17 Comments

  1. Sightseeing around Bavaria - Grounded Traveler
    February 14, 2013 @ 10:37 pm

    […] is a great place to find a base and take daytrips out from that base city. The public transport is great and you can explore a region more deeply. Also check out my post on daytrips from […]

  2. Freiburg: a perfect day trip city - Grounded Traveler
    February 11, 2013 @ 8:11 am

    […] Germany, you can buy a Baden-Wurtemburg Ticket which covers transport on regional(red) trains and public transport in the entire state for 21 Euros for the first person +4 Euros per person up to 5 people total. […]

  3. Daniel McBane
    August 25, 2012 @ 3:46 pm

    You’re right about booking train tickets in advance–it can make a huge difference. And it doesn’t even have to be that far in advance if you do it online, I think (I believe the DB website even has an English section). I recently got a ticket from Frankfurt to Berlin for 44 Euros online and it seems that is the standard online price for that particular train. The normal price is well over 100.

    • Andrew
      August 30, 2012 @ 8:39 am

      It isn’t really online versus in person as far as I can see. What I understood is that 3 day advanced purchase gives a decent price. There are also specials, but only so many seats on teh train are sold at that price. For those you often need to go in weeks ahead.
      Yes, the DB site has English and is a really great travel site for trains anywhere in Europe. Not tickets, but definitely schedules.

  4. Erik
    August 19, 2012 @ 11:00 pm

    Andy, Incredibly informative as always.

    I’m going to forward this post to a couple friend of mine who are planning on being in Germany this fall. The efficiency there is what always impressed me the most.

    • Andrew
      August 21, 2012 @ 11:54 pm

      Thanks for the compliment and the shares. I hope it helps. If any of your friends have more detailed questions, send them my way and I will see what I can do to answer them.

  5. maq203
    August 17, 2012 @ 10:11 pm

    Good to know there are so many options for getting around Germany! Are some towns better than others for biking?

    • Andrew
      August 21, 2012 @ 11:51 pm

      I assume some towns are better than others. Yet I have friends that bike around Munich, so it isn’t just the small towns that are good.

  6. Sabrina
    August 17, 2012 @ 5:05 pm

    Great summary! I’m from s smqller town in Germany, maybe 25000 people with all the really small town around it together. As a kid I walked pretty much everywhere. Turning 16 was huge, because like many of my friends I got a scooter and out of a sudden we were mobile 🙂

    • Andrew
      August 21, 2012 @ 11:50 pm

      Ha ha.. I remember turning 16 and getting a driver’s license at home. It did open up a new world. It took a us several years to realize there still wasn’t much to do aorund.

  7. Hogga
    August 17, 2012 @ 4:34 pm

    Kinda like Japan… so many car companies but you don’t really need one when living there!

    • Andrew
      August 21, 2012 @ 11:49 pm

      Right. The car is a luxury item, though a very common one. And yet it is quite nice to have friends with them.

  8. Scott
    August 16, 2012 @ 9:04 am

    I take great pride in having made fun of this post even before you wrote it! 🙂 (PS We live in a tiny village off the public transport grid, so we’re pretty much dependent on our cars.)

    • Andrew
      August 16, 2012 @ 6:29 pm

      Haha.. great rebuttal. Yeah, out in the doerfer it doesn’t really work like this. But then again I would never live out there for that exact reason. I like being in the middle of things as quick and painless as possible. That said Freiburg isn’t really the biggest place in Germany, so it sometimes still feels like a Dorf. Especially at 12:31 am when you end up having to walk home.

      • Scott
        August 16, 2012 @ 6:41 pm

        My wife’s car is electric, though. 🙂 (Our businesses are all about 10 km apart, so we can live well with the limited 130 km range of the E-Smart.)

  9. Jeremy Branham
    August 16, 2012 @ 7:38 am

    Whenever I think of Germany, efficiency is the one thing that is at the forefront. To many Germans a 7 minute delay does mean things are falling apart! 🙂

    In general, Europe has an awesome transportation system. I wish we had more options like this in the US. Some of the bigger cities do but one of my favorite things about traveling in Europe is being able to ride trains, buses, and trams safely and quickly to get where I want to go. I would even go so far as to say public transportation in Europe (with no need for cars) makes Europeans much healthier than Americans!

    • Andrew
      August 16, 2012 @ 6:30 pm

      Like I mentioned on Twitter, I guess I will definitely have to write about the German order and efficiency soon. There is a big illusion here. The transport fits right into that illusion well. See what I can put together in the next weeks. Thanks for the comment.