Traveling to Germany in October?

Question

Hi - My husband has business in Germany, and I will be tagging along for the trip. I have never been to Europe. We have our passports, and are ready, but I know nothing about the culture, what to wear, what is considered polite or rude...etc. I also want to know what might be good places to visit. We are into history and architecture, and really like museums and places of interest regarding WWII. Can anyone give me guidance? I want the trip to be fun, educational, and relatively stress free, but having no experience, I need advice. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

all right, for your interesst it would propably very interessting for you to go to Berlin. There are lots of Museums about the Wall, and you can see lots of History about the Berlin wall all over the city. There are nice architectures too.

I also know, when you go to Berlin, they have a tourist pass with wich you can use the train and i think you have to pay less for Museums or even get in for free.

About your question of being polite or rude, i dont really know what you mean.

For packing your luggage i would pack stuff for warm days, but also stuff for colder days. October you never know how the weather is going to be.

Have fun...

Answer 2

My dear Hally....

Well...honey, it all depends in which area you'll be.In general, we have lots of "cultural aspects", historical sites all over Germany...as a matter of fact I happen to live in Germany's  O L D E S T  city, built 18 B.C. by the romans & we have lots of interesting structures (Amphitheater, roman baths, etc.) here to visit....and...I'd be glad to "show you around" our ancient city. You may contact me at: [e-mail] - anytime & let me know more details....Wish you a good trip & bwait to hear from you...Lots of greetings from Germany.... Annette***

Answer 3

It would help to know what area your husbands business is and we could give you a better picture of what's in the areas.  As for the clothing never go anywhere in Germany without a jacket, not even in the summer when it's suppose to be nice.  After living here for 20 years I always make sure theres a jacket close by and in the car.

Answer 4

Plan to take layers of clothes with you.  October could be really nice, but the nights are guaranteed to be cool.  I would also suggest taking an umbrella or raincoat. And some good, comfortable walking shoes.

As for what to see, that depends on what area you are going to.

Answer 5

I deeply recommend Hamburg - Germany´s boomtown. It is a waterfront city with some beautiful beaches --- too cold in October though. Great modern architecture, beautiful sights, beautiful museums, art, entertainment ... I travel there ever year at least once. Love it so much!!

And if u are into old cities: try Stade (subway from Hamburg, just 45 minutes), Lueneburg ( train from Hamburg just 40 minutes) and Luebeck .... u will love these old small cities. Best of all: few American tourists ...smile.. people like us there

Answer 6

Please listen to Alwin's advice and don't focus on WWII.  Move on from that, the Germans have.  Germany is a modern, liberal, vibrant country with a lot of diversity.  

However if you want to go to a concentration camp, for your personal edification, you can do a Google search to locate them.  We visited Poland in 2000 and my Polish friends took us to an extermination camp.  It was a profound experience.  I am already informed, so I can't say it was an eye opener, but if you are history buffs you may want to do that.  

Alwin also told you about being straightforward in restaurants.  That is so true.  Be prepared to give you drink order when you are handed the menus, and be prepared to order your food when the server brings you your drinks.  Our kids learned that really fast.....Ein Fanta bitte (a soft drink), and then after dinner, for dessert, Haben Sie Eis?  (Do you have ice cream?)  

I always order about five books from Amazon before I travel to a new country and learn as much as I can about the country I am visiting.  This makes the experience much richer.  

Organized bus tours are very good.  You can find out about them by going to any local travel bureau.  You will see travel bureaux everywhere.  In Berlin we took a tour that lasted about two hours and it was very informative.  

Germany is very modern (ahead of North America).  In some public places you might see toilets that clean themselves! I am always interested in seeing the appliances, etc. that are so smart and compact.  I love the grocery stores and the bakeries.

Clothing......they have better fashion sense than North Americans.   Don't take too much clothing.  You will want to buy stuff while you are there.  I often search out the second-hand shops.  

As far as manners go, Alwin has informed you.  Be courteous as you would be at home.  I would encourage you to study a phrase book if you don't know German, so you can be polite.  Know how to say please and thank you (and be able to ask where the bathrooms are)....If somebody yells Achtung!! at you.....look around yourselves quickly.....they are telling you to be careful.  (My son once said, "I want an Achtung too...")  But as Alvin said, most German people these days can speak some English so you shouldn't feel too stranded.

Have a lot of fun in Germany!  Eat lots of their really good chocolate!

Answer 7

Hally, I'm German, and I'd love to give you some guidance, but you must promise me one thing first:

The Second World War happened sixty years ago. So please come to Germany without the "n**i" stuff in mind, and feel free to experience a young, open-minded nation, full of people who are interested in YOUR culture, too. That's the Germany I know, or how I'd like to see it, being a German citizen myself. (Sure there are nationalists and stupid people around; but they are everywhere.)

What to wear? -- Wear the same things you'd wear at home. Not much difference, really.

Polite or rude? -- Well, Germans tend to be straightforward in their speech, so no worries about being polite. If you don't like something, don't talk around it trying to be polite, but just say, "I didn't like this, your service sucks". Like, when at a restaurant, never say "I think the temperature of this dish could be somewhat closer to the regular service temperature, do you think you could do something about it?". Just say: "This dish is cold. Bring me a new one!" (Get the notion? Don't be complicated. Say what you mean.)

There's one other thing Germans don't like: Don't be shy. We all speak English in SOME way, more or less fluent. But we'll appreciate it any time when you speak some rudimentary German, just like "bitte" or "danke" or "Guten Tag". Trust your language skills, even if you think they are poor. There's nothing to lose except your inhibitions.

Telling from my own travel experiences to foreign countries, such little things helped me a lot to make friends with the locals. I've never been to the US, but I've been to India, where I sometimes couldn't even read the letters on road signs, as tehy use different alphabets.

Well, I liked it. Communications is the key to everything. So never ever hesitate to ask, whomever you might meet.

Bon voyage!

---

I forgot one thing: the climate!

I don't know where you're from, but Germany is a small country in central Europe. Expect it to have some sort of New England weather. October tends to be cold and rainy, so bring some good shoes and waterproof clothing. Temperatures may vary from 10°C to some 20 or above on very sunny days; nights are usually cold, but rarely below freezing point.

Answer 8

Well, it somehow depends on where your business will take place at and how much time you have. So, are you in the north or south, do you have 5 days or 2 weeks ? :-)

You can find history, architecture, museums and so on all over Germany. In big cities, in villages, on countryside.

A good overview for a starter offers this site:

http://www.germany-tourism.de

Most fun, educational, most interesting, best experience and totally stress free is taking a escorted tour by professionals. In case your budget allows it.

Greetings from Frankfurt :-)