dgassa

In Bavaria you can purchase a palace pass gpod for 14 days and save on admissions. Here's a link:

http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/engl...ts/jahresk.htm

Zeus

One of my most pleasant summer memories of Munich is hitching up to a table with a bunch of locals in the Vikualienmarkt. Cheap beer and sausages. Free conversation once the beers start flowing.

I find that I can get by without lunch if I partake of the usually massive breakfasts that are part of my hotel package almost everywhere in Germany.

For cheap light snacks and soft drinks Aldi and Lidl are almost everywhere.

artstuff

If you're visiting Bavaria and plan to tour through several castles & palaces, I would recommend the Bavarian Castle Pass as a budget tip. They offer a 14-day partner pass for Euro 36,00.

www.schloesser.bayern.de

During our 8-night stay in Bavaria we visited 8 castles, which totaled Euro 96,00 in admission fees. So we ended up saving Euro 60,00 total just by using the pass.

We visited the Würzburg Residenz, the Marienburg Fortress, the Bamberg Residenz, the Munich Residenz & Treasury, Schloss Nymphenburg, Linderhof and Schloss Neuschwanstein, which were all covered by the Pass. We also visited Schloss Hohenschwangau, which is privately owned, so it is not included in the pass, however they did give us a Euro 1,00 discount.

My second budget tip for Munich, or for just about any town/city, is to visit their churches, which are usually free. There you can usually find some great architecture, beautiful artwork, and pieces of history all rolled up into one building.

We particularly enjoy visiting churches with reliquaries. And lately we've been looking for, and photographing the "skeletons in churches". If you look hard enough, just about every church has a skeleton depicted in their artwork, or in some cases, real skeletons displayed.

For the best gold-gilted skeleton, visit the Asamkirche in Munich, which is a splendid display of all things Baroque (on steroids). Or you can stand in the "Devil's Footprint" at the Frauenkirche, and learn the history of the pact between the architect and the devil. At the Michaelskirche, for Euro 2,00 fee you can visit the Wittelsbach crypt, including the tomb of their beloved castle builder, King Ludwig II.

Robyn >-

Hans

My two cents:

1.) In many large cities the main business of hotels isnīt tourism but business travel. The times to avoid are trade fairs, when prices double or triple. On weekends on the other hand, many hotels might be nearly empty and some offer special fares. So when you check for hotel prices, take a look at different dates. A good tool is www.hrs.de

Also check for the details of the hotel price. In some cases the breakfast is up to 25% of the room price and not taking it can substantially lower the price (again the reason for this are the business travelers who donīt care if a cup of coffee and a bread roll cost 19 Euro since they donīt pay themselves).

2.) Public transport: the pricing system can be awfully complicated, so tourists tend to pay the regular fare which can be steep. But there are loads of special conditions.

Buses and trams in cities: my best advice is to go to a tourist information or the ticket office in large train stations, tell them what you want to do and ask for specials. There are always passes for one or several days which might not cost more than 3 single one-way tickets. There are also often group or family tickets. Also common are tickets valid only for the weekend or after 9 AM (again the main business are commuters, so if you donīt use the public transport during commuting hours, prices might drop).
Also many tickets for example to museums include the use of public transport to and from the place (i.e. buses and trams, not long distance trains).

Railway:
- Ländertickets: they offer the use of all regional trains of the German rail (all train numbers starting with S-, RE, RB, IRE) in one of the German states for a day for 5 persons for less than 30 Euro. Buses and trams are also often included (varies depending on the state).
- Weekend ticket: again unlimited travel with regional trains, 5 persons for one day for 35 Euro, but in that case itīs not limited to a state but valid in the whole of Germany. Possible only on Saturday or Sunday.
- Children tariffs: Children up to 14 travel free with a parent or grand-parent who has a ticket (best ask for information if you use a special ticket in case that there are limitations). But it might be required to note this down when ordering tickets online. Children under 6 always travel free.
- Saving if you book a specific train: If you can specifiy which train you want to take a few days in advance, you get special prices. Main problem for tourists: it has to be a two-way ticket. The savings are 25% if one of the dates is on a weekday. If both legs are on a weekend, savings are 50%. A huge additional advantage, if I understand it correctly, is that additional persons get another 50% discount on that price.
- Bahncard: they give you a discount on all tickets bought from the German rail for one year and exist in 25, 50 and 100%. The Bahncard 50 is with 220 Euro probably already too expensive for most tourists who are here only for a short time, but Bahncard 25 can be cheap and you get 25%.
For young people up to and including 19, it costs only 10 Euro. For adults, itīs 55 Euro, but for families with children younger than 18, only one adult pays the 55 Euro and the partner and children pay 6 Euro for their cards (best ask for info if you want to use this option since the rail will need some documentation).
As a special gimmick for the European Cup, the rail currently offers a Bahncard 25 for 19 Euro. Its validity depends on how many games the German national team wins (if they win the title, itīll be valid until the end of 2008).
A nice effect of the Bahncard is that if you take a long distance ride to many cities, the use of public transport in that city from the railway station is free.

3.) Restaurants: this obviously depends on the restaurant, but on average German restaurants have a different pricing structure than restaurants in Southern European countries. The main dishes are normally rather cheap, while everything else is expensive (an old saying is that the restaurant donīt earn money with food but with the drinks). So if you want to save money, just take a main dish and one drink.

Another point is the Mittagstisch, i.e. lunch offers, mainly aimed at workers close to the restaurant. This is either a reduced option of the normal menu or maybe three dishes which change daily (normally including a vegetarian option). The price is often reduced in comparison to the “normal” dinner prices and a soup or salad might be included. Main business is 11:45 to 12:30, so better go a little later of you want to avoid the rush, though some options might be sold out.

