Visit of Mercedes- Benz and Porsche Museum

Stuttgart is the only city in the world where two manufacturers of this stature keep their own museums a short drive apart, and both of them are on the sites where the cars are still built. A private day covers the pair properly: the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Untertuerkheim in the morning, lunch, and the Porsche Museum in Zuffenhausen in the afternoon, with a driver handling the cross-city leg so nobody deals with parking.

Mercedes-Benz – the long view

The Mercedes-Benz collection runs from the 1886 patent motor car forward, which makes it a history of the automobile rather than of one brand. Visitors take a lift to the top of the double-helix building and descend through the decades on two interleaved routes, one following the chronology and one following the vehicle types – racing cars, buses, fire engines, the popemobile. More than 160 vehicles are on display across the nine levels. It takes two to three hours to do at a reasonable pace, and the architecture is genuinely part of the visit.

Porsche – the narrower story

The Porsche Museum is smaller, sharper and more focused. Around eighty vehicles sit on a white floor beneath a building that appears to float on three columns, tracing the line from the early Ferdinand Porsche designs through the 356 and the 911 to the current motorsport programme. The engineering exhibits are unusually good on how components actually work, and the workshop visible from the gallery is real. Two hours is comfortable here; enthusiasts will want three.

How the day is arranged

• Full day, private, with a chauffeured vehicle between the two sites and your hotel
• Both museums are closed on Mondays – plan the day for Tuesday to Sunday
• Admission tickets are quoted separately and are booked in advance for both houses
• Audio guides are included by the museums in several languages; a private guide can be added for a curated route
• Both buildings are fully accessible, with lifts throughout and loan wheelchairs at the entrance

Who it suits and what to add

Obviously it suits collectors and enthusiasts, but it also works better than expected for families with teenagers and for guests who have no interest in cars at all – both buildings are architectural landmarks and both are exceptionally well laid out. Clients who want only one should take Mercedes-Benz for breadth or Porsche for depth. Add the private walking tour of Stuttgart to give the city itself a morning, or the excursion to Burg Hohenzollern for a complete change of subject on the following day. Vehicle classes are set out under our private transfers and tours, and the city overview on the Stuttgart destination page.