Germany Travel Tips
Planning a trip is a hassle right? Especially if the trip is outside your home country. With good planning and the right information your trip will prove to be well worth the time. Below are some travel tips for Germany that should prove to be useful.
N Posts: 6
Restaurants and Bars - You do not get water for free, you have to pay for it. If you order water you will get carbonated water. In most restaurants you can request tap water and they may or may not charge you but it is most likely straight from the sink. In some American fast food restaurants, (i.e. McDonalds) you must pay for ketchup as well. Be aware that the menus at most fast food restaurants in Germany are not exactly the same. You may also notice that a sandwich that you recognize from back home may taste a little different or it could be smaller. When you enter a restaurant you will not be seated, just walk right in and pick the table of your choice!- the tip should be much smaller than you would give in the States (this is because the waiters/waitresses get paid more than in the states) A tip of two or three EUR would be considered a good tip for very good service.
Supermarkets - If you shop for groceries in Germany you will notice the supermarkets have all of their large rolling carts outside in a designated area and they are locked to one another. In order to utilize a cart you must place one EUR in the cart itself, you will see the slot on the handle. Upon leaving the supermarket you latch the cart back to the other carts and pull the device out where you placed the coin, now you can retrieve your coin. When you have all of the groceries you want, proceed to the check-out counter. You will have to purchase plastic bags to put the groceries in or you can take one in yourself. If you decide to purchase one they are usually visible at the counter and normally only cost a few cents. If there is a long line do not put all of your groceries in the bag, put them back into the cart and bag them away from the line.
Closing hours - On Sunday everything is closed except for some restaurants, bars, gas stations and shops at the main train station and bigger airports. Some bigger stores are realizing that they can make much more money if they open on Sunday so they are doing just that, but I would not rely on it. During the week shops in bigger cities close at 8 PM at the latest. You may see shops in smaller cities closing even earlier.
Public Phones - Public phones are very rare in Germany. If you find one you will notice that they only take telephone cards. You can buy a telephone card in different shops like "T-Punkt", "Telekom", "Post", and "Vodafone" or you can go to an Internet cafe.
Miscellaneous - "Bad" in front of a towns name does not mean that the people or the city is bad for example, "Bad Homburg". Bad in front of a towns name normally means that the town is designated as a healthy location normally with very clean air and water.
Information on Germany Reply to this
Supermarkets - If you shop for groceries in Germany you will notice the supermarkets have all of their large rolling carts outside in a designated area and they are locked to one another. In order to utilize a cart you must place one EUR in the cart itself, you will see the slot on the handle. Upon leaving the supermarket you latch the cart back to the other carts and pull the device out where you placed the coin, now you can retrieve your coin. When you have all of the groceries you want, proceed to the check-out counter. You will have to purchase plastic bags to put the groceries in or you can take one in yourself. If you decide to purchase one they are usually visible at the counter and normally only cost a few cents. If there is a long line do not put all of your groceries in the bag, put them back into the cart and bag them away from the line.
Closing hours - On Sunday everything is closed except for some restaurants, bars, gas stations and shops at the main train station and bigger airports. Some bigger stores are realizing that they can make much more money if they open on Sunday so they are doing just that, but I would not rely on it. During the week shops in bigger cities close at 8 PM at the latest. You may see shops in smaller cities closing even earlier.
Public Phones - Public phones are very rare in Germany. If you find one you will notice that they only take telephone cards. You can buy a telephone card in different shops like "T-Punkt", "Telekom", "Post", and "Vodafone" or you can go to an Internet cafe.
Miscellaneous - "Bad" in front of a towns name does not mean that the people or the city is bad for example, "Bad Homburg". Bad in front of a towns name normally means that the town is designated as a healthy location normally with very clean air and water.
Information on Germany Reply to this
N Posts: 11
Your post on shopping carts is invaluable. On our first trip to Europe, we stopped at a French supermarket to get groceries and didn't think it was worth a euro to rent a grocery cart. After carrying more than our arms could hold up to the check-out stand, a friendly clerk showed us the system. It turns out the European system is a brilliant way to get carts put back where they belong. Maybe someone should tell the Europeans to dump the system so that young people could have jobs bringing carts back to the store. Reply to this
d Posts: 13
:) I remember my first time in Europe and figuring out the shopping carts with the coins. Ah, good times. I wonder if they had to change all the devices with the advent of the Euro or if the coin used was about the same size as what was used before.
Anyway, those are good tips for traveling in Europe. For actual itinterary and sightseeing I do most of it with Google Earth and the placemarkers you can download free from exploreglobe.net Reply to this
Anyway, those are good tips for traveling in Europe. For actual itinterary and sightseeing I do most of it with Google Earth and the placemarkers you can download free from exploreglobe.net Reply to this
N Posts: 11
This actually belongs' on the CZ blog but it's a gquestion for Eurotrotterguy....we will be in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovenia. What are the must see places while we are there? We currently have a reservation for 3 days in Prague and 2 days in Cesky Krumlov. Reply to this
N Posts: 1
I have no problem in Germany & Netherlands using English only. But in France i have some problem :( In Hotel & shops know English, but on the streets i get in misunderstanding
btw this may help Reply to this
btw this may help Reply to this
N Posts: 1
This thread needs some corrections:
a) When you order water in a German restaurant your can take your pick from several brands - flat or carbonated
b) Most supermarkets in large cities are open til 10pm
c) Friday and Saturday many mall are even open til midnight
d) Many public phones accept coins, but the number of public phones is decreasing as we already have more cellphones than people
e) Ketchup at McD is free - and you can get a beer there!!!
f) Do not pay with Dollars at McD - their exchange rate sucks
f) Telekom and T-Punkt are the same and you don't get phonecards for public phones from Vodafone as this is a provider for mobile service only
g) 'Post' is the German postal service and it used to provide telecommunication service - until the early nineties. Nowadays they're just a mail carrier and a bank (Postbank), the phone business is handled by -see above- Telekom and their shops are called T-Punkt. Reply to this
a) When you order water in a German restaurant your can take your pick from several brands - flat or carbonated
b) Most supermarkets in large cities are open til 10pm
c) Friday and Saturday many mall are even open til midnight
d) Many public phones accept coins, but the number of public phones is decreasing as we already have more cellphones than people
e) Ketchup at McD is free - and you can get a beer there!!!
f) Do not pay with Dollars at McD - their exchange rate sucks
f) Telekom and T-Punkt are the same and you don't get phonecards for public phones from Vodafone as this is a provider for mobile service only
g) 'Post' is the German postal service and it used to provide telecommunication service - until the early nineties. Nowadays they're just a mail carrier and a bank (Postbank), the phone business is handled by -see above- Telekom and their shops are called T-Punkt. Reply to this
