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My wife, youngest child, and I are preparing to go to Germany for the first time ever later this year (over at least part of Oktoberfest), and I was wondering who else has been there and what advice you would give? Where should we absolutely go? Things to watch out for? Anything you think first time travelers to Europe and Germany should know?

Ah, guten tag! I will also be in Germany for 2 weeks of Oktoberfest this year. This will also be my first trip to my ancestral homeland. Maybe I'll see you there.

~O

Omote wrote:Ah, guten tag! I will also be in Germany for 2 weeks of Oktoberfest this year. This will also be my first trip to my ancestral homeland. Maybe I'll see you there.

~O

That would be awesome!

I was lucky enough to be stationed in Italy for 3 years, and spent a lot of time training and traveling in Germany.

1st, use the trains!!!!!! there is no better way to travel. Plus, if you take the time you can get to know some of the fellow travelers and they can hook you up on where to go, where to eat, and what to see. Use them to help you find the great mom & pop places that have the BEST food/beer that we American tourists never go.

2nd, head south my friends! The further south you go the more I liked it. Bavaria was amazing ....

3rd, for Oktoberfest, I have only 1 word ... Muchin (Munich as we spell it). There is NO better Oktoberfest city!

4th, devour the history. You will see castles that will feed ideas for your games, also old Roman sites, WW 2 etc etc etc. GO out of your way to see it (in other words, don't just do the city things)

5th, be ready for the 'xenophobic' locals outlook toward each other. It sounds odd, but .... people from one town will have their own beer/food/etc that is the best and will be insulted if you mention the great beer you had 1 valley over.

6th, think of me kindly and have a pint for me!!!!

I'll be in Munich and surrounding areas for most of my 2 weeks in Deutschland. Though, I'll also be taking a train from Munich to Stuttgart, and then on to Luxembourg for 4 days or so. We're going to do some of the more touristy things for about half the trip and meet up with some friends and go "off the beaten path" as it were. Oktoberfest is going to be crazy. My friends and I met some people from Austria while in the Cayman Islands earlier this year, so were going to meet up with them and see some Bavarian sights. I can't wait.

Thanks for the tips Lurk!

Where are you going to be Treebore? I assume going to Oktoberfest you'll be in the Munich area as well.

~O

Omote wrote: Where are you going to be Treebore? I assume going to Oktoberfest you'll be in the Munich area as well.

~O

We are going to be spending 1 to 2 months there, so will be all over the place, mainly using trains. So we will be in Munich, Stuttgart and a half dozen or so other cities, as well as going on the Rhine to see the castles. This is our first time ever going to Europe, and our 17 year old is done with school until he goes off to the Academy next year, so we are going all out. We are treating this very much as a once in a life time opportunity, so are going to make as much of it as possible. Heck, we may even go over to Istanbul for a few days.

Germany is on my list of places to go, but alas, I have not yet been. Have a good time.

Haven't been to Germany but have been to some other European countries. Here's some more generic advice:

- Be prepared for rooms, chairs, restaurants, etc. to be a lot smaller than the US, except in high-end hotels.
- Not sure about Germany, but in other European countries, expect to pay per drink for everything (and the portion sizes will be smaller). In some places you can get a carafe of water for free or cheap, though.
- By the same token, sometimes it's cheaper to get a beer (or wine, or cider depending on where you are) than water or a soft drink. Not that I have a problem with that.
- People in the countries I've visited are much more quiet in public places, especially restaurants, than Americans. "Inside voices" are appreciated.
- At least in the big cities and more touristy places (or for that matter, all of freaking Holland), you'll find people with at least a smattering of English and often much more. But even if you wind up having your conversation in English, at least being able to start it in the local language is often appreciated.
- Along with the trains mentioned up-thread, public transportation (at least in the urban areas) is awesome, though our daughter with her Asperger's had some issues from time to time on the subways. (Feel free to ping me directly for more about stuff in this line.)
- Credit cards in Western Europe are usually chip-and-PIN based, not signature based, so you may occasionally run into places that aren't set up to handle US credit or debit cards. It varies by country and I'm not sure what Germany is like. Be prepared to use ATMs for cash.
- Find the local tourist office for anyplace you're interested in. They'll have a ton of free or inexpensive maps and often special things like multi-attraction admittance cards - pay one price and get into multiple museums for free, for example.
- Travel guides like Rick Steve's, Lonely Planet and Fodor's are great investments in advance. Buy them early and use them to map out the broad outlines of where you want to go. They often have great tips on things like attraction discounts, what days things are closed, how to bypass lines at the more popular attractions, etc.

