Hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of car enthusiasts flock to Stuttgart, Germany every year to visit both the Mercedes-Benz Museum and the nearby Porsche Museum. Personally, I’m not a big car person – I couldn’t even tell you the last time I checked my own oil or changed a tire. My husband on the other hand is a huge Formula 1 (F1) racing fan. Because of this, we decided to make a pitstop in Stuttgart on our way to Munich from Frankfurt, and me being the loving wife that I am, agreed to visit two car museums in one day…on our wedding anniversary. Do I think I deserve a medal? Maybe. But honestly I enjoyed them more than I expected to! It doesn’t hurt that I got a great anniversary dinner at the end of the day either.

Need ideas for the rest of your time in Stuttgart? Be sure to check out my 2 day Stuttgart trip guide!

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Mercedes-Benz Museum

The first stop on our Stuttgart car museums tour was the Mercedes-Benz museum. It’s located in the Bad Cannstatt neighborhood of Stuttgart, about 30 minutes north of the city center by public transit. The museum opened to the public in 2006, just in time for Germany’s hosting of the FIFA World Cup. It’s the largest corporate museum in the world and is estimated to have cost $192 million to build!

A Quick Mercedes History Lesson

The business that eventually became Mercedes-Benz, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, was a German engineering company founded in 1901. After a few mergers, and the invention of the automobile, the name changed to Mercedes-Benz in 1926. The ‘Benz’ obviously comes from the German engineer Karl Benz who created the world’s first production car: the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. The ‘Mercedes’ on the other hand came from the daughter of the Austrian entrepreneur who commissioned Benz’s first vehicle.

The current Mercedes-Benz corporate headquarters, along with their main production facilities, are all located within the vicinity of the museum. As of 2023, Mercedes-Benz was the fifth most valuable car company in the world according to US News & World Report. They also hold the record for the most consecutive F1 Constructors Championships, with 8 wins from 2014 to 2021.

Not to sound like a self-centered American, but because of how car-centric our country is I thought the car had been invented in the United States for an embarrassingly long time.

At The Museum

Tickets can (and in my opinion should) be bought online for either a morning or afternoon session. It took us about an hour and a half to walk through, but we’re not big “have to read everything people”. So if that’s you, it’ll probably take closer to 2 to 2.5 hours. The museum has 12 rooms and over 160 vehicles spread out across 16,500 square feet. After taking an elevator to the top floor, you work your way down chronologically through car history worldwide – from 1886 through the present.

Each floor is laid out the same – one main “Legend” space with a highlighted vehicle Collection in a room to the right. Each collections room features a different theme including transportation vehicles, helpers (ambulances and fire trucks), and everyday classics. I personally loved seeing all the old-school buses. I will say the layout didn’t seem the most efficient to me, because we had to backtrack on each floor to make sure and see everything. Because of said layout, it seems like a lot of people missed the Collection area on each floor. Half the time we were the only ones in the room even though the rest of the museum was packed! Each floor also has a designated photo op area, looking over the floor below. On your way out you’ll find both a café and a gift shop.

Fun Fact: the 1902 40 PS Mercedes-Simplex located in Legend Room 2 (pictured above) is apparently the oldest Mercedes still in existence!

Tips For Your Visit

– While there is plenty of parking available in the area, taking public transportation is recommended during soccer season (August to May – aka most of the year). VfB Stuttgart plays down the street at Mercedes-Benz arena, and parking is significantly restricted during gamedays.

– If you’re interested in one of their public guided tours, keep in mind they’re only available at specific times during the day in either English or German. The English tour is at 11am daily, while German is at 2:30pm. Both tours are approximately 75 minutes. The self-guided audio tour on the other hand is available in 8 languages.

– You’ll be tempted to view the Legend exhibition on each floor first, but I recommend a different route. Instead, skip past this main area and view the collection room to the right first. Then backtrack through the Legend section before taking the ramp down to the next floor.

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Looking for more to do in Stuttgart besides car museums?
Check out these exciting options:

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Porsche Museum

The second of the car museums we visited in Stuttgart was Porsche. It is located in Zuffenhausen, which is one of Stuttgart’s three northernmost neighborhoods, just to the west of Bad Cannstatt. Getting to the Porsche Museum from the Mercedes one unfortunately isn’t the most convenient if you don’t have a car. Public transportation takes between 35-45 minutes, with one or two transfers depending on the route you choose. Driving on the other hand is a pretty straight 26 minute shot. The original Porsche Museum opened back in 1976, but this new modern version was completed in 2009.

A Quick Porsche History Lesson

The company was founded in 1931, but the first car with the Porsche name wasn’t actually built until almost two decades later in 1948. This next part was news to me: the company’s full name is actually Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, named after its founder the engineer Ferdinand Porsche. While I thought it would have been the other way around, Porsche was purchased by Volkswagen in 2012. While putting this piece together I learned how massive Volkswagen actually is! I had no idea they owned Audi, Bugatti, Ducati and Bentley as well.

The two main Porsche production facilities are located in Germany, one near the museum in Stuttgart and the other in Leipzig. While Porsche may have come in slightly behind Mercedes as the 6th most valuable car company, they are the manufacturer with the most 24 Hours of Le Manz wins – with 19 since 1970.

Fun Fact: The 1963 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS (pictured below) was the first Porsche with a fiberglass-reinforced plastic body. Most modern sports cars are made this way.

At The Museum

The Porsche museum is considerably smaller, with only 80 vehicles and 5,600 square feet. It took us at most an hour to walk through the entire thing (once again, only some reading). You can only buy your tickets on site, so we saved it for second since we weren’t sure how long our morning at the Mercedes museum would take. Our personal ticket buying experience was a bit confusing, and I’m not sure how typical it was of a normal day. When we walked up to the ticket counter, the woman working there adamantly waved us away and pointed over to the group tour desk instead.

The route you take through the Porsche museum is the opposite of Mercedes. Instead of top down, you start from the bottom and work your way up chronologically. It is a pretty open free-flowing space, without many dividers creating distinct sections. In the lobby you’ll find a gift shop, restaurant, and coffee bar. I’m not going to lie, the Porsche museum was definitely the less impressive of the two. Maybe I’d just gotten my expectations up after seeing how grand Mercedes was? The building architecture was beautiful though and I especially liked the section with the full-sized Lego models!

Tips For Your Visit

– While they do have parking available, there is an incentive to take public transportation. After showing our valid VVS day ticket (Stuttgart’s local public transport) when buying our tickets, we were given a 50% discount! There is a station conveniently located right next to the museum making it a no brainer.

– If you’re not a huge fan of crowds, the museum website recommends visiting on a weekday morning. Based on our experience, weekday afternoons could probably be added to that list as well. We visited on a Tuesday afternoon and crowds weren’t all that terrible!

– Don’t get the museum and factory tour confused, as they are two separate things! Unlike the museum, the guided factory tours can be booked online and often sell out well in advance.

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Which of the Stuttgart car museums is your favorite, Mercedes-Benz or Porsche?
Let me know in the comments!