Mistakes Tourists Make in Germany

Tourists always make mistakes when they travel, sometimes they are small mistakes that cost them a bit of money, other times mistakes can ruin your vacation. This video goes through the most common tourist mistakes that tourists and travelers to Germany for their German vacation make.
Honest tourist information on visiting Germany from someone who has visited Germany yearly for nearly 30 years and lived there for multiple years as well.
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Filmed in Freiburg, Germany
#Germany #deutschland #visitgermany

Copyright Mark Wolters 2023

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[donutdude]

I once paid 4 Euros for a seat reservation. However, there was an old lady already sitting in my seat and I did not have it in me to tell her to get off. Experience tells me that most passengers understand how the seat reservation system works and will gladly get off when you show them proof of reservation, but I was not going to make an old lady stand for 3 hours in a crowded train with no other seats left. One of the oddest dilemmas of my life.

[taffytang]

Also remember to press the round button on the door of the train/metro when you need to get on or off, the door doesn’t automatically open at every stop, and do it quickly too, learned that the hard way.

[m.hoffman]

also do NOT expect German trains to be on time, if you do a train journey with like 3 changes, expect at least 1 train to be cancelled or late

[holger_p]

A german would run away, if a sales person is coming up to "help". That's like somebody selling you sunglasses on the beach, considered annoying behaviour, having your time to look around on your own, is considered fine. Service is not intrusive, you have to ask for it.

[carpediem]

Regarding the service: It has also to do with not being intruding. That goes for Restaurants especially, the service people are there to help you bring you your food, and drinks and tell you where the restroom is, but while you are eating they will leave you allone and stay back so that you can enjoy the cmpany that you are with and aren't interupted every 5 minutes, because a server is asking you if everything is okay. Compared to many restaurants in the US you will also stay in the restaurant for much longer because no one is pushing you out.
It is similar for shopping. The service people will have an eye on you and if you make contact, they will come over and help you out, otherwise they will let you look through the product on your own, to make your own decision and if you need help with a size or something else they will help you out later. They are there to help you get what you want and not necessarily to push product. That is how a lot of European countries prefer it.

[Czechbound]

*Food by weight* : This might also apply in Germany. Here in Prague, especially during the Xmas markets, it's common to see a ham being cooked on a spit. You buy the ham, and it's served on a slice of bread. Locals/ Czech speakers will be given a normal, manageable amount (typically 50g of meat ). A tourist however can sometimes be hacked off a 200g "slice", and it becomes expensive as the food is sold by weight. So ask for a certain weight ( somewhere 50g to 100g is more than enough ). If you get too much, say no, that's too much and get them to reduce the meat they are going to sell you.

[stephenhassler]

Great list, I remember many of these from my past trips to Germany. I would add:
• One usually has to pay to use public restrooms, whether through a turnstile or by leaving coins in the basket of the person outside who cleans them.
• Punctuality isn’t just important for business meetings; I was gently scolded for arriving a few minutes late to a relative’s home, even when nothing else timed was planned.
• At restaurants, don’t expect any type of drink to be served with ice, and there is no such thing as free refills.

[lautrufend]

#1 tip for me: Always carry some cash.

After visiting the UK and France, where credit cards and tap-to-pay were nearly ubiquitous—even for a small street vendor or a coffee bar, this was not true in Germany. Yes, you can pay with cards at major stores and restaurants. But many smaller shops will take cash only. Even at a coffee shop that accepted cards gave side-eye when I tried to charge €10, and the cashier asked, “can’t you just pay in cash?”

Also keep in mind you might need some euro coins to use certain public restrooms!

[outliersoverland]

Good morning from southern Poland.
Thanks for the video.
We just spend three weeks driving through Germany and it was an experience we’ll never forget.

[amandeis]

Du hast wirklich sehr gut heraus gefunden was man falsch machen kann. Danke für die Infos an die Touristen.

[mattball]

Freiburg! The sunniest place in Germany. Where we will probably try to live if Tangerine Palpatine is back in power.
Ah, Germany. So many of my best memories are there.

[MagnificentGermanywithDarion]

Once again your accurate expertise shines.I love your videos and always looking to watching more.Great job Mark.

[CajunCooper]

Leaving for Germany tomorrow. We have enjoyed many of your videos!! We’ll be visiting many areas of Europe that you’ve visited, or lived. Really have appreciated the info you’ve shared!! Especially the train info!!!

[martinbruhn]

When I go to a restaurant, I don't go there to spend time with the waiters, I want them to take my orders, be polite and then give me my space to spend time with the people I'm with and actually want to spend time with. Nothing worse than waiters who just won't leave you alone.

[alphakraut]

Oh you are in Germany at the moment? 😮
Herzlich Willkommen ❤🎉🇩🇪

[TomWatsonB]

Being married to a German and living three years in Munich, this video is very accurate! Definitely want to get those reserved tickets on the long trips. We reserved a private wagon from Berlin to Munich all to ourselves with our two children. Worth every penny. Likely will be doing so again now that we have three children this summer, as we are going to Euro 2024 in Munich and Berlin!

[OllieV__nl]

Years ago, at a food stall near a tourist trap (I think it was Neuschwanstein) we heard a story from a worker there about how an American tourist ordered four Bitburgers for his family, thinking they were burgers. I'm not sure if that actually happened or whether it was an ice breaker used by the worker (himself an American) but it gave everyone a chuckle.

[mrsporty]

Congratulations with 1M subscribers. I follow this nice channel regularly. Thanks for sharing 🌲

[sams]

My big tip is is don’t be asking a bunch of questions to someone who’s not working in that area, like the DB lady isn’t going to know about the buses for example. My mom is so bad for that, asking cleaners about the trains….they probably won’t know. People really stay focused on their role & they don’t want to be giving you half-hearted advice about something they don’t have knowledge about so they might refuse

[albert]

And yes, I ran into the zones in Munich - I had to make sure the group tickets we bought when we went to dachau (which we could use the next morning to get to the airport) covered all the zones. The MVV app made it ridiculously easy.