Hope that helps! Bon voyage!

I recommend: The castles by the Rhine, the Town of Rüttensheim (especially if your into schlager-hits from the 70s) and Oktoberfest in Southern Germany. I've been bicycling through northern-germany from Denmark to France. One thing I experienced during this trip is that every village seems to be quite different from the next village. People generally seems to care about their local communities.

I have been there many times on business. Like was said above, public transport it really good. DO make an attempt at learning some basic German. It is very appreciated by the people. Contrary to what someone said earlier, I had ZERO problem using my VISA based debit card in any sizable establishment. Do carry some Euros for small purchases. Just have fun. The German people are very nice & polite. Different from many parts of the U.S.

CKDad wrote:
...
- At least in the big cities and more touristy places (or for that matter, all of freaking Holland), you'll find people with at least a smattering of English and often much more. But even if you wind up having your conversation in English, at least being able to start it in the local language is often appreciated.
....
- Travel guides like Rick Steve's, Lonely Planet and Fodor's are great investments in advance. Buy them early and use them to map out the broad outlines of where you want to go. They often have great tips on things like attraction discounts, what days things are closed, how to bypass lines at the more popular attractions, etc.

Hope that helps! Bon voyage!

CKdad good points on all. With the above, you hit the nail on the head with the language. At the very least, learn "Ick sprecken nict good deuch. Sprecken ze English ????(I don't speak good German, do you speak English. It always amazed me how often a waiter would say he didn't speak English, but after asking nicely and being a good American (vs an average ugly tourist American) he or she would all of a sudden understand everything

Rgr on the travel guides. If you were headed to Italy, I could send you some of mine ...


Oh yeah, with eating, there is a different mind set. There is no, get to the table, eat, and hurry and leave. It is much more relaxed, with no problem setting and drinking and talking for hours.

I can't remember about tipping in Germany. I remember Italy, tip only in cash and in 'good restaurants' no tip (it implies the restaurant does not pay the waiter enough)

Treebore wrote:

We are going to be spending 1 to 2 months there, so will be all over the place, mainly using trains. .... Heck, we may even go over to Istanbul for a few days.

With you being there that long, GO to Bavaria and the Alps!!! it is amazing!!! Also look at going out of Germany down to Austria. The city of Salzburg is may favorite small city in all of Europe. If you are looking that far (Turkey) N Italy is great, Slovenia and Croatia are amazing (as is Romania from what I've been told, but never been there)

Again, enjoy

CKDad wrote:- Not sure about Germany, but in other European countries, expect to pay per drink for everything (and the portion sizes will be smaller). In some places you can get a carafe of water for free or cheap, though.

In restaurants you pay everything at the end of your meal. In "Pubs" it depends on the owner how he handles it with non-frequent customers. In non-served areas of beer-gardens you pay per drink.

CKDad wrote:- By the same token, sometimes it's cheaper to get a beer (or wine, or cider depending on where you are) than water or a soft drink. Not that I have a problem with that.

In Germany there is a law that at least one non-alcoholic beverage has to cheaper than all alcoholic drinks.

CKDad wrote:- People in the countries I've visited are much more quiet in public places, especially restaurants, than Americans. "Inside voices" are appreciated.

That is correct.

CKDad wrote:- At least in the big cities and more touristy places (or for that matter, all of freaking Holland), you'll find people with at least a smattering of English and often much more. But even if you wind up having your conversation in English, at least being able to start it in the local language is often appreciated.