Snowflake25

We purchased a Berlin Card that gave us unlimited transportation for the 3 days we were there. We rode the #100 bus many times getting off and on as we did our touring about. We also took a walking tour of Berlin and got a discount because of the card. The tour was excellent and a great starting point for our stay.

RufusTFirefly

For taxi rides in Berlin (maybe some other cities, too), if you are going under 2 km you can request a short trip (Kurtzstrecke) rate--3 euros as long as the trip is under 2 km. You must hail a moving cab-- request the fare before the cabbie activates his meter. It can even be less expensive than public transport depending on where you are going and the number of people in your group.

We used it several times for our party of 4 people on our November 2006 trip to Berlin. Especially nice at the end of the day when everyone was tired and the temperature began to drop.

Myownheroine

IIRC, I think Berlin has some pretty good deals on Priceline.

Check out biddingfortravel.com.

bavariaben

Thanks logos - I asked a German friend why he never corrected my use of the term "Zimmer Frei". He said he had "found over the years that in the American vernacular this same term is used for "B & B" and never bothered to correct anyone. In many instances the terms Fremdenzimmer or Privatzimmer are posted on a house and underneath or next to it you may find the term "Frei" or "Zimmer Frei" indicating a vacancy. I wouldn't loose any sleep about it."

I won't lose any sleep about it but I promise I will henceforth use Fremdenzimmer and Privatzimmer when I refer to what I always took for granted was "Zimmer Frei". I'm an old dog but not too old to learn. I appreciate your correction. It's easy to see that I'm just your average tourist but I do love to visit Germany... Ben

salwa_jabado

Hi everyone,

Thanks again for your great tips!

Artstuff, thanks for the tip on the castle and palace pass.

Hans, thanks for warning us about the business travelers and their expense accounts. It's definitely a good idea to avoid cities hosting trade fairs as hotels book up and prices skyrocket. Does anyone have a resource for finding out when trade fairs are happening?

It's also a great idea to opt out of too-pricey breakfasts included in the hotel price. If you opt out of breakfast, any suggestions on where to get a hearty start for half the price?

RufusTFirefly, I like your tip about Berlin taxis (requesting a Kurtzstrecke rate, a flat fare of 3 euros for any trip under 2km). How did you know if you were only going 2km though? Did you find taxi drivers spoke English and were agreeable to this fare? Does anyone know if this applies in other cities in Germany?

Thanks again for all your help! I think a lot of people will benefit from this thread!

altamiro

>Does anyone know if this applies in other cities in Germany?

It doesnīt. I pay about 5 Euro (meter charge) for roughly 2 km distance to my home from Mannheim main station. I never heard of a "Kurzstrecke" tariff on taxis before...

RufusTFirefly

Hi, SalwaJ.

Sometimes we just knew from our maps that something was 2 km or less. Other times we just said "Kurtzstrecke" to the cab driver and he would indicate if it was too far or not. They all understood "Kurtzstrecke, bitte." None ever objected to the fare. I do wonder if the price might go up a bit soon with the increase in gasoline prices.

Most taxi drivers we encountered spoke enough English that there were no communications problems in terms of them understanding where we wanted to go--usually we just had to say our destination or have it written out and it wasn't an issue. I also got to practice my high school and college German from 35 years ago.

logos999

There is no thing like a Kurzstrecke in Munich either. Tariffs are strictly regulatated by the city.
http://www.muenchen.info/dir/recht/410/410_20060515.htm

However, what is interesting, there is a flat rate from the airport to the Munich exhibition grounds. It's a rate of 51€, everything included.

logos999

>requesting a Kurtzstrecke rate
KuRZstrecke ;-) (short distance)

salwa_jabado

Thanks for the spelling correction Logos999!

logos999

Diesel price is now above gas in most places. "Jet" gas station, which usually are the cheapest, now charge 1.56€ for diesel and 1.55€ per liter for all! other fuels.

kleeblatt

There's about a 30 Rappen difference in Switzerland with diesel being the higher price. I believe diesel is now about SFr. 2.11 per liter.

Jake1

Well, my college German was 38 years ago! Spelling correction noted.

noe847

We found the 3 day "SchauLUST Museen BERLIN" museum pass to be fantastic deal. They now cost 19.00 € (price raised in January 2008 from 15.00 &euro and provide for fee admission to around 70 museums, including almost all of the major museums and some fine smaller collections. Given the quanity and quality of Berlin's museums, you will run out of time before you run out of good museums to visit. Here's a list of the museums covered by the pass:
http://tinyurl.com/6cf698

Berlin is famous for its markets, and exploring them gives a view of the city that is a bit different from the standard tourist sights - and is free (unless you buy!) Two that we have enjoyed are the Turkish Market on Maybachufer (food and inexpensive manufactured goods, Tuesday and Friday afternoons) and also the large Trödelmarkt (flea market) on Straße des 17. Juni (vintage wares and collectibles, Saturdays and Sundays).

My daughters, in their early 20's, had a great time at the vintage clothing shop Garage, which sells used clothing by weight - around 14€ per kilo. It's near the Nollendorfplatz U-bahn, at Ahornstrasse 2.

noe847

Sorry about a major typo in my last post. Let's try this again -
The museum pass provides for FREE admission, not FEE admission!

Most of the museums are in the 6.00 € to 8.00 € range, so if you visit more than 3 in a 3 day period, you stand to save money. Also, when you have the pass, you can just pop in for a minute or to view one or two special pieces, without feeling that you've wasted money.

JamesL

As Traveler1959 suggests, we do occasionally eat in University restaurants, ordinarily if we're there to see a museum or a performance or whatever. In Berlin Studentenwerk-Berlin manages a central directory of university cafeterias and restaurants at http://www.studentenwerk-berlin.de/m...ien/index.html