Travel to Germany

[stillmovingforward]

I'm off to Germany in a little bit for work. I'll be literally at both ends of the country but spending most of my time near Munich. I've never been in Europe before and will have a car once I land. I'll be taking a few vacation days while I'm there, but my vacation days will need to be a little frugal, so no flying to Italy or anything crazy    I only speak English but have traveled abroad a bit. I like cultural things like museums and just wandering around although my ability to walk is limited to a mile or two right now. I love food. My energy level is a little low still. 

• Does anyone have any hints or thoughts on easy traveling in Germany?
• Any places you would recommend that I visit or things that I should do?
  
• Foods I should make sure I try?
• Other thoughts?

[Deleted]

I was just in Munich in late May. Loved it! Never had the nerve to drive in Europe. Munich is very walkable and pedestrian and bike-friendly.

Get a paper map. My apps (Waze, Apple Maps, Google Maps) varied from useless to WRONG, sending me in circles and away from my destination.

Mike's Bikes tours on the weekend are a hoot. Friendly, interesting English-speaking guides, MANY stops, 99% level. There was one steep hill and I was disgruntled that I had to get off and walk my bike but then realized that half the group did and I was the oldest one there. Bring money for lunch in the beer garden!

Here's a link to my TripAdvisor reviews- the bike tour, several great museums and a side trip to Malta.

www.tripadvisor.com/Profile/Athena53?fid=a66df762-6b3d-42be-be40-e55c479e689f

Food- it was wonderful. I first went there maybe 15 years ago and it was all wursts and beef by-products, with a little horsemeat (legal and properly labeled) thrown in. Now there are so many ethnic and vegetarian options and so much fresh food. Great ice cream- I had a single scoop, different flavor nearly every day and lost weight because I walked so much!

[TheOtherMe]

It's been many years since I have been in Germany.  My one piece of advice is don't drive on the Autobahn.

I think NastyWoman can give you some good advice.  Her son lives there.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

The better part of our cruise (Viking’s Grand European river cruise, if you want to see the route we took) last month was through Germany.  We used Bolt to get around, it is the Uber equivalent and very reasonable.

We always get euros through an ATM.  DO NOT accept the ATM owner’s conversion fee, you won’t find out how much your money will cost immediately but your bank’s conversion will be cheaper.  You’ll likely get large bills, break them and make sure you have some euro coins, you’ll need them for public restrooms.  

Drink the beer!  Every town has their specialty beer and think their beer is the best.  We did a beer tour in Cologne and it included dinner.  They served little beers, quickly so they wouldn’t get warm.  To tell them you don’t want anymore, put your coaster on top of the glass and they’ll stop serving you.  It really was a lot of fun.  

Eat the bread….all the bread.  Europe knows how to make real bread, not the fake crap we get in the US.  Sample the apple strudel.  We ate a lot of sausage, and it was excellent.  So many different ones.

Stores are closed on Sunday.  I couldn’t go into a mustard store because it was closed on Sunday.  We were warned that shops would be closed.  They were.

[Bonny]

We lived in Bonn, Germany from 2009-2012. Munich is near the Germany Alps and you'll love the proximity to the lake regions. Fuessen is the home of the sleeping beauty castle and it's well worth a tour of crazy King Ludwig's home. This time is high season so check to see about booking tickets.

Driving in Germany isn't hard. Most of the autobahn is now speed controlled but in general you must drive in the right lane except to pass and you are not allowed to pass on the right.

Most cities are very walkable. We had a company car but only used it once a week to pick up crates of beer and sparkling water.  We took driving vacations to Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.

Most Germans have had five years of English but there's a big difference between those in "blue collar" trades vs University trained fields. Neighborhood restaurants may not have English speaking servers but they will be the most fun.

I agree with The Walk of the Penguin Mich, the bread is delicious! We still miss the whole wheat, whole grain breads. Produce is generally seasonal although bigger markets will carry produce from abroad. Farmers' markets are everywhere and are also a lot of fun.

How long will you be there and where will you be staying?

[Deleted]

Yes, do enjoy the bread. I try to limit bread at home because of the carbs. Not in Germany! Delicious.

Bolt was great in Malta. I had some really interesting talkative drivers and a few who just drove and that was OK, too. I checked Bolt for my trip back to Munich airport and Uber was cheaper so check both.

[irishpad]

If you are into it, the once in a decade passion play (delayed by two years due to covid) is this year.  Passion play  I will be going in early September

[stillmovingforward]

Thank you everyone and keep the ideas coming! I really appreciate it!

