408
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
=== Crossing the border ===
Germany has signed the [[Schengen Agreement]] which means that borders with other Schengen countries are open. Since 2009, all neighbouring countries are Schengen members as well, so there are no fixed border controls any more. At times, there are mobile checks by the police or customs, especially in border regions or on the Autobahn.
At the Swiss border, there are still custom controls, but that will probably only affect you if you are on a truck.
'''Update January 2016'''
Because of the refugee crisis in Europe some countries have reintroduced border controls. In Germany this will especially affect the borders with Austria and Denmark. Prepare for traffic jams at the border and keep your passport ready.
== Food and drink ==
{{move_to_nomadwiki}}
Drinking tap water is safe all over the country. You can usually get inexpensive but good food at Italian and Turkish takeaways, the latter ones have ''Döner'' or ''Kebap'' written on them. Typical German fast food shops are marked with ''Imbiss'' signs and sell cheap sausages and French fries. Keep in mind that most shops including some supermarkets close at 20:00 and on Sundays, although many supermarkets might be open until 22:00 during weekdays. Petrol stations, 24-h shops and kiosks have a very limited food choice and are more expensive. As a free alternative you can try dumpster diving. More information on this can be found in the [http://trashwiki.org/en/Germany trashwiki article on Germany].
In nearly every town there are alternative centres where people cook for everybody. The price for a warm dish is between zero and 2 Euro. Have a look at the [http://deu.anarchopedia.org/VoK%C3%BC list here]. (German)
=== Bahnhof Mission ===
Even on every big railway station you can find Bahnhof Mission. This is charity Christian organisation that can help you in different needs. Don't abuse them so much because mostly it's for homeless people but if you need feel free to come. They can give you advices where you can find free food or free place to sleep, because they know all charity organisations that operates in the city. You can make a call from their phones, charge your devices, have rest in their room, warm yourself in the cold period. Sometimes they have some food (usually sandwiches) and free tea/coffee. They do not allow to leave your luggage. Usually they open 24 hours with some breaks for cleaning during the day. Sometimes you can stay there for a night, you can put your sleeping bag on the floor (but it depends of the workers), it's not the mandatory.
=== Eating on the Autobahn ===
Try to avoid eating on autobahn [[rest area|service stations]] if you want to save money and if have a good taste of food. These restaurants are notoriously expensive and the food quality is quite low. If you're lucky you can find thrown away [http://hitchwiki.org/en/Image:Sanifair_voucher.jpg Sanifair vouchers] of the toilet system. You get a cumulative 0.50 euro rebate for them in the shop.
== Getting Clothes ==
In Germany there are shops where you can bring unused clothes in a good state and/or take new clothes home. It does not cost anything. A list of these shops is available [http://www.umsonstladen.de/ here]. (German)
== Hygiene ==
Most toilets on the service stations are maintained by [[Sanifair]] and are clean. You get a 0.50 euro coupon as part of the 0.70 euro service fee, which you can redeem when buying things at the petrol station shop or in the restaurant. [[User:Pathofdhamma|Pathofdhamma]] suggest to seize the moment and jump the barrier if there are no people or cameras around. The turnstyle is only blocked for the inwards direction. With some luck and smooth moves, you can sneak in. Turn it towards you, walk one step; turn it again, walk another step: you are in!
There are showers in most ''Raststätte'' and ''Autohof'' service stations on and near the autobahn. Prices are between 2 euro and 5 euro.
== Telephone and Internet ==
=== Telephone ===
{| style = "float:right"
| [[File:Station multimedia Allemagne 2006.jpg|thumb|right|200px|Public surf terminal with telephone]]
|}
{| style = "float:right"
| [[File:TelefonzelleFrankfurt060422.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Different kinds of phone booths]]
|}
Phone booths that accept coins are still available all over Germany. The older ones are yellow, the newer ones are mostly glass and display a pink T. They are more expensive than using a prepaid card for your cell phone. A nice feature is that you can send SMS, faxes and e-mails even with the oldest types. However, input is a bit cumbersome and in one test it took at half a week to deliver a text message. In some cities there is cheaper ones from other operators than those from "pink T" (i.e. T-Com aka Deutsche Telekom).
A cheaper option is to buy a German prepaid SIM card. They are readily available from mobile shops like ''e-plus'', ''Vodafone'' and ''T-mobile''. A lot of supermarket chains like ''Aldi'', ''Netto'' and ''Lidl'' also have their own brands that use the network of the bigger providers. Check beforehand how to register the SIM card. Sometimes the seller wants to see an ID. If you prefer not to give out your real data you might for example buy a SIM card at ''Aldi'', which you can register via Internet with fake data.
