Germany

Germany is rarely planned in one piece. Usually you already have a city or two, your dates, and the question of how to tie it all into a trip without extra transfers. The interesting places are scattered across different states, and the travel between them takes up a noticeable share of the vacation. How much time to leave for Munich, whether a day is enough for Cologne, how to reach a castle in the mountains: these are the tasks people bring here.

The core of the section is city coverage. There are lists of places with prices and opening hours for Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, Stuttgart and Baden-Baden. There are one-day routes through Hamburg, Dresden, Düsseldorf and Cologne. For Munich there is also a season-by-season breakdown and a version of the day on a small budget. Berlin gets the most articles: choosing a neighborhood to stay in, typical first-trip mistakes, Museum Island, Alexanderplatz, Charlottenburg Palace, Treptower Park. There are narrow topics too, such as Vietnamese food in the city.

A separate group covers specific sights and nature. We go through the ascent of the Zugspitze, tickets and the journey to Neuschwanstein, the bus and elevator to the Kehlsteinhaus near Berchtesgaden, the Bastei Bridge and Saxon Switzerland from Dresden. Rhine cruises from Rüdesheim, Europa-Park in Rust, Mainz Cathedral and the museums of Munich and Cologne belong here as well.

The third part deals with getting around, seasons and events. We compare the ways to travel from Berlin to Munich and from Berlin to Hamburg, and describe the Romantic Road from Würzburg to Füssen, car rental and night trains. On the calendar side there are Oktoberfest, the Cologne Carnival, Christmas markets, the wine festivals of the Moselle, ski areas and ideas for a winter trip. For first-time visitors there is an article on what surprises people in Germany: from the autobahns to the strict laws.

Every article opens with a short answer to the main question. Practical blocks follow: tickets, opening hours, how to get there, how much time to set aside. For prices and timetables we state the source and the date of the check, and we verify them against the official websites of museums, carriers and cities. That way you can see how fresh the data in front of you is. We write about the downsides plainly: lines, crowds in high season, halls closed for renovation, a long connection.

The section suits those who travel on their own and want to understand the budget, logistics and order of days in advance. It is useful both for a first trip and for a return to the country for the sake of one region. If you need a ready-made guided tour or an essay on the country's history, our articles are unlikely to help. We write about planning. We hardly cover individual hotels here yet: on the subject of accommodation there is the guide to choosing a neighborhood in Berlin.

Start with the overview article for your city: a list of places or a one-day route. Then open the articles on nearby trips, for example day trips from Munich or Saxon Switzerland from Dresden. After that, read about travel between cities and about the season. The festival articles are best read before you buy tickets: the dates of a major event affect the whole plan.

"Germany" is part of the "Europe" section within "Destinations". The capital has its own subsection, "Berlin", which gathers all the articles about the city. If your route goes beyond the country's borders, look into the neighboring sections: "France", "Belgium", "Denmark". For plans farther afield there are "England", "Finland", "Bulgaria", "Andorra" and "Georgia".

We update the articles: prices, timetables and event dates change every season, so the texts are checked against official sources again. Some articles are tied to a specific year, and we rewrite them for the new season. The date of the last check is given in the article itself. Before your trip, still open the website of the museum or carrier and make sure the conditions are the same. The section keeps growing with new cities and regions. Pick your city, draft a route and check it day by day.