Stuttgart has a particularly strong arts offering, evidenced by the numerous major venues dotted around the city centre.

Music is a major focus, the city being home to the International Bach Academy and the world famous Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra, and frequent classical concerts rub shoulders with Stuttgart's lively jazz scene and thriving hip-hop culture. Top opera and ballet is also offered.

The Württemberg State Theatre has three major venues - the 1,400-seat Stuttgart Opera and Ballet house (tel: (711) 19703; website: www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de), the adjacent 800-capacity Playhouse (tel: (711) 202 090; website: www.staatstheater.stuttgart.de), both located in the gardens by the new Palace, and the Altes Schauspielhaus (Old Theatre) in Königstrasse (tel: (711) 226 5505; website: www.schauspielhaus-komoedie.de).

There are numerous other theatres around the city, among them the Three Penny Theatre, Stuttgart's smallest such venue (tel: (711) 606 000; website: www.dreigroschentheater.de) at Marienplatz, which stages a range of classic plays, and Theater am Faden (Theatre on a String), in Hasenstrasse (tel: (711) 604 850; website: www.theateramfaden.de), which features productions with a cast of marionettes, along with specialised music and dance.

Stuttgart is well supplied with cinemas - but most films are dubbed in German. Mainstream productions are shown at Ambo, in Arnulf-Klett-Platz (tel: (711) 22577) and Cinemaxx in Robert-Bosch-Platz (tel: (711) 2200 7978; website: www.cinemaxx.de). For more specialist film, Arthaus Filmtheater in Hohestrasse (tel: (711) 616 211; website: www.arthaus-kino.de) is the top choice.