Germany travel tipsThe Federal Republic of Germany covers 357,868 square kilometres and is populated by about 83 million people, 3.5 million in the capital city of Berlin. Turks and Slavs are sizable minorities. If you book travel tickets to Germany, you'll be headed toward the richest and most populous nation in western Europe. |
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Germany travel tips
Travel in Germany presents you with a broad choice of historic cities through which to tour, each with its own exquisite architecture and artistic treasures. A great way to experience the various domestic cultures of Germany is to travel from city to city a few weeks at a time during your vacation. A maze of bicycle paths criss-cross the countryside and a healthy, intimate way to meet the locals is to cycle between the many towns, villages and cities that dot Germany's landscape. More than a third of Germany is covered with forests and woodland, more than a third is under intense cultivation, and there is little wildlife. The geography of Germany is basically divided into low plains in the north, uplands in the middle and mountains to the south. The northern Baltic coastline has areas of marshland and sand dunes. There is intensive agriculture in the rich alluvial soils of Germany's north-eastern plains. If you book travel tickets to Germany for your next vacation, be warned that the country has a somewhat unpredictable climate and adequate clothing should be brought for cold, wet days followed by sunny days. Winters are wet and cold and summers sometimes become quite warm. Intermittent rain is possible throughout the year in Germany. Dependent upon latitude, the average temperature in July varies from 16 to 20 degrees Celsius and in January from 1 to 6 degrees Celsius.
Winter is particularly wet in the south of Germany and consistent snow usually falls only in the highlands. The climate varies from freezing to hot in the south of the country, dependent upon the time of year and your altitude or latitude, so make sure you take adequate clothing to suit both extremes throughout your vacation. Germany's winter temperatures can drop to less than minus 6 degrees Celsius in the mountains and 1 degree Celsius elsewhere. Autumn is a good time to enjoy moderate weather and fewer tourists during your holiday travel in Germany. Germany travel reservations and holiday ticket aren't cheap, especially if you want to enjoy the finer points of life such as the beers, wines, restaurants and nightlife. Budget backpackers can have a fairly boring time for about US$40 a day on food and accommodation. Expect to spend between US$80-100 a day on food and hotel reservations if you really want to make your Germany holiday travel worthwhile. Tourists should budget for daily food and accommodation costing upward of US$50. With a budget as small as US$50 a day, your German travel will be more like a survival course than a vacation. Germany has a huge network of hostels which are mostly easy to find but it's worth making a reservation, particularly in major cities, if you travel during summer or if a festival is being staged during your holiday. A popular but expensive way to travel through classic Germany is to take a boat trip along the Rhine River, with several companies offering fully-catered cruises, some passing through other countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands. The most scenic travel section is between St Goar and Rudesheim. The Rhine has rail tracks running alongside so you can easily and conveniently choose where you want to get on and off a cruise boat. Other German rivers with cruise travel facilities include the Danube, Elbe, Main, Moselle and Weser Rivers. English is widely spoken in Germany and tipping isn't normally expected, although a service charge is often included on your bill and cabbies expect a tip around 10%. There is no stereotypical German character but a greater social formality is apparent in the Protestant north of Germany. A high proportion of the overall population is well educated. If you wish to enjoy holiday travel in Germany and you're not a citizen of the European Union, you must have a valid passport and a return airfare for a stay up to three months. Americans, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and Japanese don't need