Getting by and traveling in Germany...

[KillerRiffs]

hello there...
my friend and I will be traveling from America to Wacken this year and are looking forward to spending 10 days or so having a blast in Germany! I have been TRYING to learn some Deutsch so we are not completely lost and clueless in Germany, but I'm guessing that Wacken will have many English speakers. But, I'm wondering about other parts of Germany. We plan to visit Frankfurt, Bad Wimpfen, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, and other places, too, and I am wondering as to how hard it will be for us to get by on a crude knowledge of the Deutsch language. I'm going to try to learn as much as I can before I leave, but I haven't had a lot of experience yet. Will two American kids who can speak a little Deutsch be okay for 10 days?
I'm also wondering if anyone has any suggested places/events that we should visit. We will be in Deutschland from around 23 July to 4 August. And we don't have any obligations except Wacken, so we're interested in having a lot of fun and seeing a lot of cool things! Any suggestions??!
thanks a lot!!!
Pat

 

[schneeWITCHen]

you gotta visit the ROXY club in essen one saturday, it's a very cool metal disco

normally most (young) germans speak good english, so you won't have big problems

 

[xpet]

...and for more Metal places to go in the evening check out www.metaltravelguide.com

 

[sepp]

Bad Wimpfen???????????????

 

[Icelandic-arse]

and

buy lonely planet's German phrasebook

 

[KillerRiffs]

um....

I have a Fodor's phrasebook and tapes that I'm using to help learn Deutsch, as well as many online lessons, etc.
What about any rad castles or medieval festivals or other cool events??? Do people know of anything like that worth checking out, or just some certain cool towns/cities??
thanks...
pat

 

[aborted]

if you wanna go to another festival and also have the opportunity of a cool countryside around you have to go to the party-san. thats the week-end after the wacken open air. its in thürigen (thuringia) ex-eastgermany. extremely cool (young) party people, friendlier (older) people than in west germany. and as the bands don´t start till middle/late after noon you can check out loads of the local castles and stuff...
have a look at www.party-san.de

 

[Metalsulm]

Originally posted by sepp
Bad Wimpfen???????????????

A small but famous city about 10km north of Heilbronn in the Neckar-Valley.....wonderful medivial town

http://www.badwimpfen.de/

 

[Suwarin]

My my ...I never heard of Bad Wimpfen.. and I live here(I mean in Germany not Bad Wimpfen)...shame on me...

 

[Lee Spellcast]

If you are in to more extreme metal you can check out Open Hell festival the weekend before Wacken, with good bands and very cheap prices (2 beers = 1 euro!!)

The link is www.openhellfest.cjb.net

Lee.

 

[Brat]

I've read about a medieval festival in Heidelberg just after Wacken but I can't seem to find anymore information about it :/

I think last time I went to the castle internet site is crashed my computer *bloody netscape*

 

[scareall]

Myself and my family will be going to Party-San also,i would appreciate very much if anyone could give me information on train routes/prices from Erfurt to Hamburg as it seems to be quite expensive at €200 . also i was not aware that Bad Berka has castles is there a web-site where i can see pics of this place?

 

[Brat]

The German tourism board has a wesbite (sorry don't have it with me and I lost it a couple of months back when my hard drive died) and it has links to almost all the castles in Germany (at least ones open to the public).

For english timetables etc for trains in Germany
http://www.bahn.de/pv/uebersicht/die_bahn_international_guests.shtml

This site is awesome, but I haven't found prices. Maybe you can email them with your question.

 

[scareall]

Thanks Brat, i was sent an e-mail from a friend in germany regarding travel and cheaper prices apparently you can buy a weekend ticket for use on the slower trains(not IC or ICE) that costs €28 (a lot cheaper than €200) and you can travel all over germany. is this right,or have i been given the wrong information?

 

[xpet]

Hi Scareall,
that info is right. And maybe it´s really interesting to travel with slow trains through Germany. But - that trains are very very slow and you´ll have to change them very often. So you should plan your route very thoroughly before if you don´t want to get lost at a lonely train station out there in the nowhere! Also check before from when to when this ticket is valid exactly.