Traveling to/through Germany - Reisen in Deutschland

[ecotecture]

1. Berlin

2. Hamburg
3. Constance (Lake Constance)

[wonwiin]

Do not forget to visit Aachen. But you will go there propably at least once to shop when the shops are closed in Maastricht .

It may not be the most beautiful city in Germany but it has the Aachener Dom, Germany's first world heritage site. Also interesting is the modern art museum in an old umbrella factory if you are into modern art.

And the best thing about Aachen is the trainstation: 1h to Cologne, 1,5h to Brussels and 3h to Paris.

Also if you want to sleep in a real castle: Bacharach youth hostel with a great view over the river Rhine.
There are some great youth hostels around Germany, cheap, clean and you meet people from everywhere.

And Maastricht is a great city to study.

[sämelihülz]

Berlin is so overrated! It's a poor city, with a lot of workless people and they have a lot of Sozialschmarotzer. Visit Munich, Nürnberg, Heidelberg, maybe the Ruhrpott, and the Southwestern Germany!

[Bahnsteig4]

Would you honestly prefer Gelsenkirchen or Wanne-Eickel over Berlin???

Quite frankly, tourists don't care about homeless people - why on earth would they go to Rio or Cape Town?

[skysdalimit]

Are there any World War II historical sites in Nurnberg? I know the trials took place there, but don't know if there are any museums or such.

I'd also love to make it to Austria (Vienna and maybe Innsbruck)...would the best route be through Munich?

PS: Yes, hopefully I won't run into a granny alerty!

[thun]

Nuremberg has to offer some beautiful medieval buildings (in that era it was one of Europes most important cities), although most of it got destroyed by allied bombings. The most important World War sight is the party rally areal It was never completed, so it's basically "only" one open arena (Zepellinfeld) which is used for motor acing once a year, an huge road for parades and a huge building which now offers a small documentation centre. The constuction site of the large stadium (400k) is now only a lake... IMO that alone is not worth the trip, there's plenty of stuff to see in Munich and Berlin as well (specialised guided tours).

I doubt that Innsbruck alone is worth the trip. Another option (easily one weekend) would be to go to Salzburg (tourist trap but beautiful) combined with the Bavarian sites of Berchtesgaden (Königssee, Europes most beautiful lake, Obersalzberg, Hitlers summer residence (only some ruins) and Chiemsee (the Herrenchiemsee island has a Mini-Versailles...) (every site one day, perfect in summer).

Vienna is definitely worth the trip. If you want to go by train the best option is the ICE that comes from Frankfurt (and I think also Cologne) and goes through Regensburg - Passau. For Innsbruck and Salzburg you have to go via Munich.
You should consider using overnight trains especially for Vienna (it is a long trip and it gives you lots of well needed extra time in the city), but I don't know about the routes and connections. The Deutsche Bahn website will provide it for you.

[ØlandDK]

I was told that Innsbruck is more charming thatn Salzburg. I've never been to any of the places myself though.

[michaelII]

you could also go from berlin over dresden and prague to vienna and bratislava.

[Bahnsteig4]

Innsbruck is nicer than Salzburg, that's a given.

[Energy2003]

boys and girls ...

Zitat:
"My travels will occur on 3 different weekends (Friday-Sunday)"

[Kampflamm]

Salzburg is totally overrated. Go to Graz instead, nicest big little city in Austria.

[railway stick]

Ik besuche gern und oft Deutschland. Am liebsten bin ich in Bremen, dann folgen Oldenburg und Münster. Aber Leer/Ostfriesland gefällt uns auch, das reicht zum Einkaufen...

[erbse]

^ Warst du schon in Göttingen? Stade? Hamburg? Lübeck? Lüneburg? Very schön dort überall

[skysdalimit]

I suppose this is a vague map of my proposed German travels (and beyond in some cases). Break each route into a trip and let me know if you think this could work on 3 separate 3-4 day trips. Thanks guys and I appreciate the help.

[KoolKeatz]

Visting Hamburg & Copenhagen or Munich & Vienna on 3 or 4 days is a bit... japanese (or american ). Take your time.

[Bahnsteig4]

It's not a bad plan if you don't have much time. I've got in front of me an American travel catalogue taking you from London to Rome in seven days, visiting Paris (half a day!), Amsterdam, Zurich, Innsbruck, etc. Even Tuscany! Now that's incredible. But three days for Hamburg and Copenhagen or Munich and Vienna definitely makes for a good first impression.

[il fenomeno]

travelling is all about bragging anyway, like i was there and there and there. nobody asks you how long you were there.

[thun]

Definitely NO. Europe is so diverse that it is just ridiculous to stay in a city like Hamburg (we're not even talking about London, Berlin or Paris!) for just one day! Munich in lots of things is completely differend from Berlin (and they're even in the same country). Seems to be incredible for Non-Europeans but they normally quickly find out.

The Americans I know really seem to have the maxime to jump from place to place as soon as possible (which makes me assume that there's basically no much difference between American cities). My advice always is to take your time, stay for some days in every city and try to understand a bit the cities caracters. That makes a really good trip and afterwards you maybe can't say that you've been everywhere but you know every place you've seen much better than most of your fellows.

Anyway, skysdalimit: Koolkeatz is right, take your time. The several trips are in general quite ok for me.
Are you planning to go around every weekend? As I said, I wouldn't recommend it, you'll definitely want to stay in Maastricht for some weekends, too (especially in the first weeks to make friends), so take your time. If you don't see everything, it really doesn't hurt, you can come back some day. Believe me, I'm currently studying in Spain and I haven't been on any long trip so far at all (but will go to Madrid and Portugal soon).
So you should either decide which of the trips are most important for you (and see right in Europe, for which ones you find time) or consider to stay at least one month longer after the exams and do an Eurail trip or something like that (again, with time).

Some friends of mine will jump around Europe in two weeks by Ryanair (going to Italy, Ireland, Scotland, France and Germany) which I would never consider as it is only stress and you don't have enough time anywhere.

[Bahnsteig4]

Mmh...perhaps I'm a little condescending here, but...do Americans even notice the differences between Munich and Hamburg, Prague and Vienna? We are conditioned to our own city's identity but can hardly tell one American city from another. Why should it be different the other way round?

[thun]

because there are more differences I suppose (just look at the architecture, the atmosphere, etc.). Of course you can't tell if you stay everywhere only half a day, I couldn't for America either.