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City in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
Photo: Ikar.us (talk), CC BY 2.0 de via Wikimedia Commons
Karlsruhe is a city on the Rhine in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is in the north of the Black Forest, close to the French border. Karlsruhe is famous in Germany for both hosting two federal courts and being a major hub for science and technology. With 300,000 people, Karlsruhe is the largest city within 60 km. It is not usually visited by tourists from abroad, but is a relaxed and pleasant city to work and study in.
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Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie
ZKM is devoted to interactive and 'media art'. The museum is quite unique, and the exhibitions are world-class. The ZKM also hosts many cultural events, check their home page for the schedule. The same complex also hosts the Museum für Neue Kunst (Museum for New Art) and the city gallery.
Art Hall of the State
This museum shows mainly classical paintings from the 16th century on. The main building is closed for renovation as of April 2024.
Schloss Karlsruhe
The palace is directly north of the city centre, a 2-min walk on foot from the Marktplatz. The palace was rebuilt after World War II, and now hosts the Badisches Landesmuseum.
The palace hosts the Badisches Landesmuseum, a museum dedicated to historical exhibitions and local interest. There are also special exhibitions from time to time.
Schlosspark
North of the palace is a vast park area, the palace garden, where the locals hang out on summer days. On Saturdays, Sundays and holidays during the summer season you can also take a ride on the small train that runs through the gardens. Steam trains usually run on Sundays while dieselpowered trains operate on Saturdays.
The emblem of the city. It marks the place where Karl Wilhelm was buried, and is somewhat unremarkable.
Zoologischer Stadtgarten Karlsruhe
The zoo is moderately large, and does have some special attractions. In the Zoo, there is an artificial mountain (the Lauterberg), and a memorial for the 49° N parallel. You can also ride small boats ("gondolettas") in the lake. A so-called water organ (music and fountains) plays every 30 minutes.
Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe
Here can be found lots of interesting animals, also plants, geological exhibits (including an earthquake simulator), etc. Ideal to see with children.
Badischer Kunstverein
The second-oldest art association in Germany, founded in Karlsruhe in 1818. Its focus is on contemporary art exhibitions and events (for example lectures, movies, guided tours).
The suburb Dammerstock has a residential area in the Bauhaus style, planned by the renowned architect Walter Gropius and others.
The biggest theatre and opera house in the city. Your ticket entitles you to use public transportation within the entire KVV to get to the theatre and back on the day of the performance (and until 03:00 the next day).
They play soccer in 2. Bundesliga, Germany's second tier. The stadium (capacity 34,300) is sponsored as BBBank Wildpark; it's 2 km north of city centre.
Karlsruhe's most famous yearly event taking place on a weekend in July in the Günther-Klotz Anlage (a suburban park) with about 200,000 spectators: An open-air festival comprising live music of various genres on multiple stages, presenting a mixture of world-class local and national artists. Attendance is €5 per day for the main stage, but other stages are free. Tickets are usually sold out about one month in advance.
African culture in Karlsruhe's Nordstadt. Markets, drumming workshops, exhibitions, a varied children's programme and musical performances take place during the three days, the aim being enjoyment for the whole family.
A music and fireworks performance in front of the palace. Tickets are quite expensive.
Karlsruhe Night of Museums
Once a year many museums in Karlsruhe cooperate to remain open until late into the night, hosting talks, workshops and rallys. The night usually ends with a live concert as the closing event. Special KAMUNA buttons are sold that allow for entrance in all participating museums and are also a ticket for the public transport. On the day of the KAMUNA the schedule of public transport is changed to allow the visitors to get home easily. KAMUNA is very popular in Karlsruhe and many people are attending.
In summer, for about 2 weeks, a free audiovisual show is performed, by broadcasting audiovideo onto the front of the Castle. Each full show is about five 5-minute presentations. There's no charge, merely show up and sit in front of the Palace and listen to the music. Some stalls will sell drinks (incl. beer).
