POCKET DVENTURES Henk Bekker GGEERRMMAANNYY POCKET DVENTURES BELIZE GERMANY Henk Bekker Vivien Lougheed HUNTER HUNTERPUBLISHING,INC, 130CampusDrive,Edison,NJ08818 732-225-1900;800-255-0343;fax732-417-1744 www.hunterpublishing.com UlyssesTravelPublications 4176Saint-Denis,Montréal,Québec CanadaH2W2M5 514-843-9882,ext.2232;fax514-843-9448 WindsorBooks TheBoundary,WheatleyRoad,Garsington Oxford,OX449EJEngland 01865-361122;fax01865-361133 ISBN13:978-1-58843-596-5 ISBN10:1-58843-596-2 ©2007HunterPublishing,Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyform,orbyany means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,withoutthewrittenpermissionofthepublisher. Thisguidefocusesonrecreationalactivities.Asallsuchactivities containelementsofrisk,thepublisher,author,affiliatedindividuals and companies disclaim responsibility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to insure the accuracyofinformationinthisbook,butthepublisherandauthor do not assume, and hereby disclaim, liability for any loss or damagecausedbyerrors,omissions,misleadinginformationor potentialtravelproblemscausedbythisguide,evenifsucherrors oromissionsresultfromnegligence,accidentoranyothercause. Coverphoto:SchlossNeuschwanstein(©www. romantishestrasse.de) IndexbyNancyWolff MapsbyToniCarbone,©2007HunterPublishing,Inc. 1 2 3 4 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 1 History 4 KeyEvents 4 HistoryTimeLine 6 EarlyHistory 6 TheHolyRomanEmpire 6 TheUnificationofGermany 7 TheWeimarRepublic&theNaziEra 8 Post-WWIIGermany 9 Culture 9 Geography 10 Climate 11 Flora&Fauna 12 Government 12 TheEconomy 13 TopAttractions 13 TRAVELINFORMATION 17 FastFacts 17 Orientation 17 Transportation 18 Embassies&Consulates 23 MoneyMatters 24 Food&Drink 26 Electricity 27 Media 27 Medical 27 Restrooms 28 Shopping 28 Telephones 28 Mail 29 Dates&Time 29 Costs 30 Sightseeing&Events 32 Holidays 32 Adventures 35 SpecialInterest 35 InformationSources 36 Language 36 iv Contents BERLIN 39 GettingHere 41 InformationSources 43 GettingAround 43 Sightseeing 44 ZooStationArea 46 Tiergarten 47 UnterdenLinden 53 Museuminsel 56 Friedrichstraße 58 PotsdamerPlatz 60 Museums&Galleries 60 CulturalEvents 69 Shopping 70 Adventures 73 WheretoStay 76 Mitte&EastBerlin 76 West 79 Camping 82 WheretoEat 83 Mitte 83 UnterdenLinden 83 GendarmenmarktArea 86 PotsdamerPlatz 87 West 88 Top-EndRestaurants 88 Kurfürstendamm 89 SavignyPlatz 91 DaytripsfromBerlin 91 Potsdam 91 SanssouciPark&Palaces 92 OtherRoyalSightsinPotsdam 96 CulturalEvents 98 Adventures 98 WheretoStay&Eat 99 Camping 100 Oranienburg 100 InformationSources 100 Transportation 100 Sightseeing 101 Adventures 102 SAXONY 103 GettingHere&Around 103 InformationSources 106 Dresden 106 Contents v InformationSources 106 Transportation 108 Sightseeing 108 Theaterplatz(TheaterSquare) 108 Zwinger 110 Residenzschloss 112 Frauenkirche 115 TheAlbertinum 117 BrühlscheTerasse 118 Neustadt 118 CulturalEvents&Festivals 120 Shopping 120 Adventures 121 WheretoStay 124 