I love love love bread and sausage. And mustards. So I'll definitely be looking for those. My whole family loves mustards so those would be useful treats to bring home. I'm not crazy about beer but since they are small I'll go ahead and try a few. Maybe I'll like one!

I looked up Sleeping Beauty's castle and King Ludwig's home. Both of those look very interesting to me.

Question: How do you not accept an ATM owner's conversion fee? That's a new one to me.

Sorry Irishpad, Passion Plays creep me out terribly (I'm Jewish, maybe that's why). But if they reschedule my trip, I'll mention it. Maybe we could meet up/go together. It would be interesting to get a priest's view on it. 

I'll be around Munich and up near Paderborn. I have no idea where I'll be staying yet. I just found out I need to go so I'll be handling the details early next week. I never get much warning so it's not a shocker to me. I'm kind of the fix-the-emergency person. 

[NastyWoman]

Step one: for june/july/august Germany has train passes for €9/month. They are valid from the first until the last day of the month and don't include express trains. But they do include the U-bahn and S-bahn and I believe buses. You can't go wrong with those for frugality (masks required on public transportation). Look coverage and decide what you would like to see. There are so many beautiful places you won't get to see more then a sampling anyway. And reservations right now may be tough as it is main travel season. I especially like the southern part of th we country and not just because that is where my grandbavies live: I loved it before their father (DS2) was even a potential idea

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 2, 2022 22:15:05 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Thank you everyone and keep the ideas coming! I really appreciate it!

I love love love bread and sausage. And mustards. So I'll definitely be looking for those. My whole family loves mustards so those would be useful treats to bring home. I'm not crazy about beer but since they are small I'll go ahead and try a few. Maybe I'll like one!

I looked up Sleeping Beauty's castle and King Ludwig's home. Both of those look very interesting to me.

Question: How do you not accept an ATM owner's conversion fee? That's a new one to me.

Sorry Irishpad, Passion Plays creep me out terribly (I'm Jewish, maybe that's why). But if they reschedule my trip, I'll mention it. Maybe we could meet up/go together. It would be interesting to get a priest's view on it. 

I'll be around Munich and up near Paderborn. I have no idea where I'll be staying yet. I just found out I need to go so I'll be handling the details early next week. I never get much warning so it's not a shocker to me. I'm kind of the fix-the-emergency person. 

This video explains it.  The video also is correct in that the amounts they want you to withdraw may be much larger than you need.  We ran into this in both Budapest and Prague.  We just wanted a little cash….about $100 worth.  That amount was not listed as a possibility, and I think if we had chosen the smallest one listed, we’d have about $500 in the local currency, waaay more than needed for our time there.  However, this will be easier since you’ll just be going after euros.  The euro is almost on par (I think it was $1.07/€ when we were there) with the $$.  

[irishpad]

Jul 2, 2022 22:15:05 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Thank you everyone and keep the ideas coming! I really appreciate it!

I love love love bread and sausage. And mustards. So I'll definitely be looking for those. My whole family loves mustards so those would be useful treats to bring home. I'm not crazy about beer but since they are small I'll go ahead and try a few. Maybe I'll like one!

I looked up Sleeping Beauty's castle and King Ludwig's home. Both of those look very interesting to me.

Question: How do you not accept an ATM owner's conversion fee? That's a new one to me.

Sorry Irishpad, Passion Plays creep me out terribly (I'm Jewish, maybe that's why). But if they reschedule my trip, I'll mention it. Maybe we could meet up/go together. It would be interesting to get a priest's view on it. 

I'll be around Munich and up near Paderborn. I have no idea where I'll be staying yet. I just found out I need to go so I'll be handling the details early next week. I never get much warning so it's not a shocker to me. I'm kind of the fix-the-emergency person. 

I'm the state chaplain for the MN Catholic Daughter organization.   They are sponsoring the trip.  I'm 59, probably will be the youngest on the trip by about 15 years.  lol.   Totally understand that being Jewish this would not be up your alley.   Awful history in the church "blaming" Jews for his death, totally against the theology.   We are indebted to the Jewish faith for the foundation of our faith.  

[NastyWoman]

Rothenburg Ob der Tauber is a really fun little town not roo far from Munich

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 3, 2022 0:39:08 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Rothenburg Ob der Tauber is a really fun little town not roo far from Munich

We did this!  It was fun.  

[stillmovingforward]

Jul 3, 2022 10:06:33 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

Jul 3, 2022 0:39:08 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

Rothenburg Ob der Tauber is a really fun little town not roo far from Munich

We did this!  It was fun.  

OK, that's on my list of 'must see'.

Irishpad- what's the difference between a chaplain and a priest?

