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Germany


 
 
Highlights
Accommodation,
Transport,
Dangers,
Food/Beer,
Language,
Touristic Routes,
History,
Leisure,
Activities,
Beaches,
Museums,
Links,
mail me,
 


Burg Eltz -Mosel Valley

Germany has beautiful landscapes, hundreds of medieval castles, many historical old towns and wonderful beaches. It is also great for hiking and biking. German is famous for it's beer, wine and traditions. Travelling is quite safe. Understanding English is widespread. Unfortunately there is no guaranty for sunshine even in summer. But there is more to do in Germany than lying on the beach.
 
Saxony
Thuringia,
Berlin, 
Schleswig Holstein/Hamburg, 
Lower Saxony/Bremen, 
Harz- Mountains, 
NRW, 
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 
Brandenburg, 
Saxony-Anhalt, 
 Hessen,
Rheinland-Pfalz,
Saarland,
Baden-Wuerttemberg,
Bavaria,

 

Highlights

Top Five Highlights (in my opinion): and only some more of them:
 
top towns (from North to South)
  • Hamburg, Lübeck, Hildesheim
  • Berlin, Potsdam
  • Aachen, Cologn/Köln, Trier
  • Weimar, Dresden
  • Frankfurt am Main, Heidelberg
  • Bamberg, Rothenburg o.d Tauber
  • Regensburg, Munich/München, Freiburg
 top castles/palaces
  • Sanssouci Potsdam
  • Zwinger Dresden 
  • Medieval castle Burg Eltz Mosel
  • Residenz Würzburg
  • Castle Heidelberg
  • Palace Ludwigsburg
  • Castle Neuschwanstein

Sceneries
Rhine and Mosel Valley (river gorge with vine yards and castles=
The Alps (stunning mountains, hiking)
Saxony Switzerland (sandstone table mountains- great hiking-)
North and Baltic Sea (great beaches- swimming in summer-)
Ruegen (chalk cliffs, great beaches)
Low Forest Mountain Ranges: Bavarian Forest, Black Forest, Thuringia Forests, Harz Mountains
Heath of Lüneburg

National parks
Wattenmeer  nationalpark-wattenmeer.niedersachsen.de,
Fischland Darß-Zingst nationalpark-vorpommerische-boddenlandschaft.de, Nationalpark Jasmund nationalpark-jasmund.de,
Müritzseen nationalpark -mueritz.de,
Harz nationalpark-harz.de,  Eifel nationalpark-eifel ,
Bavarian Forest nationalpark-bayrischer-wald.de, Berchtesgaden-Königsee ,

World Heritage sites (32):
Historical Towns:  Lübeck, Stralsund and Wismar, Quedlinburg, Goslar, Bamberg, (classical) Weimar, Regensburg
Cathedrales etc.:Hildesheim, Cologn, Aachen, Speyer, Trier (cathedrals); Lorsch, Reichenau, Maulbronn (cloister); Wies - church
Castles: Wartburg, Würzburg Residenz, Augustusburg and Falkenlust (Cologn/Brühl)
other buildings: Bremen (Mayor), Bauhaus Dessau, Trier (Roman buildings),
Industrial: Rammelsberg /Goslar, Zollverein /Essen, Völklinger Hütte,
Parks: Dessau-Wörlitz, Muskau, Potsdam and Berlin,
Landscapes: Middle Rhine Valley, Dresdener Elb Valley
others: Berlin Museum Island, Grube Messle (prähistorical), Eisleben/Wittenberg (Luther memorials)

more Castles and Palaces (only some) Link:burgen-und-schloesser.net,
Allstedt, Augustusburg, Charlottenburg/Berlin, Burg Eltz, Friedenstein, Gifhorn, Goslar, Heidelberg, Hohenzollern, Linderhof,  Ludwigsburg, Marksburg, Mespelbrunn, Neuenburg, Neuschwanstein, Rheinfels, Saarbrücken, Sanssouci/Potsdam, Schwerin, Urbach, Wartburg/Eisenach, Weesenstein, Würzburg, Zwinger Dresden,

Cathedrals/ Churches/Cloister
Interesting churches: Frauenkirche Dresden, Wieskirche (Oberbayern), Kappel (Waldmünchen)
Domes: Speyer, Aachen, Worms, Mainz, Cologne, Ulm, St Blasien,
Cloister: Lorsch, Maulbronn, Isle Reichenau,
links: sacred-destinations.com/germany/sacred-sites.htm,

