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XP from Travel: Germany Help
Posted this on the travel board but I am hoping that some of you Germany girls can help me out 
Finally got my dates for my trip to Germany this fall. I will be
there from mid/late November until mid December. I need to be in the
following cities on the following dates AND I will need to get to them
easily. (and before anyone points this out...YES I KNOW I AM INSANE!) I am going to need a vacation after this vacation!! (edited to add mileage notations for reference)
23.11.2012 - DE - Dresden ? Strasse
24.11.2012 - DE - Erfurt ? Gewerkschaftshaus (approx 151 miles)
26.11.2012 - DE - Dortmund ? FZW (approx 195 miles)
27.11.2012 - DE - K?ln ? Live Music Hall (approx 60 miles)
28.11.2012 - DE - Bremen ? Schlachthof (approx 200 miles)
30.11.2012 - DE - Magdeburg ? Factory (approx 160 miles)
01.12.2012 - DE - Leipzig ? Anker (approx 78 miles)
02.12.2012 - DE - Berlin ? C-Club (approx 115 miles)
04.12.2012 - DE - Mannheim ? Alte Seilerei (approx 383 miles)
05.12.2012 - DE - M?nchen ? Backstage (approx 214 miles)
06.12.2012 - DE - N?rnberg ? Hirsch (approx 105 miles)
I think I might just have to suck it up and rent a car because I need to be in a new city almost every single day.
Not opposed to taking the train since it might be faster than flying.
Also looking for decent priced hotel suggestions that are near any of the above locations.
Re: XP from Travel: Germany Help
All right I have to ask. Are you following a band around on tour? If so neat.
I'm not much help with train, rental, or plane. You might need to use the ICE train to get to some places faster.
2012 Reading Challenge
Now Nesting from Chicago, IL My nail blog:
Ok, I was wondering, too, since you're not exactly taking the direct route to those cities and will be crossing your own path several times. Given that you'll be going to specific locations that will likely not all be located in the city center (near the main train stations), your best bet is probably to rent a car. Especially if you don't know German, it will probably be really stressful for you to navigate all of the public transportation to get where you need to go. If you rent a car, make sure it'll have GPS in it and you'll be able to set it to English to get you where you need to go.
If you have any more specific questions as the trip gets closer, just let us know.
Good luck!
I'm voting rental car too. Maybe split it up so you fly to one area have a rental for a bit. Then fly to the second area and rent a car again. I didn't really look at the schedule and places closely so that may or may not be possible.
Like Fly Berlin to Frankfurt then get a rental for Mannheim, Munich, and N?rnberg.
2012 Reading Challenge
Now Nesting from Chicago, IL My nail blog:
Meine Deutsch ist nicht sehr gut. Ich verstehe und ich spreche ein wenig.
I actually understand way more written and spoken German than I speak; I should be back up to beginners level fluency by November.
Not too thrilled with the jumping all over the country but I will just have to deal with it. At least I will have an adventure and get to see parts of the country that not everyone visits.
It sounds like a fun adventure! If you can manage all the driving it would be fun to rent a car. Is it just you or are you going with an SO or friend?
I've only driven Zurich, Munich, Frankfurt, Dortmund route. But some of areas we drove along were beautiful. Especially around Munich and then again just before Dortmund. Frankfurt... We always got stuck in traffic and the scenery was crappy haha.
2012 Reading Challenge
Now Nesting from Chicago, IL My nail blog:
This is my midlife crisis trip! Leaving the husband at home and I am going to run wild all over Germany. It will be very hard to come home at the end of the trip.
I will probably get a few rides between some cities since there are a few other fans that will be doing multiple shows. I might be able to convince my "sister" in Croatia to join me for a few shows. She has to be in Germany for work around the same time so it might work out.
Driving is not an issue because I live in SoCal and we drive everywhere
I am used to driving up to LA for concerts and coming back the same day. I am just hoping that I dont have to deal with crappy winter weather; I can drive in snow and ice but I prefer not to do so. At least I can take comfort in the fact that the guys (Peter Heppner, Dirk, and the rest of the band) will also be driving between the cities. Too bad I cant tag along with them!
