amenities on the bases to help ease home sickness.
2. Proximity to other countries. It’s within a 2 hour drive of France and Switzerland. If you increase your drive time up to 5 hours, there are 8 countries within range.
3. It’s on the German high speed rail network. Most German cities will be within a few hours by train. Additionally, the French high speed rail runs through the city so there is quick access to several French cities, including Paris, which is only three hours by train.
4. Cheap airfare within Europe. Even though the airport isn’t big, there are tons of low cost flights to other European cities, Northern Africa, and Western Asia. Most flights are less than $50. Our bucket list is miles long so hopefully we can make a big dent in it.
5. Close proximity to family in Italy! One of the biggest draws is that our Italian family will be about a 6 hour drive away. We have only seen them around once every year or two for most of my life. Now, we will able to spend much more time together.
Things we are NOT so excited about:
1. Missing family and friends! We are going to miss our family, and our friends–who are like family–DEARLY. The kids are heavily involved in activities and I know they will miss their clubs and teams. This will absolutely be the hardest part of this adventure and we hope everyone will visit, and often.
2. Housing shortage in Stuttgart. Because of the industry in the city, as well as the number of Americans, it is not only expensive, but difficult to find housing. Most places are already rented or sold before they hit the market so we are expecting this to be a challenge. We are preparing for extended hotel living until we find a place.
3. Stuttgart doesn’t have a big airport. The big airports are in Frankfurt and Munich, so there really aren’t non-stop options to the US; it will take just a little bit longer to travel to and from home.
Despite the challenges, we are excited to get there and learn more!
Here’s the link to the Wikipedia page where we learned most of what we know now: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuttgart
Gilcrests Abroad 