Big cities:
Berlin, München/Munich, Hamburg, Cologn/Köln, Düsseldorf, Ruhrgebiet, Frankfurt,

Historical city centers
Augsburg, Bamberg,  Dresden, Erfurt, Freiburg, Goslar, Heidelberg, Lübeck, Münster, Nürnberg, Passau, Potsdam, Regensburg, Rostock, Trier, Würzburg

Historical small towns
Rothenburg o.T., Meersburg, Lindau, Stolberg (Harz), Quedlingburg,

Sceneries
Rhine and Mosel Valley (river gorge with vine yards and castles=
The Alps (stunning mountains, hiking)
Saxony Switzerland (sandstone table mountains- great hiking-)
North and Baltic Sea(great beaches- swimming in summer-)
Ruegen (chalk cliffs, great beaches)
Low Forest Mountain Ranges: Bavarian Forest, Black Forest, Thuringia Forests, Harz Mountains
Heath of Lüneburg



 

Accommodation
There are a network of Youth Hostels („Jugendherbergen“), which have reasonable prices. You can stay in a Youth Hostel even if you are older (except Bavaria has a 27 years limit). There are nowadays backpackers, too.

In touristy areas there are a lot of private accommodations. Local tourist offices will help you to find accommodation.
For finding the local tourist office put the town (area) name and add a .de (leipzig.de, bingen.de, heidelberg.de)
there is a useful link to find the local tourist information:  d-navigator.de

Rooms are charged per person and not per room. Breakfast is mostly included. Germany is not child friendly. Children are mostly charged, too. Avoid misunderstandings and ask for the total price and if breakfast is included. Despite the fact, that Germany has normally fixed prices, price for accommodation is often also a matter of negotation. The price level is high, but after the Euro not higher than in Itlay, Spain, Greece, France and lower than in the U.K, Ireland and Skandinavia.

You find camping places everywhere, but the most at the sea or in frequented tourist areas. Wild camping is usually not allowed in forests, the law about wild camping on the field is not clear and differs from state to state. Fines are low and if you don't make damages, nobody will complain, which might be difficult at the sea or in heavy touristy areas.

Links:
Budget : djh.de Youth Hostels backpackernetwork.de  backpacker, bandb-ring.de (B&B)

 

Dangers
Germany is a quite safe country, violence or petty crimes are rare. There were in the past some racist motivated assaults on coloured people from Neonazis especially in East Germany, where Neonazis found some sympathies from parts of the locals.

In middle and south Germany be aware of wood ticks. These small insects are living in forests, gardens and other green areas. They suck blood and can infect you with two kinds of Mengitis (only for one kind is a vaccination available) or Borelliose. From Borreliose you get a kind of Athritis or Neuritis. It could be cured by antibiothics, but it can't be cured entirely. The symptoms could occur even after months or years after the bite of the tick. If it is not treated with antibiotics on time, it could cripple you. Today are up to nine from 10 wood ticks infected with Borelliose. After being bitten, send the tick to a labatory.

 

Transport
The best way to travel in Germany is to go by car. Germany has a good public rail transport system, but it is very expensive. Going by plane is sometimes cheaper than doing the same trip by train.

Train:
bahn.de webside of German Railway
Prices are considerable high. You get great discounts, if you prebook per internet, especially for groups are big discounts.
The Weekend ticket for saturdays or sundays costs 30 Euro and is valid for any trip with slow trains (slower than ICE) in Germany.
The Ländertickets cost around 20 Euro. This tickets are also limited to slower trains in the area of one (or several) German States. There are sometimes (Bavaria) Ländertickets for singles (18 Euro) or tickets for up to five persons (25 Euro). You might buy a Bavarian- and a Saxony ticket and go from Munich to Wittenberg, that is close to Berlin.

Rental Car
is the best way for exploring Germany. If you have to hire a rental car, compare the prices: there are big price differences. Booking per internet is often much cheaper. Renting a car at an airport without prebooking is rather pricey, you might pay double or more. Ask for going abroad, that shouldn't be a problem within the EU and Switzerland.