Restaurant owned by the same purveyor that runs "Die Kippe". It has the same menu as Die Kippe, but different atmospheres. Both restaurants are always a nice place to grab breakfast, a drink with friends, or a quick meal without breaking the bank.
An Italian restaurant with good pizza.
A beer garden, restaurant and brewery. You get good beer and German food here, really a nice place for lunch, dinner or drinking. There are two more 'Vogelbräu' restaurants in the nearby towns of Ettlingen and Durlach.
A great place to try Flammkuchen and relax with a cocktail or two. The name means little oven.
A very modern franchise restaurant that strives to offer healthy fast-food from fresh ingredients. It offers mostly curries, soups and a large selection of salads.
A very large multi-storey beer garden, brewery and restaurant. On its uppermost floor is a cocktail bar; probably the nicest place in Karlsruhe for cocktails (although on weekends it can be difficult to get a seat and service can be slow).
Brewery and beer garden.
A nice place to sit outside and have a beer (only a good place in summer), also offers decent food. It's not so well known, so you stand a good chance of finding a nice place even on a nice summer evening even on weekends.
A bar run by local university students that is frequented by the Karlsruhe's student population. There are several local beers offered here for very cheap (€1-1.50) and also decent cocktails. Bands are frequently playing on Saturdays (no entry fee) and visitors can play cards, board games and table soccer with other patrons. Check the website for hours as the bar is generally only open when school is in session.
Scruffy's is Karlsruhe's best Irish Pub. The interior of the bar is reminiscent of the hold of an old ship and is a comfortable environment. There are a variety of beers and whiskeys, as well as good Irish music every week. Often the owner's band will play, always a treat. The bartenders and some of the patrons are native English speakers, so it's a good place to let the tourist's brain relax after speaking a lot of German! Just make sure you keep a good count on how many beers you order - the owner occasionally miscounts.
The Dorfschänke is Karlsruhe's oldest Kneipe, and a good place to meet up with people. With the normal selection of beers and drinks, this is also a good place to see bands or to watch soccer outside during the summer. There is also a fairly popular "Kicker" (or Foos-ball) table inside where you can pick up a game or two. Be prepared to pay cover on nights when bands are playing.
A nice but pricy club near the Kronenplatz with 2 dancefloors.
Here you can enjoy original Italian coffee, good cocktails and also a lot of wines. The bar is a smoker bar with a separated room where you can smoke cigars. The bar is also offering many cigars from around the world. The prices are okay. The personnel speak English. The Leonard, or also called Leo is one of the political bars in Karlsruhe. High-ranking officials from the city, the courts, the university and politics are there often seen.
Cool café serving beer, wine, and coffee. The highlight is definitely their cocktail menu, and if you ask nicely they will make one on request. Often have DJs spinning vinyls or live performances. Staff are friendly and will talk shop with you, but the cocktail menu on their website is outdated (though they still remember how to make a few of them). They close early, but there is a brewery/cocktail place right next door where the night can keep going
Requires membership in their hostelling organization.
Two furnished guestrooms for 1-3 guests in one of Karlsruhe's historical districts.
By train
By car
Karlsruhe has several exits from the A5 autobahn, approximately 130 km south of Frankfurt. The autobahn A8 joins the A5 just south of the city, connecting to Stuttgart 80 km east.
By bus
The bus station is at the south entrance of the train station. You can buy tickets for a couple of international destinations inside the train station.
By bicycle
There are long-distance cycle routes connecting Karlsruhe with the surrounding cities, such as Heidelberg and Pforzheim.
By public transport
Karlsruhe has an excellent public transport system called Karlsruher Verkehrsverbund (KVV) (Karlsruhe Area Mass Transit Authority). It is mostly built on tram-trains (Stadtbahn).
By bicycle
Rental bikes are available all-year round from Nextbike. A mobile phone is used to rent a bike and it can be 'returned' (again, using the mobile phone) at any inner city corner.
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