Be prepared for people to understand English well, but not being able to speak as good. Try to ask younger women, between 20 and 30 years, as they are better at English. Good hint for Japan, too

CKDad wrote:- Along with the trains mentioned up-thread, public transportation (at least in the urban areas) is awesome, though our daughter with her Asperger's had some issues from time to time on the subways.

Definitely the best way to get around in cities. Cabs are expensive and driving yourself in, e.g. Munich, won't be much fun.

CKDad wrote:- Credit cards in Western Europe are usually chip-and-PIN based, not signature based, so you may occasionally run into places that aren't set up to handle US credit or debit cards. It varies by country and I'm not sure what Germany is like. Be prepared to use ATMs for cash.

Credit cards, signature or chip based, shouldn't be any problem. A little cash is needed however, not all shops take credit cards or only accept them above a certain limit.

CKDad wrote:- Find the local tourist office for anyplace you're interested in. They'll have a ton of free or inexpensive maps and often special things like multi-attraction admittance cards - pay one price and get into multiple museums for free, for example.

Correct

Lurker wrote:With you being there that long, GO to Bavaria and the Alps!!! it is amazing!!! Also look at going out of Germany down to Austria. The city of Salzburg is may favorite small city in all of Europe.

If you stay in Munich it's a nice day trip to Salzburg. You can buy a "Bayern-Ticket", which will get up to five persons to Salzburg and back, even so Salzburg is not in Bavaria
If you are heading for the Alps don't forget good shoes, no sandals or something like that.

Desrimal wrote:I recommend: The castles by the Rhine, ...

I personally prefer the Mosel, a smaller river with lots of castles to visit. In this region you will need a car to get around. Alternatively you can rent bicycles, there are special streets for cycling only.

What are you especially interested in?

Drygur wrote:What are you especially interested in?

This will very likely be the only time we go to Europe, let alone Germany. So we want to try and get to anywhere that is worth going, basically. I'm sure thats not possible, but I'd like to try.

Ok, let's try a different approach.

Do you already know where you will be and how long?

FYI, I'm Bavarian and live near Munich.

Drygur wrote:Ok, let's try a different approach.

Do you already know where you will be and how long?

FYI, I'm Bavarian and live near Munich.

We have yet to actually book anything, but the places we are talking about:

Berlin, Dresden, Prague, Frankfurt, Munich, the Rhineland, Salzburg, Schaffhausen, Innsbruck, Basel, Zurich, Bern, Vienna, and Lichtenstein. Right now the idea is to spend a week in each main city, and visit others that are close by to the "main" one we stay in as day trips. With how good the trains are supposed to be we think it is possible. We won't really know until we start booking locations.

Is there a governmental travel agency for these areas that I could contact and get good info from?

Ok, that's quite a lot

Try, e.g. for Munich Munich Official City Potal for informations on Munich.
There ought to exist similar sites for every city.

Eventually you might reconsider going to Frankfurt as I believe it not to be very interesting for tourists. The Financial District is something to see, but the rest of the city is not so breathtaking...
Alternatively I suggest Trier or Speyer or Hamburg...

Basel, Zurich and Bern are quite similar. Perhaps you would like to consider Luzern. (see http://www.myswitzerland.com/)

Yeah, it is a lot, which is why we are looking at spending up to two months over there. We'll have to go slow because my wife and I are both disabled Veterans, especially with my wife's limitations. Since she can do so little at one time, my son and I will kind of be like scouts, and then take my wife to the choice locations when she is able to go.

Lurker wrote:
With you being there that long, GO to Bavaria and the Alps!!! it is amazing!!! Also look at going out of Germany down to Austria. The city of Salzburg is may favorite small city in all of Europe. If you are looking that far (Turkey) N Italy is great, Slovenia and Croatia are amazing (as is Romania from what I've been told, but never been there)

Again, enjoy

Agreeing with Austria and Salzburg in particular. Great place for a day trip. Mozart's birth place and Hohensalzburg Castle are worth it by themselves.

You simply must partake of some real black forest ham, especially if allowed to hunt for it.

You should not encounter problems in the bigger cities.

Perhaps the Zugspitze (or at Wikipedia) would be interesting, too. It's Germany's highest mountain with almost 3000m.