Destination: GERMANY | |||||||||||||||||||||
Things To Know Traveling in Germany The North and the Baltic The Rhine The East The Black Forest and Bavaria Spa Towns Mad King Ludwig Traditionally decorated beer mugs © AA Photo Library |
Traveling in Germany
Germany's 16 administrative states (Bundesländer) extend from the tail of Denmark south to the Swiss and Austrian Alps; the
Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and France border on the west, Poland and the Czech Republic on the east. Each state has
enough of interest for the visitor to occupy a whole vacation in its own right, and Germans are themselves often tourists
in their own country, especially as westerners and easterners explore each other's previously unknown territories.
Traveling - by automobile or by public transportation - is not a problem, despite the country's size. The road network in
western Germany is excellent, from the highways (Autobahnen) to minor roads. In the east, roads were in poorer condition for
many years, but there have been recent improvements.
The biggest culture shock to drivers is likely to be the speed of traffic. There is no official upper limit on highways, and many drivers ignore the recommended 130 k.p.h., the equivalent of which is 80 m.p.h. Driving etiquette is taken seriously, though: you can be stopped and fined for swearing or making rude gestures. Taking the train is a convenient way to cover large areas. The quickest and most comfortable trains are the InterCityExpress (ICE), InterCity (IC) and EuroCity (EC) trains linking major centers - but the InterRegio (IR) trains connecting smaller towns are also fast. |
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