Links:
holidayautos.de, autovermietung.de, e-sixt.de, der-tour.de, autoeurope.de, mietwagen.de, mietwagenvergleich.de, mietwagen-auskunft.de,
sixti.de, avis.de, budget.de, sixt.de, sunnycars.de, europcar.de, hertz.de,

 

Touristic Routes (Touristenstrassen)

Deutsche Allenstrasse
If you go by car you might follow some theme routes, which leads through very interesting sights.
The Romantische Strasse romantischestrasse.de, is the famoust scenic road, it leads from Würzburg to the Alps through many medivial towns, it is highly recommended.

others scenic roads:  alleenstrasse.com, deutschealpenstrasse.de, burgenstrassen.de, salzstrasse-info.de, deutsche-fachwerkstrasse.de, spielzeugstrasse.de, thueringerporzellanstrasse.de, silberstrasse.de, deutsche-fehnroute.de, deutsche-weinstrasse.de, deutsche-maerchenstr.de, dieglasstrasse.de, limesstrasse.de, ancientsites.com, koenig-ludwig-weg.de
 

Traffic:
There is no general speed-limit on highways (out of highways 100 km/h, towns 50 km/h), but on 70 % on German highways is the speed limited by signs. Many radar control the speed limits in Germany. It is a lucrativ income for the districts.
The alcohol limit for driving is 0,5 per/mille, that is usually reached after drinking of 0,5-1 Liter of beer, but you are also persecuted at 0,3 per/mille, if you show any driving deficits. Drunk driving is punished as a criminal offence; expect a fine of one month salaries without harming anybody and a prison sentence of 15 month without parole, if anybody is killed by your drunk driving.

If you have an accident with your rental car, call the police. It's a contractual duty for the insurance of your rental car. Another contractual duty is, not to make any statement of guilt to the opponent or the police. You are under no circumstances obliged to make a statement. The only statement you have to give is your name, adress and that it is your (rental) car, which had the accident. If you don't call the police or make a statement about guilt the insurance mustn't give coverage. Contact your rental car immediately company for what to do. Otherwise you might loose your insurance. This is certain, if you leave the place of the accident without making proper statement of your name and adress to the opponent or the police. If there is no-one to notice your adress, you have to wait at least one hour and after an hour you must go straight to the police.

Bus
Local busses are running in towns and to their rural surroundings. There are some very few connections between bigger towns, but Germans normally use their own cars or the train for these trips.

 

Food
German Food
German food is quite good and varied. Normally you get meat with sauce and potatoes and cooked vegetables or a salad on a big plate. Many restaurants have a cheaper lunch meal. German cooking in families is more varied than in restaurants, the latter prefer quick meals from shortly fried meat, french fries and salad.

some recipe links:
ostfriesen-info.de/mab/rezept1htm  East Frisia recipes (North Germany)
bavarian-online.de/E-Bayrische Rezepte Auswahl.htm Bavaira recipes (South Germany)
recipes4us.co.uk/Cooking by Country.htm (German cooking)
knowledgehound.com/topics/germanre.htm (German cooking)

Foreign Food
Every town has it's Pizzaria, Chinese or Greek Restaurant. In German Greek restaurants you get huge plates of barbecue, if you order "Grillteller" ( = Barbecue Plate), Chinese Restaurant often have a cheaper lunch menu. You also find other countries food, look in the telephone directory for "Restaurants" or "Gaststätten".

Fast Food
Mc Donalds, Burger Kings are everywhere, but better value for your money is the snack "Döner", which was an invention from a German with Turkish ancestors from Berlin. "Currywurst with Pommes" ( = Sausage with French fries and ketchup ) was popular in the Ruhrgebiet (Essen, Dortmund), but now is displaced by cheaper Döner, Pizza and other stuff. German food is nothing for keeping your slim figure.

 

German Beer
 

 
More than 1.500 breweries brew more than 5.000 different beers in Germany.  An ancient purity law of Bavaria from 1516 lay down, that beer has only to be made from vine, malt, yeast and water. Any other additives were not allowed. This law is today weaken by European Law, but local German beer serve this old criteria yet. 

Vine makes the more or less bitter taste of the beer.  In some beer are between two and seven different kind of vine. Malt makes the beer more or less sweet. 

Wheat beer, which is sweet and has a particular taste, is a speciality from Bavaria, but now is offered elsewhere in Germany. There are some more local specialties: the "Altbier" (alt = old means old recipe) in Düsseldorf, "Kölsch" in Cologne and „Rauchbier" in Bamberg. "Radler" or "Alsterwasser" is a mix of beer and sprite.

