Planning trip to Germany - please help!
 

Hello all - this is my first post. I am planning a trip to Germany with my girlfriend. We are flying into Berlin on September 24th and out of Berlin on October 8th. We'll have a rental car for the duration of the trip and want to visit Oktoberfest in Munich as well as possibly Prague and Vienna.

Right now our rough plan is to drive straight down to munich for the weekend and then make our way back up through the other cities. I would really appreciate any advice you all could give me on the trip.

We are traveling on a budget and really just want to experience the cities and towns and traveling. We love drinking beer/wine in awesome places, especially outdoors or in unique pubs. We aren't really into museums or fine dining and we don't want to try to jam too many things into our itinerary. We are 24 years old and fresh out of college. I scraped together $2500 for the trip (not including flights or car).

I am doing as much research as I can but would love to hear some details about some small towns that would be awesome to visit along the way, things to do in cities that won't break the bank, etc.

Do you recommend trying to visit Berlin, Munich, Vienna, and Prague? How about Dresden? Can I get cheap hostels for two in small towns? I would love to get the most out of my rental car and the fact that I can go anywhere.

Thanks!

If you want to do this trip cheaply, using an auto is the wrong way to do it. The German railroad will take you to most of the places you want to visit and at a cost far lower than auto rental, fuel purchase, parking costs, etc.

The railroad offers tickets, for example, that will cover a good deal of your trip at €26 for one day of unlimited travel for two people - thus €13 each.

Secondly, going to Munich for the Oktoberfest could be tricky. Many hotels are probably already booked and those that have rooms available will nearly double the cost of the room. If you really want to go there then, you'd be wise to look for a hotel outside the city.

Do either of you speak any German?

It's probably easier to find accommodation and space in beer tents in weekdays during the Oktoberfest. Little bit less crowded but you certainly won't have to drink alone.

To be honest if you don't have your Oktoberfest accomodation already booked then you will struggle to get anything, especially for a reasonable price.


As for where to go, then Dresden is nice as is Leipzig and worth a stop. Given your limited time then you should forget Vienna, its too far out of the way from Berlin / Munich with the car and you will spend too long driving and not enough time doing tourist things. Prague is certainly very nice, and worth it if you have time

Nuremberg is worth a visit, as is Bamberg (just north of Nuremberg).

It might also be worth stopping off at the old east-west frontier, although I don't know how interesting this is for you, or how much is in English as have not actually been myself but heard it was good.

Another vote for "don't drive". If you were planning to explore rural areas it would be different, but you really don't want to be lumbered with a car in places like Berlin and Munich. And driving in Germany isn't particularly relaxing, except in quiet rural areas.

If you want to do the odd trip out into the countryside just get a car for the day.

As others have said, getting accommodation in Munich for Oktoberfest is going to be pretty much impossible at this late stage - and even places in the commuter belt are going to be pretty much booked up. I would get out a map, draw a 100 km circle around Munich, and try a few places along that circle (making sure they have good train connections), and if necessary move further and further out until you've found somewhere.

I would recommend looking for Oktoberfest accommodations on airbnb. I procrastinated and didn't book my apartment until about a month ago, and was still able to find some relatively good deals.

I will also echo the advice to take trains over driving -- by the time you factor in gas and exorbitant parking in many of these city centers, you're not saving any time or money getting around yourself (and you don't have to stress out figuring out how to get there!).

Another vote for "don't drive" -- I'm not sure where you'll be flying in from, but if it involves an overnight flight (e.g. from US/Canada), you do NOT want to be going straight from your flight to the Autobahn and crazy German drivers at much higher speeds than you may be used to...

Or at least stay in Berlin a couple of nights before you go on to anywhere. Believe me, you do not want to be trying to change lanes between the right hand lane (trucks going 50-65mph) and left hand lane (Mercs and Beemers going 100-150mph) on the back of jetlag.

Once you've left Berlin... I hear Regensburg and Passau are nice. Nürnberg is also worth a stop.

Air BnB will save you a ton. Even in Oktoberfest you will find a deal.
Everyone is right. Using a car is a money killer. Gas is very expensive. Use Deutsche Bahn. Subways in every city you will visit. Bike share is awesome. Car not needed. Stay three days in Berlin, do a couple days in Munich, hit Hamburg, Vienna is great but not a hope and a skip, Dresden is a day trip...Lake Constance?

Neither of us speak German at all. My father offered to pay for a rental car for us. But I could probably trade that in for money. Even so I would be paying for gas and parking.

We are interested in seeing architecture and going to pubs and parks. Should we stay in the cities? Is the country worth exploring without knowing any German?

I'm looking into AirBNB and it looks like I can stay in Munic for about $70 per night with my girlfriend.

I was planning on renting a Passat Wagon and sleeping in it during Oktoberfest. I'm worried that if I don't get a car I will be lugging my backpack and everything I took to europe everywhere I go.

Also - plan on taking an iPad, camera, money belt, and wallet. Do I need a cell phone? And do I need to have any vaccinations or special documents to go into other countries?

I'll go for the contrarian approach and support driving. A few caveats: this could mean staying at hotels and pensions on the outskirts of the city where parking is free - and taking the U-Bahn or S-Bahn in. This also means becoming somewhat familiar with rules of the road (Vorfahrt, staying to the right, etc.).

There's an inherent freedom that comes from driving (I drive almost everywhere in Europe) that allows you to go where you want to go and do what you want to do - when you want to do it. No trains to catch, no tickets (except toll tickets) to buy.

And in the OP's case, he's not even paying for the rental car.

I would recommend making sure to rent a diesel so as to get the best possible fuel economy and I would NOT recommend sleeping in the car, however.

In your original post, you wrote "We are travelling on a budget..." Your fuel costs will be far higher than the rental costs. In Europe, fuel is sold by the liter, not the gallon. The current price per liter (about 1 US quart) is roughly €1.60. If you do the math, you'll see that your fuel costs alone will run into several hundred US $. As I wrote originally, you and your girlfriend can travel by train for as little as €13 each per day. What's the problem with that?
The countryside in Bavaria is quite lovely. Exploring it without knowing any German will be difficult as people in the countryside are not likely to know much English. So, if you stop somewhere for lunch, for example, how will you read the menu? How will you order dishes? How will you ask for the bill?

You came here asking for advice. Almost everyone has suggested using the train. That's advice from people who have already done (several times, in my case) what you are planning to do.

Planning trip to Germany - please help!
 

As jspira indicated, I also drive so that I'm not commited to someone's schedule.

You should consider the following.

Berlin and Munich are very far. Have you consider doing an open jaw and flying into one city and out the other city?

Are both you and your GF drivers?

Gas is relatively expensive. Diesel to cover 900km cost me $150USD on my trip last week but I was flying down the Autobahn at 180 to 250 km/h in a Jag.

If you want to stay in a hotel look into B&B (www.hotelbb.de) or Motel One.

As for language, download an offline translator onto a smartphone.

First of all, don't bring everything you own on your trip :) Try to travel light because you will have to carry it at times with or without an auto (for example, from the auto to your hotel room). Many train stations in Germany have lockers and/or check luggage departments. Use them. They are not expensive, but the lockers have limits on how long the items can stay. You might be better off checking them in.