Bietigheim-Bissingen is a twin town a few minutes north of Ludwigsburg by S-Bahn, formed in 1975 when the two old settlements of Bietigheim and Bissingen were merged. Most visitors come for Bietigheim's old town, a tidy ensemble of timber-framed houses, fountains and a Renaissance town hall strung along a single sloping main street.
The town sits above the confluence of the Enz and the Metter, and a tall nineteenth-century railway viaduct strides across the Enz valley — one of the more dramatic pieces of engineering in the area and still in daily use. The Stadtmuseum in the Hornmoldhaus, a richly painted Renaissance merchant's house, covers the town's history and is worth a look for the interiors alone.
Bietigheim's best-known sight is a modern one: Trois cercles by the Swiss artist Felice Varini, a trompe-l'oeil installation painted across the facades of the old town that resolves into three perfect circles only when you stand on the exact spot the artist intended. Finding that spot is half the fun. It makes a quick, low-key half-day outing from Ludwigsburg, easily combined with the wine villages of the Enz and Metter valleys nearby.