Links: allaboutbeer.com, brauer-bund.de,

 

German Wine
German wine is one of the most finest of the world. There are 11 areas of vine cultivitation in Germany, that are mostly in the south-western part of Germany.  Mostly white wine is produced, the Riesling wine is the most famous and I think the best of them.
German wine is due to the producing process in general more sweeter than wine from French. In wine growwing areas you can taste the wine at wine-groweries, it is expected that you buy at least two or three bottles. These wines are not cheaper than in super markets, but the quality is better. Don't look at prices or quality labels, drink what you like as the real wine connoisseur do so. There is no wine of low and high quality, there is only the wine you like more for the moment as others.

Links: deutscheweine.de,

 

Language:
German has a very complicated grammar, which is difficult to learn. I can`t really recommend learning German before your visit, because you can come around easily with English. Only senior citizens haven't lernt English in school and most of the Germans know English basics, even in the East. Germans usually try to help you in English, but might have problems with finding the right words. In contrary to Spain and france they often try to use their even little knowledge to help you. Sometimes Germans from 30 to 50 speak better English than younger people, but there is no rule for that. I doubt that people are pleased, if you learn some German words, so you can spare it.
"Guten Tag = Good Day as an allrounder for the whole day, "bitte" = please, "danke" = thank you  are the German courtesy words you should learn. "Sie sehen gut aus" = you look nice, might be work with women as elsewhere in the world.

Links:  deutsch-lernen.com, languagelearninglibrary.org,

 

Activities

Museums
there are many important museums of arts, history, culture, technic and others
Outstanding is the technical museum  deutsches-museum.de in Munich. Also famous are the museums of modern art in Cologne museenkoeln.de . Bonn has a Museum of German History and in Berlin are some more important museums.

There are dozens of others:
only some links:  mmk-frankfurt.de , smpk.de (Berlin),  dhm.de , technik-museum.de, pinakothek-der-moderne.de, staatsgalerie.de , galerie.de, art: art-in.de, haschult.de, eigenart.com, kunst-werke-berlin.de,

 

Beaches
There are everywhere large fine white sand beaches for relaxing at the North and Baltic Sea. The water is warm enough for swimming in summer (18-20 Celcius); some thousands of people will do the same.

The entrance to the beaches aren't often free, you have to pay a local tax ( Kurtaxe), which is between 1 and 5 Euro/per Person (even per child) and day. Cashiers are coming around and collect the money.

There are also many beaches at local lakes, sometimes free or as a public spa with entrance fees and facilities as changing cubicles, showers, toilettes, restaurants.

Nude beaches
Some mailed me for information about nude beaches in Germany. Don't expect many young nice German ladies there; young people prefer the textil beaches; nudity in Germany isn't anymore progressive, mostly elderly people prefer nudism.
There are several nude beaches in Germany, some are officially dedicated, others are habitually used for nude swimming. Nude swimming is not forbidden in Germany at all, but you have to take concern of the feeling of others. You can do what you like at a forest lake but not in a public pool.
A link to nude beaches is: nacktbaden.de
 

 
Nude bathing and "FKK"
Pioneers of nude beaches was a movement of some people, who liked to be naked as freedom for their body. This ideology was called "FKK" (Freie Körperkultur= free body culture) and there was some strange cult about it. 
In the late 60ies was a liberal movement, which broke with the authoritarian system and fighted also more liberty in sexual behaviour. Being naked got a rennaissance.
Nude beaches today -though called  "FKK"-  are now areas for those, who prefer swimming and tanning naked without any ideological thinking. In the former DDR (German Democratic Republic) nudity was a kind of protest to show some libertiness against the many repressions of the regime. Sanctions were effectless and nude bathing was getting more and more popular at many beaches and lakes in the DDR. While in the west seperated areas were allowed for nudity, beaches in the DDR were clothing optional, anyone could swim as they like (there were still many, who didn't like public nudity at all). Nude swimming is more and more unpopular today, especially for the young people, who considered nudity today as a private matter. Religious zeal from America and the exploitation of nudity from the media is another reason that "FKK" declines.

