Stuttgart transportation system follows simple idea ‘one ticket for one ride’ no matter if you use local train tube or bus.The tickets are issued by Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Stuttgart (VVS) and often referred as VVS tickets.
The city with the suburbian area is divided into several zones, most of the hotels in the centre and the monuments are in the zones 10 and 20.
Outside the centre are for example Ludwigsburg, Airport and Stuttgart fair, thus they require the extended tickets.
VVS tickets are valid in: metro lines (Stadtbahn) defined by U- Bahn signs, the commuting local trains identified as S-Bahn and local buses.

The tickets are as follow:

Single Ride Ticket

allows to one ride in one direction, valid for two hours with a possibility to change the line
the price starts from 1,95 € for travel in one zone with 50 % reduction for children

Single Day Ticket

allows unlimited rides within one day including night busses

5,80 € 1 – 2 zones
12,00 € all zones

Group Day Ticket

may be used for up to 5 people, valid as Single Day Ticket

9,70 € 1 – 2 zones
15,80 € all zones

Three Day Ticket

issued for hotel guests staying in Stuttgart area, as well as for inns and guest houses and for attendants of some fairs of conferences.
valid as Single Day Ticket for three consecutive days, must be signed with the owner name and cancelled in a ticket reader before the first ride.

10,30 € zones 10 and 20 including airport
13,90 € all zones

CityTicket

this kind of ticket is provided by the DB AG ( German Train Company )
when buying the train ticket for over 100 km distance.
This ticket may be purchased using a BahnCard and entitles to travel free from the train station to the hotel in Stttgart area, and back, providing the returnt train ticket has been purchased as well.
There is no extra piece of paper, simply the DB train ticket receives the symbol “+City” next to the name of the destination station (e.g., Hamburg to Stuttgart+City).

Where to buy the tickets

The tickets are sold in numerous vending machines identified with V V S letters, on many bus stops, the airport and the train station, where the VVS tickets can be purchased from DB train tickets automates. There are many hotels, tourist agencies selling tickets, including ‘Welcome Information Center’ on the airport, and VVS-Infothek near the train station.
If there is no automate on the bus stop the tickets may be purchased from the bus driver.

The transportation system maps, timetables and more detailed info
can be found at : www.vvs.de/en/plaene.php

Be aware of a gap between 1 and 5 A.M. with very few night buses.