Travel in Germany

Entered EU : Founding member
Political system: Federal republic
Capital city: Berlin
Size: 356 854 km²
Population: 82 million
Currency: euro
Official EU language: German

The Federal republic of Germany is the most influential country of Europe.

It has witnessed the most controversial facts of history like Nazism, Holy Roman Empire and the building and demolition of the Berlin wall.

With many magnificent castles it has wealth of art and culture. German is the widely spoken language in German, but outsiders can find many English speaking locals especially in the common tourist destinations.

Weather

The weather here is very unpredictable as there is a possibility of rain almost all months, so carry clothes accordingly.

April and May are the months of spring which brings in full bloom of fruits and flowers.

Months from May to September have very fine weather with sunny skies and offers the best time for traveling and site-seeing.

People who have a passion for sports like swimming, hiking, and cycling can have the best time here during these months.

Winter sports can be enjoyed at the resorts in the months from November to early March. The temperatures are below freezing and the days are too short (comprise of only six to eight months) in winter.

Continued below…

Local Customs

Locals greet each other by handshaking and saying Guten Tag.

To say goodbye, people use Auf Wiedersehen.

Guests are expected to bring uncovered and odd number of flowers, especially roses, when visiting someone’s home.

The guests are welcomed with either food or refreshments.
At the table, hosts say ‘Guten Appetit’ to which the guests should reply with ‘Ebenfalls’. Smoking should be better avoided in public areas.
Locals dress informally but certain occasions like opera, theatre, certain restaurants and social functions call for formal wear.

Electricity  220 V, 50 Hz

Moving Around

The best way to get around is to buy the Welcome cards or the city passes which allows the customer to access unlimited bus facility in many cities of Germany.

It also gives special offer on certain tourist attractions. For flexibility one can rent-a-car or go for chauffer driven cars.

Along with the rent, VAT of 16% is payable.

Car insurance should be available before hand in case of any accident.

The speed limit within the cities is mostly 50kph and 100kph on the highways.

The nine stars of Southwest Germany comprise of Baden-Baden, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Mannheim, Pforzheim Stuttgart, and Ulm.

They are considered to be some of the beautiful cities of Europe.
Each of the cities play a vital role in the culture of Germany.

Baden-Baden has few of the finest resorts and also has Europe’s second largest opera and concert hall.

Freiburg is known as the historic city center and is famous for cobblestone mosiacs, open streams and ancient alleys.

Heidelberg has world famous castles and Germany’s oldest university.

Karlsruhe has the famous museum Center for Art and Media. Look out for various amusements along the Nectar river of Heilbronn.

Pforzheim is the capital for watches and jewelry.

Stuttgart is famous for theatres and opera.

Ulm is the birth place of Albert Einstein and is also house to the world’s tallest hurch spire.

Travel

Airports

The national airline that serves Germany is Lufthansa.

Bwelin-Tegel airport is situated at 8 km away from the city and it takes about 20 minutes to reach there.

There is a provision of duty free shops, banks, post office, eateries, conference hall, and car hire and tourism information for the passengers.

Another busy airport is the Frankfurt airport which is located at 13km away from the city. Buses take about 20 minutes to get there.

Taxis are available at any time.

The Intercity railway network at the airport also provides international services to Hungary, Switzerland and Austria.

The facilities provided here are duty free shops, left luggage, restaurants, banks, conference halls, post office, car hire and tourism information.

No departure tax is levied on the passengers.

Those wishing to travel by sea can avail the ferry connections to Finland, Lithuania, The Netherlands, Latvia, and Norway.

Eurostar provides railway service to and from Belgium, France and the UK. Booking can be made by telephone.

The Inter-Rail offers unlimited second class train travel within 29 European countries.

The Eurailpass offers unlimited first class train travel within 17 European countries.

EuroCity and InterCity trains have a restaurant on board, providing food and drinks.

InterCity Express target the business class and provides services such as fully equipped office, conference compartments, etc. Tourist over 17 years of age can carry alcohol and tobacco with them within permissible limits.