a visa to travel in Germany. A visa is required by people from developing countries. Citizens of the European Union can enter and travel in Germany by showing their official identity card. Main religions are Roman Catholic and Protestant, and the major political parties in Germany are the Social Democrats (SPD), Christian Democrats (CDU), the Christian Social Alliance (CSU), the Greens, the Free Democrats (FDP) and the Democratic Socialists (PDS). Germany has a coastline of 2,389 kilometres and shares land borders with Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland and Switzerland. The north of Germany is generally lowland with uplands in the centre and the Bavarian Alps to the south. Germany is an advanced democracy with highly developed tourist and travel facilities. Many people can speak English, particularly the young in cities and large towns. If you hire a car during your Germany vacation, you'll find most roads are in excellent condition for a bitumen tour. However, older roads in eastern Germany are often in need of repair. You must have third party insurance to enter or holiday in Germany with a car or motorbike. The average speed within German cities is 48 kmh and 97 kmh between cities. Speeds on the famous autobahns in western Germany average 130 kmh but there is no legal limit and you should always be careful changing lanes, remembering that the left lane is only for passing. It's generally illegal in Germany to pass vehicles from the right. Speed limits and seatbelt rules are strictly enforced wherever you travel in Germany. Note that Germany has a superb and rapid public transport system so private transport often isn't worth the effort if you want to travel either short or long distances during your Germany vacation. The train system is excellent and is probably the most comfortable and economic way to enjoy a holiday tour around Germany. Fares are still a little cheaper in many parts of the former German Democratic Republic to the east. Germany has almost 44,000 kilometres of railway tracks and well over 40,000 kilometres of bicycle paths. There are frequent train and bus connections from Germany to all of western Europe and much of eastern Europe, as well as ferry connections to Britain and Scandinavia. A plane ticket to Germany provides delightful holiday travel through picturesque towns and villages, charming yet modern cities, medieval castles, majestic cathedrals, a smorgasbord of art, sprawling tracts of forest, and a staid, sober culture that usually relaxes with superb wines and beers. Germany's official currency has been the euro since 2002 and ATMs are widespread, many allowing credit card access to home accounts. Germany simply overflows with artistic, cultural and intellectual heritage to enrich your vacation. It is, after all, the birthplace of Johann Sebastian Bach, Ludwig van Beethoven and Johannes Brahms, among others, as well as numerous past masters of classical music and great philosophers such as Goethe, Nietzsche, Kant and Brecht. A popular route for travellers is the famous Romantic Road, a stunning 354 kilometre journey from the River Main to the Alps which soaks up Germany's most beautiful scenery and tasty cuisine. The German people are generally formal and straight-laced with matters of work and business but happily let their hair down when it's time to relax. The southern Bavarians are experts. Germans love their beer and there are literally thousands of different ales from breweries in most towns and villages in Germany. There are more than 5,000 beers on tap from about 1,200 breweries. The world's oldest brewery is in Bavaria. If you want to try different beers during your travel through Germany, below are common beer types:
Hefeweizen - A faintly sweet beer made from wheat, naturally cloudy with yeast. Popular in the south of Germany. Helles - Has a noticeable malt sweetness and less hops flavour than pilsener. "Helles" is German for "light" beer but this refers to its colour, not alcohol content. Popular in the southern region of Bavaria. Kristallweizen - A Hefeweizen with the yeast filtered out. Pilsener - Also called a pils, this is a light-coloured beer made from barley with a midly bitter taste of hops. This beer is common throughout the north of Germany. Radler - A beer cut with lemon-lime soda or lemonade.