Sports
Soccer: is very popular in Germany. It is a good idea to watch a football match of the 1. Bundesliga ( premier league ) or 2. Bundesliga (second league). The matches take place mostly on Saturday, look in the local newspaper or Internet The atmosphere is quite exciting, even if you don't know anything about soccer; the rules are easy to understand.

Tennis, Squash, Badminton, Fitness Centers:
There are a lot of Tennis, Badminton or Squash courts in every town. Rackets can be borrowed to a small fee. Don't forget a big towel, sauna is often free of use.

Swimming pools, Spas, Sauna: thermen-deutschland.de
In every town is a public swimming pool, some have also a sauna. There are some spas with swimming pools, whirl pools, chutes, restaurant and sauna areas, which are more expensive, but offers some fun. In a german saune public nudity is common, swimming suit is frowned upon, but big towel works and usually there is at least one day only  for ladies.


 

Hiking
There are great opportunities for hiking, most of them are forest trails. All trails are well signposted, but there are so many signs, that it is sometimes confusing. Look at my trail site: Trails


#

Biking: http://www1.adfc.de,
is also a good idea. There are many cycle paths along main roads and many small rural roads where is not so much traffic.
There are some signposted cylce paths. A popular cycling route is along the river Mosel from Koblenz to Trier.

some other cycle path ways (Radtouren)
elberadweg.de, weser-radweg.de, saale-radwanderwege.de, radelpark.de, fuenf-fluesse-radweg.de, elsterradweg.de, radtour4u.de,
emsradweg.de, radwanderland.de, Spreeradweg (Froschradweg, Gurkenradweg) , oder-neisse-radweg.de,
saale-radwanderweg.de, bodenseeradweg.com, radwandern.com(Chiemgau, Berchtesgaden, Salzburger Land ),
fahrrad-tour.de Radwandern an Neckar, Donau und Bodensee, Radwandern in Bayern bayerninfo.de/radler/h_radler.htm,
weserradweg.de, weser-radweg.de, Radwandern an der Weser,  Radwandern in Deutschlands Nordwesten tourentips.de,
fahrradtouren.de Fahrradtouren in Deutschland und Europa, radtoureninfos.de Radtouren-Infos , Reiseradler  reiseradler.de,

Inline Skating
Is possible on cycle paths. The dream inline-skate parcours is the 100 km long and 3 m wide free  Flaeming-Skate in Brandenburg, which is a round trip from Luckenwalde, Jüterborg and Petkus.

Theme parks:
not as much and not as big as in Orlando but if you like rollercoaster and such stuff. Link: themenpark.de,

Theatre, Cinema
You can do this, if you understand German; Films are normaly synchronized to German.

Skiing:
In the Alps are definitely the best conditions for skiing, but it is also possible at the mountains of the Bavarian and Black Forest and other lower mountain areas in Winter.

Pubs, Discothecs, Restaurants ( look food)
there are many pubs where you can drink some beers. These pubs are normally not as well furnished as English pubs, but that differs from pub to pub. Irish pubs are very popular in Germany, you find them in each bigger town. Pubs are normally opened beyond midnight, in some areas are legal closing times. It's a good idea to visit a pub to meet local people for talking. Discothecs have often free entrance from Monday to Wednesday, but there is no general rule. Entrance fees are normally lower than in Spain or other western countries.

Concert/German Music
You will hear a lot of English music in Germany. German folk music or "Volksmusik" is not very hipp to young Germans. It is regarded as backwarded and old fashioned for Germans under fifty. Another kind is the "Schlagermusik" which often yearned from love etc. but there are still some good songs, very good for beer parties. There are still some singers and bands, who are more or less popular by younger people (for example Herbert Grönemeyer, BAP, Die Prinzen, Marius Müller Westernhagen, Udo Lindenberg etc.)

Links: siehe:  germanlinks
deutschland.de (Official Link Portal), d-navigator.de, germany-tourism.de , government.de
Rail:  bahn.de,
Accommodation:  djh.de Youth Hostels,  backpackernetwork.de  backpacker, bandb-ring.de (B&B)
others: urlaubskataloge.de , online-reisefuehrer-deutschland.de,
 



 

Feedback, questions, critics, news, links, experiences are welcome!

mail me: kambodschajoe@hotmail.com

Excuse my English, that is not my native language, thanks!

It would be kind to mail me 1-3 mistakes you found, if you think this side is helpful for your trip. Thanks!


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