If you want to make calls abroad there are some stores offering international phone booths in bigger cities. They are usually located in migration areas and often include an internet café.
=== Internet ===
==== Without laptop or smartphone ====
There are still some Internet cafés in the bigger cities. Rates are around 2 euro per hour.
In most cities you will find pay per use surf terminals like in the image to the right. They offer internet and telephone services.
==== By laptop or smartphone ====
There are almost no unsecured Wifi access points in Germany because people might be made responsible for illegal actions done through their internet access.
Most German prepaid cards also have a data option if you own a smartphone or a surfstick for your laptop, which also can be bought for about 30 euro. It's often better to buy a single day flatrate for two to five euros instead of using the data tariff. Details depend on your provider.
Some ''Burger King'' restaurants offer free Wifi without any registration. At ''McDonalds'' you get free Wifi for one hour per day without consuming anything. Sometimes the restaurants are located on service stations, you can look them up [http://www.mcdonalds.de/metanavigation/mcfinder/mcfinder.cfm here]. Enter a location in the search mask and make sure to check the option ''WLAN'' (abbreviation for Wireless LAN). Once there, connect, type in any address and you will be asked for a valid German mobile number, through which you will receive your access code. Take care: in both cases the connection is not encrypted so anything you send in clear text, e.g. when using a browser or e-mail tool without SSL, can be easily recorded by others nearby.
no edit summary
==== Getting onto the autobahn ====
[[File:Zeichen 330.svg|thumb|right|100px|The on-ramp sign of an autobahn]]
==== Service stations and rest areas ====
You have various possibilities for being dropped off along the autobahn to look for your next ride. As petrol station hitchhiking is faster, try to avoid being dropped at on-ramps where you have to thumb. On the autobahn, it is preferable to be dropped off at a service station instead of a rest area as rest areas have much less cars stopping.
=== Car registration/number plates ===
You can determine where a car is registered by its number plates. While tehre are certain plates on rented cars. (Europcar has „HH“ (Hamburg), Avis – „EU“ (Euskirchen), Sixt – „M“ (Munich), Hertz „DN-H“ (Düren)), other plates are associated with areas [https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_der_Kfz-Kennzeichen_in_Deutschland - DE], [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_registration_plates_of_Germany EN]. The first letter is usually the district where it is registered. In addition, there is a little patch beside the number which tells you what state that number plate belongs to, which is useful if you do not know the district letters.
== License plates ==
On the website: www.autobahnatlas-online.de you can find detailed listings of all Autobahnen, with all drive-ups, interchanges, all types of rest stops, tunnels, and bridges along their ways, with exact kilometer allegations. This comes along handy when hopping from station to station.
== Language ==
When asking your drivers for help it pays off to know that the German word ''Straße'' for street contains the weird letter ''ß'' which looks a bit like a B. If you pronounce it like an ''s'' Germans will understand you. Contrary to popular belief the diacritics on Ä, ä, Ö, ö, Ü and ü are not metal umlauts and thus they do affect pronunciation. If in doubt try to pronounce the word as if the diacritics didn't exist. For instance, if you pronounce the city ''Würzburg'' as ''Wurzburg'' you will probably be understood.
== Other possibilities of transportation == Other cheap possibilities include [[carpooling]] and special offers of the German railways [[Deutsche Bahn]]. === Carpooling ===[http://www.mitfahrgelegenheit.de mitfahrgelegenheit.de] once was the most popular website for carpooling. Since they started charging a certain percentage for each ride from the drivers, there are new pages starting to be used more and more. Some of them are: [http://www.blablacar.de blablacar.de] and [http://www.bessermitfahren.de bessermitfahren.de]. === Railways ===The country has an expensive railway network. As an alternative to the standard fare, you may also check offers and sales, for example regional or seasonal tickets. [http://www.bahn.com/i/view/DEU/en/prices/index.shtml]If travelling in a weekend it is possible to buy a ticket valid for unlimited travel for one day on all regional trains for up to 5 persons. See [http://www.bahn.com/i/view/overseas/en/prices/germany/schoenes-wochenende-ticket.shtml]See also [[Deutsche Bahn]]. == Practical Useful links ==
* [https://warmroads.de/en/hitchhiking-in-17-germany/ Comprehensive guide about hitchhiking in Germany] by [[User:Korn|Korn]] on https://warmroads.de
* [http://deu.anarchopedia.org/index.php/Deutschland:Trampstellen Hitchhiking spots in Germany], in German, on a GFDL wiki
* [http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e5/Autobahn_1-999.png Overview of autobahns in Germany]
[[ru:Германия]]
[[tr:Almanya]]
[[nomad:Germany]]