I don't think the train would be too bad for a lot of those connections, except maybe Berlin to Mannheim, but even there you have a day between the two. The thing I would be most concerned with is the number of connections. I've gone from roughly the Dortmund area to Erfurt and it's two connections on the way there, no connections on the way back. If you're planning to bring a lot of clothes/luggage you'll definitely want a car. I just think the car rental/gas/parking can get expensive. But, I'm not sure how easy it is to do laundry on a trip like this unless you hand wash it in the hotel bathroom or don't mind paying for the hotel cleaners. There are laundromats, but sometimes they are difficult to find with limited time.
I'm not sure where the venues are in relation to the hotels, but a cheaper chain is the IBIS. Also, it looks like a lot of these cities are going to have high traffic christmas markets during christmas market season. Again, it depends on where the venue is exactly, but hotels could get booked up quickly.
If it were me, I'd map out all of these venues on google maps, see where they are compared to the main train stations/subway/tram stops and hotels in the area.
I would rent a car - there are some decent deals out there right now for European rentals. Gas will be expensive, so you may still want to do the train some, but compare the prices first to make sure it is actually cheaper. And driving on the Autobahn is fun.
If you're looking to cut costs anywhere, don't rule out hostels. They aren't all just for the under 26 crowd and many have private rooms available.
And if you get the chance, hit some Christmas Markets! Especially in Munich - several markets to check out and delicious Gl?hwein.
Have a fun whirl-wind tour!
I didn't realise he was touring!
I love Wolfsheim, but when they stopped, I never got into Heppner (but I liked the stuff he did with Schiller and Paul van Dyk).
Have fun- looks like a great trip!
Berlin - Mannheim can actually be a direct connection with the ICE (fastest trains), but the issue in all of the cities wouldn't necessarily be the connection to the main train stations. It would be that a venue for a concert might not be in the city center in all of them, and then you'd have to figure out the public transportation system (subway, street cars, and/or buses) in each city to get where you need to go, including how to buy tickets.
Otherwise - exactly what turtle said.
*insert stupid squeal here* You actually know who he is??? I am impressed! I missed seeing Wolfsheim on their only US tour in 2004 and Herrn Heppner is my absolute favorite musician.
I was planning on spending a month in Germany but with the annoucement of a second leg for the tour in 2013 I will be forced to cut my trip short so that I can come back after the first of the year to do it all again!
I will probably fly into Berlin and spend 2 days there before heading to Dresden. I will fly out of Nurmberg so I will have at least 1.5 days to explore there. Any must sees for those cities? I already have a list a mile long for Berlin and I know I wont even scratch the surface of stuff I want to see!
Yes, I know who he is. I'm a huge fan of synthpop and electronic music. I heard "Once in a Lifetime" on the radio and I was hooked! They reminded me of Depeche Mode, which from your screen name, I can tell you like.
Must sees for Berlin and Nuernberg? It depends what you like? I've been to Berlin quite a few times, but mostly it was to party. I did, however, see a few sights. Are you a history person? I enjoyed Checkpoint Charlie museum and the open air museum, I think called topography of Terror. I've heard the DDR museum is really nice. I want to check that out on my next trip. I also like the TV tower at Alexander Platz. The Reichstag is nice for views, but you need to book that ahead nowadays. I found the Dom nice, and I heard walking tours are really good in Berlin. I did my own walking tour to the sights I was interested in.
I've never been to Nuernberg, but DH has, and he enjoyed the sites where the old rallies were. We are both into WW2 history, so I'm not sure if this is your thing or not.
I'm not sure if you wanted suggestions for the other places.
Hope that helps!
My food blog
What I'm looking forward to in 2012:
Eating our way through (northern) Italy on vacation
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home Dhi girl.see going home to my home country. jealous.. lol
about ur transportation. renting a car u quick too if you can deal with the german freeway ppl drive like 200km/h and we dont drive on all lanes there. certain lane for certain speed.
trains is way more comfortable but a lot of trains dont drive at nite on short distance. check out www.bahn.de have a english button on it. so u can check out ur route. they have special like special train tickets for states is cheaper or fall special.
flying would just be best from distance cities like from dortmund to koeln no flight, its like 1-2hour drive with no traffic. freeway around koeln and leverkusen and oberhausen are nightmares constructions over constructions, my sister lives in koeln and when i drove there it was a nightmare.
renting a car would be the best just be careful with the speed. try to check out www.hrs.de or www.holidaycheck.de
ooh and dont forget the weather its November and December so its going to be freezing cold, rain , snow and under below temperature..pack some warm clothes
but u can see awesome fun christmas market . nuernberg has the best market. its fun