[NastyWoman]

The absolute opposite of fun but which may be of interest is Dachau. It is only a few (10?) Miles north of Munich. Due to my travel companions reluctance over the years I have yet to go but I will once I move to Europe. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 3, 2022 10:56:22 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

The absolute opposite of fun but which may be of interest is Dachau. It is only a few (10?) Miles north of Munich. Due to my travel companions reluctance over the years I have yet to go but I will once I move to Europe. 

We went to Nuremberg, which was really sobering.  We saw some of th3 places, like the grandstand where many of Hitler’s activities occurred, and where the trials were held.  I can’t imagine going to Dachau, but would if I had the opportunity.

[NastyWoman]

Fn and easy to do with a car (I don't believe the €9 train passes work for this) head south for the border and visit Salzburg just across the border of Austria.

[Tennesseer]

Jul 2, 2022 17:20:25 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

I'm off to Germany in a little bit for work. I'll be literally at both ends of the country but spending most of my time near Munich. I've never been in Europe before and will have a car once I land. I'll be taking a few vacation days while I'm there, but my vacation days will need to be a little frugal, so no flying to Italy or anything crazy    I only speak English but have traveled abroad a bit. I like cultural things like museums and just wandering around although my ability to walk is limited to a mile or two right now. I love food. My energy level is a little low still. 

• Does anyone have any hints or thoughts on easy traveling in Germany?
• Any places you would recommend that I visit or things that I should do?
  
• Foods I should make sure I try?
• Other thoughts?

See if local trains out of Munich would take you to places you would like to visit rather than renting an automobile. Train travel in Germany and throughout Europe is much different and more practical than train travel in the U.S..

[Deleted]

Jul 3, 2022 10:56:22 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

The absolute opposite of fun but which may be of interest is Dachau. It is only a few (10?) Miles north of Munich. Due to my travel companions reluctance over the years I have yet to go but I will once I move to Europe. 

DH and I visited Theresienstadt when we visited Prague.  We took a public bus there and it turned out that the pleasant, well-dressed older lady a few rows ahead of us had been sent there for 2 years... and then on to Auschwitz.  Yes, it was sobering.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 3, 2022 13:33:46 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jul 3, 2022 10:56:22 GMT -5 NastyWoman said:

The absolute opposite of fun but which may be of interest is Dachau. It is only a few (10?) Miles north of Munich. Due to my travel companions reluctance over the years I have yet to go but I will once I move to Europe. 

DH and I visited Theresienstadt when we visited Prague.  We took a public bus there and it turned out that the pleasant, well-dressed older lady a few rows ahead of us had been sent there for 2 years... and then on to Auschwitz.  Yes, it was sobering.

www.plattsburgh.edu/news/news-archive/documentary-on-holocaust-survivor-professor-emeritus-return-to-auschwitz-premiers-at-strand.html

This professor was my advisor when I was doing my undergraduate.  His story is incredibly compelling, and I need to go on the hunt in order to find this film.  It was being shown in the town where my dad lived, but I couldn't make it up there to see.  He was one of my favorite instructors - and I still chat with him on FB occasionally.

I remember sitting there talking to him and he had his sleeves rolled up.  His tattooed number from the concentration camp was still clear as anything on his forearm.  Such a sobering sight.

[happyhoix]

Went to an American Air Force base school in Germany, but that was years ago - decades. However I can say Rottenburg is really fun to visit - I just make sure you find the right one. THere’s multiple Rottenburgs in Germany (a co-worker wound up at an industrial, boring one by accident).

When DH and I visit Europe we always get a Rick Steve’s travel book. www.ricksteves.com/ You can also get them on Amazon. He includes information on tourist destinations, modes of travel, restaurants, etc. When we went to the Loire valley, instead of renting a car and trying to navigate the countryside, we found a van tour company in Rick’s travel book. We stayed at a hotel within walking distance of the pick ups location (which was the local tourist office) and took a van tour that visited four different chateaux - provided the trans and the tickets, dropped you off at the main gate of the chateau, and had an awesome driver who provided an entertaining commentary as we drove through the countryside (including pointing out the Duke who owned one of the chateaux as he passed us in his prius (he waved at us).

On his website, there’s also free travel forums that are very helpful.

And in Germany - beer, bread and chocolate are all awesome. Have fun!

[alabamagal]

I have traveled to Germany for work 6 times in the past 10 years, plus 1 extended trip to visit DD (military post between Munich and Nuremberg).

For money, most places take credit cards, just make sure you have no foreign transaction fees.

