Germany

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Means of transport recommended in town

Recommendation

Taxis are very easily available day and night at reasonable rates. You can ask your hotel or restaurant to order a taxi for you. To get a receipt, ask for "eine Quittung, bitte." Drivers can usually speak English. In large cities, the tramway network (Strassenbahn), metros (U-Bahn), the express metro network (S-Bahn) and buses are less expensive alternatives to taxis.

Maps of urban networks

Map of the Berlin subway and simulation of itineraries
Map of the Munich subway
Map of the Hamburg subway
Map of the Frankfurt subway
Maps of other German subways

Transportation from Airport to City Centre:

Airport	Distance	Taxi	Bus	Train	Car rental
Essen - Mülheim (ESS)	7 km / 4 miles of Essen, 5 km / 3 miles of Mülhein, 24 km / 15 miles of Dusseldorf		Available to Essen
Berlin - Schönefeld (SXF)	16 km / 10 miles	EUR 30-35 / 25-40	EUR 2.80	EUR 2.80	Available
Berlin - Tegel (TXL)	9 km / 6 miles	EUR 15 / 20-30 min	EUR 2.1 / 20 min		Available
Berlin - Tempelhof (THF)	5 km / 3 miles	EUR 15-20 / 20 mimnutes	EUR 2.2 / 30 min		Available
Stuttgart - Echterdingen (STR)	10 km / 6 miles	EUR 22-28 / 20-30 min	Available	EUR 3 / 27 min	Available
Hamburg Intl (HAM)	10 km / 6 miles	EUR 20-25 / 20-30 min	EUR 5 / 15-25 min		Available
Munich (MUC)	30 km / 19 miles	EUR 55-65 / 35-45 min	EUR 9.5 / 40 min	EUR 8.8 / 45 min	Available
Frankfurt - Main (FRA)	9 km / 6 miles	EUR 20-30 / 20-30 min	Available	EUR 3.30 / 12 min	Available

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Recommendation

Choose the ICE (InterCity Express) train between the main cities: Frankfurt - Berlin (4 hours), Frankfurt - Cologne (1 hour 15mn), Berlin - Leipzig (1 hour), Berlin - Hamburg (1 hour 30 mn). On these links, the motorway network, often saturated, cannot compete with the train. Do not hesitate to take the plane for the trips between Munich - Hamburg, Munich - Berlin or Stuttgart - Berlin.

Rail companies

The Deutsche Bahn website

Airlines

You can consult the list of airlines banned within the EU. Look also the rating of the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

The motorway network (Bundesautobahn) is practical because it is free for cars. There is no speed limit but a lot of maintenance work slows down traffice frequently. Allow extra time to be sure to arrive at your appointment in good time. There is no problem refuelling.

Road maps

Viamichelin
Mappy
Falk
Meine Stadt

Find an itinerary

Viamichelin
Mappy

Different forms of tourism

Historical

There are many places for tourists to visit:
- historic city centers: Regensburg, Würzburg, Goerlitz;
- museums: Pinakothek in Munich, museum island in Berlin;
- palaces : Sans-Souci at Potsdam, Charlottenburg in Berlin;
- cathedrals : Cologne, Berlin, Aachen;
- the banks of the Elbe;
- the remains of the Berlin wall.

Cultural

Operas, concert halls, theaters, festivals, museums, art galleries, open air cinema.

Nature

Castles, parks and gardens

Near Berlin, at Potsdam, the park of Sans-Souci palace covers nearly 300 hectares. Also worth visiting is the zoological garden (Zoologischer Garten) in Berlin, the park of the palace of Nymphenburg in Munich and the Herrenhausen royal gardens in Hanover.

Nature parks

Altmühltal, Eifel, Saar Hunsrück, Schiefergebirge, the Swabian and Franconian forest, Schwalm-Nette, the Black Forest Center/North, Südeifel, the island of Usedom.

National Parks

Eifel, Kellerwald-Edersee, Lakes of Schleswig-Holstein, Lakes of Hamburg, Lakes of Lower Saxony, Jasmund, Western Pomeranian Bodden Landscape Park, Müritz, Unteres Odertal, Harz, Hainich, Saxony Switzerland, Bavarian forest, Berchtesgaden.

Religious

Aachen, Cologne Cathedral, Berliner Dom.

Thermal

Aquatic parks, health resorts and spas.

Beach

Many lakes: Constance, Müritzsee, Chiemsee, Schwerin, Starnberg ; very big rivers: Rhine, Danube, Main, Weser and Elbe; the Baltic and North Sea coasts; the canals in Brandenburg and in Mecklenburg.

Winter sports

The Bavarian Alps, Allgäu, Black Forest, Harz, Thuringe forest, and Saxony are all skiing areas. The highest summit is the Zugspitze 2962 m in the Bavarian Alps.

Outdoor activities

Cycling, walking, canoeing, climbing, rollerblading.

Shopping

The biggest store in Germany is in Berlin: KaDeWe Kaufhaus of the West. Also in Berlin, do not miss Friedrichstrasse. All the large cities in Germany have pedestrian areas which offer a wide choice of stores.

Tourism organizations

German Tourism Board

Health and safety

Health precautions

No vaccination requirements.

International hospitals

In general you can communicate in English in German hospitals (in Berlin, for example, the university hospital La Charité).

For further information on sanitary conditions

German Ministry of Health

For further information on safety conditions

The Current Travel Warnings of the US State Department
The advice of the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Time difference and climate

Time and time difference

It is %T:%M %A in Berlin (GMT+1 in winter, GMT+2 in summer)

Summer time period

Summer time from March (last Sunday) to October (last Sunday)