German wines have improved in quality over the past decade but it's still best to stick to white rather than red varieties. Beware that German food is delicious but traditional dishes are loaded with cholesterol. Germans boast that they offer a wider selection of breads and unusual pastries than anywhere else in the world - 300 different types of bread and about 1200 varieties of biscuits and cakes. German cuisine is usually heavy with meats but there are plenty of alternative, oriental and vegetarian restaurants in most cities. Germany has year-round festivals, many celebrating the arts and bygone musicians. Beer festivals such as Oktoberfest are another major travel drawcard and each year more than 17 million tourists travel to Germany for a holiday. Be warned, however, that the Oktoberfest can be a somewhat boisterous affair celebrating little more than the ability of different cultures, German and foreign, to get drunk and fall over. The Winter Carnival in Germany is a bit more sober. Most large cities such as Cologne have splendid community events and parties just before Ash Wednesday. All German shops close on Sundays, public holidays and after 8pm on weekdays, and the only way you can do some out-of-hours shopping is at service stations which have evolved into mini-markets (although shops can stay open till 4pm on the first Saturday of each month). Goods and services in Germany always include a 16% Value Added Tax. If you buy items at a store displaying the Tax-Free for Tourists sign, it's possible to get a cash refund of the VAT tax at all major border crossings if you can provide customs officials with the purchased goods, tax-free form and receipt. If you'd like to put your feet up while enjoying your Germany holiday tour, you'll be pleased to learn that the country has about 30 free-to-air public and commercial television channels, and about nine out of ten households have cable or satellite TV. While in Germany you can enjoy cruise rivers such as the Rhine, the Danube and the Elbe, visit the new Berlin, explore the Bavarian Alps, enjoy a traditional German spa, go boating on the Konigssee Lake, spend balmy nights in your nearest beer garden or visit the many vineyards of the Rhine and Mosel valleys to taste wines during the autumn harvest. Deep in the south-east German state of Saxony on the banks of the Elbe River, the city of Dresden has in recent years been restoring its former glory as a cultural capital of Europe. The city celebrated its 800th anniversary in 2007. Dresden was totally razed by western bombers at the end of World War 2 and the city was rebuilt with fairly monotonous concrete apartment blocks. The local population has a somewhat dour, humourless reputation and are considered hillbillies by many other Germans. Dresden and Meissen are two of the most popular cities for tourists in the former East Germany. Both cities celebrate their wine traditions with wine festivals, Dresden in July and Meissen in September. The Saxon Wine Route in a wine-growing area covering about 425ha skirting 55km of the Elbe River between the old market town of Pirna, near the Czech border, and Diesbar-Seusslitz to the north-west. Travellers can explore the Saxon Wine Route by bicycle, bus tour, car or with a leisurely river cruise aboard one of Dresden's White Fleet steamers, the oldest and biggest paddle steamer fleet in the world. Medical facilities in Germany are first class and foreigners have fairly reliable access to doctors and hospitals, although tourists are not covered by the national health insurance system and an immediate cash payment may be required. In other words, make sure your holiday travel insurance provides adequate medical cover, despite the comparatively safe environment of Germany. If you need to buy some prescription drugs, a pharmacy in Germany is known as an "apotheke". Infectious diseases are rare but tickborne encephalitis can sometimes be caught in forest areas during the warmer months. Most German banks open Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 1pm and 2.30pm to 4pm. Some banks remain open till 5.30pm on Thursdays. Automatic Teller Machines are widespread and many are linked directly to account networks in other countries, particularly America, making currency exchange a breeze. ATMs are available just about everywhere you travel in Germany and major credit cards are accepted in most large hotels and shops, although smaller establishments generally prefer traveller's cheques or cash. Pharmacies open at 8am and museums are usually closed on Mondays. If you're on vacation from a western country, the opening hours for money exchanges, restaurants and pubs are more or less the same as at home. Be aware that electricity in Germany is at 220 volts and American appliances usually need a transformer and a plug that fits the German socket. Customs regulations restrict the import or export of firearms, antiques, military artefacts (particularly World War II), business equipment and medications/pharmaceuticals. The country has a low crime rate although tourists should nevertheless take normal precautions such as wearing a money belt, particularly if they have holiday reservations or find accommodation in the seedier side of different towns in Germany. Skinhead gangs have been known to harass or assault foreigners so caution is necessary in vulnerable locations such as train stations. Street crime is no worse in Germany than in most other western democracies. If you have an accident or fall victim to a crime during your Germany vacation travel, the police can be contacted on 110. For fire or an ambulance, dial 112. If you don't speak German, it's worth knowing that women's