If you rent a car, rent smallest one possible. On our family visit we rented minivan size (we had 6 people plus baby). and there were many spaces we could not park. Germany is built for small cars. If you can’t drive a manual shift, make sure to request automatic.

Drive on the autobahn! It has speed limits in cities, but only no speed limit in rural areas. Stay right except to pass. Sine everyone follows rules, it feels much more controlled than US interstates. And yes I have a pic of my dashboard reading 160 km/hr (really only 83 mph).

Some cool places we visited were Flossenburg concentration camp - I had never heard of that one but very historical and sobering- and Regensburg (old city). You may find similar places closer to Munich.

Local sausages and beer wherever you go. Beer is sold everywhere and is not expensive!

It is very easy to get by speaking English, even away from tourist places. Many times at restaurants the servers would say “My English is not good”, yet we would have little trouble ordering food. Their English is way better than my German (1 year in college).

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

Jul 8, 2022 4:33:31 GMT -5 alabamagal said:

I have traveled to Germany for work 6 times in the past 10 years, plus 1 extended trip to visit DD (military post between Munich and Nuremberg).

For money, most places take credit cards, just make sure you have no foreign transaction fees.

If you rent a car, rent smallest one possible. On our family visit we rented minivan size (we had 6 people plus baby). and there were many spaces we could not park. Germany is built for small cars. If you can’t drive a manual shift, make sure to request automatic.

Drive on the autobahn! It has speed limits in cities, but only no speed limit in rural areas. Stay right except to pass. Sine everyone follows rules, it feels much more controlled than US interstates. And yes I have a pic of my dashboard reading 160 km/hr (really only 83 mph).

Some cool places we visited were Flossenburg concentration camp - I had never heard of that one but very historical and sobering- and Regensburg (old city). You may find similar places closer to Munich.

Local sausages and beer wherever you go. Beer is sold everywhere and is not expensive!

It is very easy to get by speaking English, even away from tourist places. Many times at restaurants the servers would say “My English is not good”, yet we would have little trouble ordering food. Their English is way better than my German (1 year in college).

Very true.  However, you do not want to travel with large bags.  One car we rented did not have enough space in the trunk for 2 carry on bags.

Secondly, if you CAN drive a manual and order a regular car, IME they will try to upcharge (especially) Americans by offering you an automatic with an at the increased cost.  A few trips we have had this happen, but TD and I both drive manuals so didn’t care.  We got the automatic at the regular charge.  

[chiver78]

Jul 2, 2022 22:15:05 GMT -5 stillmovingforward said:

Thank you everyone and keep the ideas coming! I really appreciate it!

I love love love bread and sausage. And mustards. So I'll definitely be looking for those. My whole family loves mustards so those would be useful treats to bring home. I'm not crazy about beer but since they are small I'll go ahead and try a few. Maybe I'll like one!

I looked up Sleeping Beauty's castle and King Ludwig's home. Both of those look very interesting to me.

Question: How do you not accept an ATM owner's conversion fee? That's a new one to me.

Sorry Irishpad, Passion Plays creep me out terribly (I'm Jewish, maybe that's why). But if they reschedule my trip, I'll mention it. Maybe we could meet up/go together. It would be interesting to get a priest's view on it. 

I'll be around Munich and up near Paderborn. I have no idea where I'll be staying yet. I just found out I need to go so I'll be handling the details early next week. I never get much warning so it's not a shocker to me. I'm kind of the fix-the-emergency person. 

this isn't specific to Germany, but transit - if you're coming home with a layover in the UK, definitely keep in mind that you will have to go through a Customs and baggage screening in the UK before coming home to the US. I've seen things confiscated from carry-on luggage because it was in glass jars, even though this traveller never left the airports and the purchases were at prior stops. so, pack accordingly with the gifts in the checked bags. 

past that, have a blast! I've had many layovers in Munich/Frankfurt, but have never actually gotten to explore Germany. 

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

BTW, if you decide to bring wine or alcohol back (TD and I crammed 7 bottles into our carry on roller bags….thank god they expanded!), when we went through customs in the US, we told them we had wine when they asked if we were bringing back alcohol.  They did not ask how much, and we did not tell them.  Do NOT lie, but do not volunteer excess information. 

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2022 9:18:07 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

this isn't specific to Germany, but transit - if you're coming home with a layover in the UK, definitely keep in mind that you will have to go through a Customs and baggage screening in the UK before coming home to the US. I've seen things confiscated from carry-on luggage because it was in glass jars, even though this traveller never left the airports and the purchases were at prior stops. so, pack accordingly with the gifts in the checked bags. 

