The Porsche Museum, Suttgart

We had a cloudy and chilly weekend.  This is my least favourite time of year in Germany.  it is dark and dreary (dark by 5;00 these days and getting earlier every night).  It is cold, and feels more so daily.  Yet, the snow hasn't come yet.  Christmas markets are not open yet.  None of the fun and cheerful things that make winter in Germany like a fairy tale are happening just yet, but all of the grey skies and and cool temperatures are all working to bring you down.

So, Sunday we were looking for somethign to get us out of the house, but keep is in a warm, indoor environment.  Which is how we ended up checking out the Porsche museum in Stuttgart.

Located right next to some of Porsche's factories, and with an S-bahn train stop next to it, this is an easy place to find.  We drove, and on a Sunday found street parking less than a block away so did not end up paying for the parking garage.

The museum building itself is very interesting architecture with it's mirrored cube, and integrated fountains that would be running in warmer months.

Admission to the museum is 8 Euro for adults.  Kids 14 and under get in free with an adult--we just barely scraped y with Rio on that one!  Audio guides are provided with the cost of admission and can be played in several languages, including English.  

I don't adore cars--so I was not really expecting to love the museum.  I was underwhelmed, even based on my expectations.  The guys were also underwhelmed, and they DO love cars.  There were cars to look at.  Yep, that is pretty much it.  Nothing interactive.  No old photos near the historic cars showing them winning races, or the workers designing some of the older cars, etc.  The cars were nice, but with NOTHING else to go with them, it was a bit bland.  one good thing though, you could get right up next to the cars.  There were no barriers holing you back.  I only saw one person touch any of them--people were very respectful.

Here is some car themed eye candy for those who like them:

The first ever fire truck that did not need horses to pull it.  Also the first designed to carry men and equipment on one vehicle together.

There was a little area set aside for kids' birthday parties.  They had race suits and helmets for the kids to wear and a slot car set for them to play with.  I could imagine a group of 8 year olds loving that:

There was one more interesting display, in which a car had been cut into thirds and they had each third in a display case so that you could see interior parts--it even went right through the owner's manual LOL

After you wind your way past all the cars, you are rewarded with the chance to sit in one:

Yep, that is about it.  Well, there was a gift shop.  All in all we were there about an hour, maybe a it longer-and we took our time an listened to the audio guide, etc.

There is a showroom directly across the street.  Even though it was a Sunday and no cars could be sold, they did have it open for people to look around in, knowing that it is almost like part of the museum for visitors.  The new cars were here (though the top end ones--like the new Spyder, were locked away on an upper level, so not really available to view at all).

In conclusion, I would say that the museum was worth the cost for us to see it once, as locals, needing some entertainment on a November day.  I would not recommend making an effort to see it while travelling, etc though.  There are a lot of better places in Germany to see cars, like Nurburgring or Autostadt or even the Tecknik museums in Mannheim, Sensheim an Speyer.

--Hadley