Ludwigsburg (Germany Baden-Wurttemberg)

Ludwigsburg is Neckar River cruise port and city in Baden-Wurttemberg state, with population around 95,000. The city is located approx 12 km (8 mi) north of Stuttgart (state's capital).

Largest local businesses are GdF Wüstenrot (building, loans), Beru AG (manufacturer of diesel cold start systems for vehicles), Getrag GmbH (world's largest supplier of transmission systems for vehicles), Mann+Hummel (manufacturing company for filtration products for vehicles), Kreissparkasse Ludwigsburg (savings bank), Volksbank Ludwigsburg (cooperative bank).

The city is best known for the Ludwigsburg Palace (Residenzschloss) called "Versailles of Swabia". This is a 452-room castle estate built on 32 hectares (79 acres) of land. The palace is one of Germany's largest and perfectly preserved (sustaining no damages during WW2 / 1939-1945). Its rooms house Europe's largest collections of Baroque art and furnishing. The palace attracts annually over 300,000 tourists. The castle is surrounded on three sides by a botanical garden (Blooming Baroque) arranged in 1954.

Among the most popular attractions on cruises to Ludwigsburg is also the Pumpkin Festival. It is offered as a guided tour with included harvest-themed lunch and optional pumpkin carving (led by an expert carver). This unique for Europe event is the world’s largest pumpkin festival, on which are presented over 400,000 plants. Another shore excursion option is a guided vineyard tour with grape harvesting and wine tasting.