toilets are marked with an F for Frauen and men's toilets with an H for Herren. You'll sometimes find attendants in public toilets who expect a small tip. Speaking of which, tipping is fairly common in Germany. If your restaurant bill is marked with the word Bedienung, it means a service charge has already been added. Otherwise, add 10% to 15%. It's courtesy to even tip hairdressers 5% to 10%. An extra euro or two is usually a satisfactory tip for taxi drivers and waiters. Germans normally round up prices as tips, although this can be a bit expensive when using euros. Germany is an expensive country for a vacation but you can save quite a bit of money by avoiding major cities such as Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. This country is dripping with culture and you'll generally find the accommodation is sparkling clean, restaurants provide ample quantities of quality food, trains run quickly and on time, and service personnel treat you with respect rather than disdain. Hotels are mostly first-class but not necessarily so in the eastern half of Germany which was communist until 1990. It's worth noting that clocks in Germany are put forward one hour from the end of March to the end of October. It's also worth noting that school breaks and holidays vary from state to state. About 17 million tourists travel to Germany each year to explore the Bavarian Alps in the south, picturesque castles along the Rhine valley, the Black Forest, the coastal north and internationally famous cities such as Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Dusseldorf, Hamburg, Heidelberg, Cologne, Dresden and Munich. An abundant choice of quaint towns and villages can be enjoyed for a vacation in Germany's tranquil countryside. Almost one third of Germany is covered with forests and the highest point is Zugspitze at 2,962 metres. Germany is a federation comprising 16 states, or Lander, each with its own constitution, government and parliament: Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria, Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Hesse, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland Palatinate, Saarland, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein, and Thuringia. The Federal Parliament in Berlin consists of a directly elected peoples' lower house (Bundestag) and an upper house of review representing the Germany states (Bundesrat). The federal chancellor is a head of state elected by the Bundestag and he/she can only be replaced through the election of a successor. Although massive investment has improved the infrastructure and lifestyle of the former communist east of Germany, there are still tangible differences. Various expenses such as accommodation are often cheaper in the east but the quality isn't always up to western standards. English is widely spoken in Germany and you can usually find somebody to help out if you're having communication problems. Germany is a very safe country and no vaccinations are needed prior to holiday travel, although it's a good idea to use insect repellent in forests or rural areas as some ticks carry diseases. Germany has an extraordinary history dating back many centuries, creating a potpourri of cosmopolitan cities, romantic castles, friendly people, cultural heritage, exciting festivals and stunning landscapes through which you can travel. Germany's history is dotted with occupations by invading forces, including the Roman legions from 50BC to the 5th Century AD, the Frankish conqueror Charlemagne up to the early 9th Century, and Otto the Great's Holy Roman Empire from late in the 10th Century. The House of Habsburb in Vienna took control of much of Germany in the 13th Century but the devastating Thirty Year War from 1618 to 1648 killed about a third of the population and left the country a conglomerate of about 300 German-speaking states run by parochial princes. Napoleon invaded and France was eventually defeated by Prussia in 1871, heralding the creation of a federated Germany. The country was immersed in two devastating World Wars in the first half of the 20th Century, leaving it occupied by the Allied powers of the US, UK, France and the Soviet Union in 1945. Two German states were formed in 1949: the western Federal Republic of Germany and the eastern German Democratic Republic. The collapse of the USSR and the end of the Cold War saw Germany reunified in 1990. Much of the nation's economy has since been devoted to bringing eastern productivity and wages up to western standards. The Germany economy has been strengthening and in 2005 the economy had a huge trade surplus, soaring company profits and strong foreign investment, although high unemployment continues. Germany and ten other European Union countries introduced a common European currency, the euro, in January 1999. About 90% of Germans are Christian (almost 50% Catholic) and nearly 2 million are Muslim, thanks partly to the significant Turkish minority. German women have a life expectancy of 81 years and men live to 75 years on average. The German country code is 49. Public Holidays in Germany:
New Year's Day - Jan 1 Epiphany - Jan 6 Good Friday - Mar 29 Easter Sunday - Mar 31 Easter Monday - Apr 1 Labor Day - May 1 Ascension Day - May 9 Whit Sunday - May 19 Whit Monday - May 20 Corpus Christi Day - May 30 Assumption Day - Aug 15 Day of German Unity - Oct 3 Reformation Day - Oct 31 All Saints Day - Nov 1 Repentance Day - Nov 20 Christmas Day - Dec 25 Second Christmas Day - Dec 26 Neuschwanstein Castle travel tips To book cheap airlines, hotel reservations, car rentals, etc. for most European cities, visit our Travel Shop. |
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