Just curious- is this because they were liquids or just because they were in glass jars?  If, say, it's powdered bath salts would they be confiscated?  

DH and I almost got some very expensive duty-free alcohol confiscated when we transited through Newark Airport after they started limiting liquids you could carry on.  Unfortunately, most (all?) transits through an airport when you go from Country A to Country B require you to retrieve and re-check your bag even if you're connecting, which means you're airside again whether you wanted to be or not.  Fortunately we had plenty of time and DH had a camera bag that would hold the bottles.  He put them in the camera bag, stuffed it with our jackets for padding, and checked it.

And, to mich's comment- I've always had to fill out the declaration form and noted how many bottles. I've never been charged duty. Many times I was coming back from London with whisky you can't buy in the US. If they'd confiscated it DH would have cried.

[chiver78]

Jul 8, 2022 10:28:59 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jul 8, 2022 9:18:07 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

this isn't specific to Germany, but transit - if you're coming home with a layover in the UK, definitely keep in mind that you will have to go through a Customs and baggage screening in the UK before coming home to the US. I've seen things confiscated from carry-on luggage because it was in glass jars, even though this traveller never left the airports and the purchases were at prior stops. so, pack accordingly with the gifts in the checked bags. 

Just curious- is this because they were liquids or just because they were in glass jars?  If, say, it's powdered bath salts would they be confiscated?  

DH and I almost got some very expensive duty-free alcohol confiscated when we transited through Newark Airport after they started limiting liquids you could carry on.  Unfortunately, most (all?) transits through an airport when you go from Country A to Country B require you to retrieve and re-check your bag even if you're connecting, which means you're airside again whether you wanted to be or not.  Fortunately we had plenty of time and DH had a camera bag that would hold the bottles.  He put them in the camera bag, stuffed it with our jackets for padding, and checked it.

And, to mich's comment- I've always had to fill out the declaration form and noted how many bottles. I've never been charged duty. Many times I was coming back from London with whisky you can't buy in the US. If they'd confiscated it DH would have cried.

both. I remember one guy had pickled herring, that sticks out bc of the volume he was carrying. like, I think the whole bag was jars of it. but that's exactly the issue - the having to re-clear security to leave for the US. doesn't matter that it was a duty-free purchase, it exceeds the liquid allowances.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2022 10:39:58 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

But that's exactly the issue - the having to re-clear security to leave for the US. doesn't matter that it was a duty-free purchase, it exceeds the liquid allowances.

I know- a lot of people got nailed that way after they started limiting liquids. Finally the duty-free shops put up signs explaining that if you had to re-check your bags at the destination airport before your next connection, large bottles of liquids had to go into checked baggage.

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

When TD bought a few more bottles of scotch leaving Santiago in duty free, there was a cart at the airplane door that he had to pick up the bottles from.  When we collected luggage in Atlanta, the scotch had to get packed into our checked luggage the rest of the way.

I remember going through Dubai a few years ago and even duty free liquor getting confiscated at the gate.  There were a lot of unhappy people.  Our last trip through Dubai, we had just gotten cups of coffee to drink while we were waiting to board.  We could not go into the gate area with coffee, as there was a secondary screening of carry on luggage.   We ran into this connecting in Paris too.  We didn't bother with duty free alcohol after seeing what happened the first time through Dubai.

[Deleted]

Jul 8, 2022 12:50:13 GMT -5 The Walk of the Penguin Mich said:

When TD bought a few more bottles of scotch leaving Santiago in duty free, there was a cart at the airplane door that he had to pick up the bottles from.  When we collected luggage in Atlanta, the scotch had to get packed into our checked luggage the rest of the way.

I remember going through Dubai a few years ago and even duty free liquor getting confiscated at the gate.  There were a lot of unhappy people.  Our last trip through Dubai, we had just gotten cups of coffee to drink while we were waiting to board.  We could not go into the gate area with coffee, as there was a secondary screening of carry on luggage.   We ran into this connecting in Paris too.  We didn't bother with duty free alcohol after seeing what happened the first time through Dubai.

So.. they sold it to you airside in Dubai and then confiscated it?  Weird, and what a ripoff.

Many airports outside of the US have secondary screening before boarding- I don't understand why if their screening before you can go airside is so effective.  (And they all insist that it is.)  I saw a guy being required to empty the water bottles he had on his belt before he could board a flight from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to Miami.  He presumably filled them airside- why were they a potential danger?

And then there was the time the guys at Kathmandu airport X-rayed my CHECKED bag and confiscated half a bottle of whisky in the bag.  I could, however, buy more whisky airside at Duty-Free. 

Some of this stuff borders on theft and harassment.