Transport

Roads…drive on right

Germany has approximately 650,000 km of roads
The national roads in Germany are called Bundesstraßen (federal road).
Their numbers are usually well known to the road users, as they appear (written in black digits on a yellow rectangle with black border) on direction traffic signs and in street maps.

A Bundesstraße is often referred to as “B” followed by its number, for example “B 1″, one of the main east-west routes. More important routes have lower numbers. Odd numbers are usually applied to east-west oriented roads, and even numbers for north-south routes. Bypass routes are referred to with an appended “a” (alternative) or “n” (new alignment), as in “B 56n”.

Other main public roads are maintained by the Bundesländer (states), called Landesstraße (country road) or Staatsstraße (state road). The numbers of these roads are prefixed with “L”, “S” or “St”, but are usually not seen on direction signs or written in maps. They appear on the kilometre posts on the roadside. Numbers are unique only within one state.

The Landkreise (districts) (number prefix “K”) and municipalities are in charge of the minor roads and streets within villages, towns and cities.

Railways:

Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) is the major German railway infrastructure and service operator.
Though Deutsche Bahn is a private company, the government still holds all shares and therefore Deutsche Bahn can still be called a state-owned company.

Since its privatisation in 1994, Deutsche Bahn AG (DB AG) no longer publishes details of the tracks it owns; in addition to the DB AG system there are about 280 privately or locally owned railway companies which own an approximate 3,000 km to 4,000 km of the total tracks and use DB tracks in open access.

The InterCityExpress or ICE is a type of high-speed train operated by Deutsche Bahn in Germany and large cities in neighbouring countries, such as Zürich, Vienna, Paris, Amsterdam, Liège and Brussels.

The rail network throughout Germany is extensive and provides excellent services in most areas. On regular lines, at least one train every two hours will call even in the smallest of villages.
Nearly all larger metropolitan areas are served by S-Bahn, U-Bahn, Strassenbahn and/or bus networks

Rail links in adjacent countries
Denmark — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/25 kV AC
Poland — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/3 kV DC
Czech Republic — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/3 kV DC
Austria — same gauge — same voltage
Switzerland — same gauge — same voltage
France — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/(25 kV AC or 1500 V DC).
Luxembourg — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/(25 kV AC or 3 kV DC)
The Netherlands — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/1500 V DC
Betuweroute – same gauge = voltage change 15kV AC/ 25 kV AC – freight only
Belgium — same gauge — voltage change 15 kV AC/ 3 kV DC

Water transport
Hamburg HarbourWaterways: 7,500 km (1999); major rivers include the Rhine and Elbe; Kiel Canal is an important connection between the Baltic Sea and North Sea, the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal links Rotterdam on the North Sea with the Black Sea.

Ports and harbors
Berlin, Bonn, Brake, Bremen, Bremerhaven, Cologne, Dortmund, Dresden, Duisburg, Emden, Hamburg, Karlsruhe, Kiel, Lübeck, Magdeburg, Mannheim, Oldenburg, Rostock, Stuttgart

The port of Hamburg is the largest sea-harbour in Germany and ranks #2 in Europe
Air transport

Frankfurt International Airport is a major international airport and European transportation hub.
Frankfurt Airport ranks among the world’s top ten airports and serves 304 flight destinations in 110 countries.

It is the airport with the largest number of international destinations served worldwide.
Depending on whether total passengers, flights or cargo traffic are used as a measure, it ranks first, second or third in Europe alongside London Heathrow Airport and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport.

Germany’s second most important international airport is Munich.
Other major airports are Berlin Tegel, Berlin Schönefeld, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Cologne-Bonn, Leipzig/Halle and in the future Berlin Brandenburg International Airport.

The national carrier is Lufthansa.
Major Airports
Frankfurt Airport FRA
Munich Airport MUC
Düsseldorf International Airport DUS
Berlin Tegel Airport TXL
Hamburg Airport HAM
Cologne/Bonn Airport CGN
Stuttgart Airport STR
Berlin Schönefeld Airport SXF
Hanover Airport HAJ
Nuremberg Airport NUE