Entry requirements | Organizing your trip | Visiting | Eating | Paying | Speaking |

Entry requirements

Passport and visa service

Consult the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs website (Auswärtiges Amt)

Diplomatic representations

Consult the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs website

For more information

Embassy of Germany in Greece
3 Karaoli & Dimitriou
10675 Athens
Phone: +30 21 07 28 51 11
Fax: + 30 21 07 25 12 05
boathens@compuling.gr

Organizing your trip

Means of transport recommended in town

Recommendation

Taxis are very easily available day and night at reasonable rates. You can ask your hotel or restaurant to order a taxi for you. To get a receipt, ask for "eine Quittung, bitte." Drivers can usually speak English. In large cities, the tramway network (Strassenbahn), metros (U-Bahn), the express metro network (S-Bahn) and buses are less expensive alternatives to taxis.

Maps of urban networks

Map of the Berlin subway and simulation of itineraries
Map of the Munich subway
Map of the Hamburg subway
Map of the Frankfurt subway
Maps of other German subways

Means of transport recommended in the rest of the country

Recommendation

Choose the ICE (InterCity Express) train between the main cities: Frankfurt - Berlin (4 hours), Frankfurt - Cologne (1 hour 15mn), Berlin - Leipzig (1 hour), Berlin - Hamburg (1 hour 30 mn). On these links, the motorway network, often saturated, cannot compete with the train. Do not hesitate to take the plane for the trips between Munich - Hamburg, Munich - Berlin or Stuttgart - Berlin.

Rail companies

The Deutsche Bahn website

Flight from Greece

Two european aircraft companies offer air connections between Greece and the main German cities : Lufthansa and Olympic Airlines operate direct regular flights from Athens to Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. For low cost company, check Aegean Airlines, LTU, Germanwings .To find out air connections from Greece to Germany click here

Traveling by yourself

Recommendation

The motorway network (Bundesautobahn) is practical because it is free for cars. There is no speed limit but a lot of maintenance work slows down traffice frequently. Allow extra time to be sure to arrive at your appointment in good time. There is no problem refuelling.

Road maps

Viamichelin
Mappy
Falk
Meine Stadt

Find an itinerary

Viamichelin
Mappy

Visiting

Different forms of tourism

Historical

There are many places for tourists to visit:
- historic city centers: Regensburg, Würzburg, Goerlitz;
- museums: Pinakothek in Munich, museum island in Berlin;
- palaces : Sans-Souci at Potsdam, Charlottenburg in Berlin;
- cathedrals : Cologne, Berlin, Aachen;
- the banks of the Elbe;
- the remains of the Berlin wall.

Cultural

Operas, concert halls, theaters, festivals, museums, art galleries, open air cinema.

Nature

Castles, parks and gardens

Near Berlin, at Potsdam, the park of Sans-Souci palace covers nearly 300 hectares. Also worth visiting is the zoological garden (Zoologischer Garten) in Berlin, the park of the palace of Nymphenburg in Munich and the Herrenhausen royal gardens in Hanover.

Nature parks

Altmühltal, Eifel, Saar Hunsrück, Schiefergebirge, the Swabian and Franconian forest, Schwalm-Nette, the Black Forest Center/North, Südeifel, the island of Usedom.

National Parks

Eifel, Kellerwald-Edersee, Lakes of Schleswig-Holstein, Lakes of Hamburg, Lakes of Lower Saxony, Jasmund, Western Pomeranian Bodden Landscape Park, Müritz, Unteres Odertal, Harz, Hainich, Saxony Switzerland, Bavarian forest, Berchtesgaden.

Religious

Aachen, Cologne Cathedral, Berliner Dom.

Thermal

Aquatic parks, health resorts and spas.

Beach

Many lakes: Constance, Müritzsee, Chiemsee, Schwerin, Starnberg ; very big rivers: Rhine, Danube, Main, Weser and Elbe; the Baltic and North Sea coasts; the canals in Brandenburg and in Mecklenburg.

Winter sports

The Bavarian Alps, Allgäu, Black Forest, Harz, Thuringe forest, and Saxony are all skiing areas. The highest summit is the Zugspitze 2962 m in the Bavarian Alps.

Outdoor activities

Cycling, walking, canoeing, climbing, rollerblading.

Shopping

The biggest store in Germany is in Berlin: KaDeWe Kaufhaus of the West. Also in Berlin, do not miss Friedrichstrasse. All the large cities in Germany have pedestrian areas which offer a wide choice of stores.

Tourism organizations

German Tourism Board

Eating

Food specialties

German culinary specialties vary according to regions:- Wurst (the famous sausages), Schinken (an immense variety of pork meats, about 1 500 kinds); - Brot (the famous German breads, more than 200 kinds); - Sauerkraut : sauerkraut garnished, for example, with ham hock "Eisbein mit Sauerkraut"

Also to be noted the Spätzle (a type of pasta) a specialty of Bade Wurtenberg, Meatballs (a Berlin specialty) and desserts (Apfelstrudel, Stollen, Mohnkuchen - poppyseed cake)

Drinks

Germany is naturally famous for its wide variety of beers. As the world's second producer and first exporter of beers (to about 140 countries) and with 1 800 breweries, it produces about 5 000 different beers. Germans drink little still water and prefer sparkling water. Another favorite drink is Apfelschorle, apple juice diluted with lemonade. Another refreshing drink is Radler, beer diluted with lemonade.

Dietary restrictions

There are no dietary restrictions in the country. Nevertheless, a certain number of Germans are vegetarians.

Paying

Domestic currency

Euro

ISO Code

EUR

To obtain domestic currency

ATMs take most credit cards. In addition, there are plenty of them and easily accessible, in airports, town centers and all over the country.

Possible means of payment

Cash payments are very widespread, and credit cards are increasingly accepted although some restaurants will only take cash.  Likewise, some restaurants only take the "EC" card (a payment card, issued by German banks, which is not a credit card). Moreover, payment by cheque in shops or restaurants is not possible.

Exchange rate on

Automatic Teller Machines (ATM)

To find out the locations of ATMs in in Germany, click on the link to your credit card: Visa, Mastercard or American Express

Speaking

Official language

German.

Other languages spoken

Most Germans have a very good knowledge of English. Quite a few of them speak French. Additionally, though less frequently, Italian, Spanish and Russian are also spoken.

Business language

The business languages are German and English.

Getting some knowledge

Use the travlang website. For a translation service, visit ContexTrans. To take lessons, consult the Goethe Institutes website.

Free translation tools

Dico Leo - Translation and pronunciation.
Eurovoc Thesaurus - Multilingual thesaurus (21 official European languages)
IATE - Interactive Terminology for Europe
Culture gouv - Free Greek-German-Greek translator
Hexagone - Not Free Greek-German-Greek translator

We can translate your foreign-language documents.

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Last updates: May 2012