DresdenAltstadt 124 Neustadt 125 WheretoEat 126 Zwinger–SemperoperArea 126 SaxonCuisine 127 Frauenkirche&BrühlscheTerasse 127 DaytripsfromDresden 129 SaxonSwitzerland 129 Bastei 129 Königstein 130 Adventures 131 CulturalEvents 133 Moritzburg 133 Transportation 133 Sightseeing 133 AdventuresonWheels 134 WheretoStay&Eat 135 Leipzig 135 InformationSources 137 Transportation 137 Sightseeing 137 HauptbahnhofArea 137 MarktArea 139 NaschmarktArea 140 TheGrassiMuseumComplex 141 ThomaskircheArea 142 FartherAfield 144 CulturalEvents 146 Shopping 146 Adventures 147 vi Contents WheretoStayinLeipzig 148 Camping 149 WheretoEat 150 Markt&NaschmarktAreas 150 ThomaskircheArea 151 DrallewatchArea 151 DaytripFromLeipzig 152 LutherstadtWittenberg 152 InformationSources 153 Transportation 153 Sightseeing 154 WheretoStay&Eat 159 Camping 160 THURINGIA 161 GettingHere&Around 161 InformationSources 162 Weimar 164 InformationSources 165 Transportation 166 Sightseeing 166 Theatherplatz 167 TheSchiller&GoetheResidences 168 MarktArea 170 ParkanderIlm 171 NearWeimar:Buchenwald 173 CulturalEvents&Festivals 174 Shopping 174 Adventures 174 WheretoStay&Eat 175 Erfurt 177 InformationSources 178 Transportation 178 Sightseeing 178 Domplatz 178 Fischmarkt 180 Krämerbrucke 181 CulturalEvents 182 Shopping 182 Adventures 183 WheretoStay&Eat 183 Eisenach 184 InformationSources 185 Transportation 185 Sightseeing 186 Contents vii TheWartburgCastle 186 CulturalEvents 191 Adventures 191 WheretoStay&Eat 191 HAMBURG 195 Transportation 197 Sightseeing 199 Rathausmarkt 200 Alster 201 HauptbahnhofArea 201 StMichaelis 203 Speicherstadt 204 PlantenundBlomen 206 StPauli 206 TheLandungsbrücke 208 CulturalEvents 209 Festivals 209 Shopping 210 Adventures 211 WheretoStay&Eat 213 WheretoEat 217 Camping 218 DaytripfromHamburg 218 Lübeck 218 Transportation 219 InformationSources 219 Sightseeing 219 HolstentorArea 219 RathausArea 220 NorthernAltstadtArea 223 CulturalEvents 224 Shopping 225 Adventures 225 WheretoStay&Eat 225 FRANKFURTAMMAIN 227 InformationSources 229 GettingHere&Around 229 Sightseeing 230 Altstadt 231 Neustadt 234 Westend 237 Sachsenhausen 237 CulturalEvents&Festivals 240 Shopping 241 viii Contents Adventures 241 WheretoStay 243 OldTownArea 243 HauptbahnhofArea 245 WheretoEat 246 Sachsenhausen 247 THERHINE&MOSELVALLEYS 249 GettingHere&Around 250 InformationSources 251 TheRhineValley 252 Speyer 252 InformationSources 253 Transportation 253 Sightseeing 253 WheretoStay&Eat 255 Worms 256 InformationSources 256 Sightseeing 256 Mainz 257 InformationSources 258 Transportation 258 Sightseeing 258 CulturalEvents&Festivals 261 Adventures 261 WheretoStay&Eat 262 Camping 263 Rheingau 263 InformationSources 263 Transportation 263 Sightseeing 263 Eltville 263 WheretoStay&Eat 264 Johannisberg 265 WheretoEat 266 Rüdesheim 266 InformationSources 267 Transportation 267 Sightseeing 267 WheretoStay&Eat 270 Camping 271 CulturalEvents 272 WineTasting 272 AdventuresinRheingau 272 TheLoreleyValley 274 InformationSources 274