Germany tours

The best time to go to Germany, if you don’t know the country already, is when you’re ready to receive a bit of a surprise treat. Because Germany’s a country that hides its colossal beauty under a bushel, doesn’t play the big mass tourism game, and just humbly holds its own. And we love it all the more for that. Although it’s well known for city breaks, Oktoberfest and Christmas markets, its multi-seasonal treats stretch far beyond these clichés. 

The Black Forest is revitalising in spring but also wonderfully quiet. The German Alps and Bavaria are cooling and reviving during summer heatwaves, and hiking here in Herbst, as autumn is called in German, brings its own natural highs and nature fests, without the crowds. Especially if you’re cycling or hiking through the vineyards or forest-filled Rhine Valley, with their array of autumnal colours. And if your wanderlust stretches into winter, hiking the Malerweg Trail is Germany at its crispiest. For more details, see below. We have a Bierkeller full of tips on the best time to go, in the many areas where we have adventures, in this blog.

Germany has a northern European climate which does vary depending on whether you’re heading to the mountains in the south, or the coast in the north. Not surprisingly, it’s slightly warmer in the south, especially as the North and Baltic Sea winds have a cooling effect up north. However, the mountains of the south also have an impact, with temperatures in Bavaria, for example, ranging from 13C in spring to 23C in summer and dipping to 15C in autumn. The south-west is really the hottest part of Germany, where you can add on another few degrees compared with Bavaria. If you’re exploring Germany’s River Elbe in the east, where the Malerweg Trail is walkable between April and October, you have summers averaging around 19C, with March, April and October hovering around 13C. We’ve also recently introduced a couple of winter options for walking the Malerweg, when temperatures average 2-3C but they are actually the driest months too. 

Germany has a superb rail network, run predominantly by the national rail provider, Deutsche Bahn (DB). You can also travel to Germany on Eurostar. One of the most progressive steps taken by DB was the introduction of the Deutschland Ticket which costs €63 for travel on all regional services over a month, so not on the speedy intercity ones. If you don’t buy this, however, train tickets in Germany are still great value, especially if you buy early. In addition, one of Germany’s best kept secrets is that young people up to the age of 14 travel free with Deutsche Bahn, when travelling with adults. DB’s tickets are released six months in advance. All of our tour pages have details on how to get there, and we have filtered the ones that are reachable by rail. For more information, see our blogs on German holidays reachable by rail and How to book cheap train tickets. 

As already mentioned, the German government provides free train travel to travellers under 14, so that says it all really. Families hike and cycle together as a family a lot in Germany, and connecting with nature is in their DNA. We have some bespoke family adventures, such as Cycling around Lake Constance, or along the Altmühltal in Bavaria, as well as several along the Danube. In addition, it’s worth checking out our easy/moderate level walking or easy/moderate cycling holidays, to see if they appeal to all family members. If you have older teens, for example, who have walking experience, you may want to explore more moderate level hiking or cycling holidays. Our adventure specialists are here to cater for your needs, and we can often adapt a day’s itinerary if you think it’s going to be too hard or too easy.

Most definitely and we welcome solo travellers on a great number of our tours, ranging from Hiking the Malerweg Trail through the Elbe Sandstone mountains, Walking the Saxon Wine Trail to Trekking in Berchtesgaden and Hohe Tauern National Parks. Our Rhine Cycle Path and Rheinsteig hiking holidays are also perfect solo sojourns. You can find all of our solo trips in Germany here, but please remember that a supplement will be charged as the cost of rooms and also luggage or private transfers (when applicable) is not shared.  

Yes, the wasser is wunderbar. It’s strange how many people who would never normally buy bottled water at home feel a need to buy it when travelling. It’s fine to ask for tap water (Leitungswasser) in restaurants, although not common practice for some reason. If you want to check in your accommodation if the tap water is safe to drink, just say, “Ist das Wasser trinkbar, bitte?” And if you are hiking in mountain areas, and want to drink from streams, where there can be a risk of harmful runoff, we recommend investing in a filtered water bottle to ensure water is free of any toxins. 

Germany has excellent healthcare with no major health risks and it is also rabies-free. No vaccinations are required, but the WHO recommends routine vaccines such as tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella before travelling. Ticks can be a problem when hiking, so you do need to take precautions. Wear long sleeves and trousers, and tuck your trousers into hiking socks when possible. Lyme disease and Tick-Borne Encephalitis (TBE) are both tick-borne, so always check yourself fully after hiking and carry a tick remover with you too, so that you can catch them quickly. 

Always make sure that you have suitable health insurance to suit your adventure travel and also note that Germany has an excellent Apotheke (pharmacy) system, which is almost like going to a doctor’s surgery. As with all international travels, it’s always worth getting up to date information at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) for UK travellers or similar foreign office advice in your home country.

Of course, this depends on the region that you are visiting but as with most of our adventures, you may be exploring remote terrain where weather conditions may be unpredictable. For that reason, we have some detailed blogs on packing, which may be of help: What to pack for a cycling trip and What to pack for a hiking trip. As well as that, don’t forget to pack your sense of adventure, plenty of sunscreen and a phrase book. 

Overtourism is an issue in many parts of the world, and although we are all for people having adventures, we’re aware that some places just need to put the brakes on. Which is why we aim to take you off the beaten path, and also encourage travel outside of the peak seasons. Luckily in Germany, there are no big cruise ship destinations, except in Hamburg where the floating hotels stop en route around northern Europe often en route to Scandinavia. What Germany does have, however, is Oktoberfest, and the main event takes place in Munich, the capital of Bavaria, at the end of September into the beginning of October. But this doesn’t affect our tours really, except perhaps Cycling from Munich to Venice, which is bookable until early October, but you’re heading out of the city the next day anyway. You may, of course, want to combine it with the celebrations. 

We don’t have any winter sports holidays in Germany such as snowshoeing or cross-country skiing. However, we do have one winter walking holiday along the Malerweg Trail. This is a 115km walking trail through the Elbe Sandstone Mountains in a region known romantically as Saxon Switzerland, because it takes you through the Saxon region’s impressive mountain terrain. Our winter tour takes you through these unique landscapes when they’re frosty, fresh and fairytale-like, with tours between November and March. Temperatures average 2-3C but they are actually the driest months too. 

Germany has been way ahead of the curve in terms of catering for a wide variety of dietary needs, with a long history of health and wholefood shops, as well as an appreciation of organic and natural lifestyles. The 19th-century Lebensreform (life reform) movement, for example, was famous in German (and Swiss) culture, encouraging people to embrace nature instead of industrialised lifestyles. Today, you won’t have any problems finding products or meals that are dairy-free (ohne Milchprodukte) and gluten-free (Glutenfrei), and also look for the Deutsche Zöliakiegesellschaft ( DZG) label, which was set up by the German Coeliac Society. You can get gluten-free beer and, despite the 16th century law that says beer must contain water, barley and hops, in order to be called beer, that law has now adapted to include gluten-free beer.

It’s the euro, or €, the same currency that’s used across most countries in the European Union. 

Most adventurers in Germany’s rural areas just want a good three course meal at the end of the day, and some great picnic food for their backpack. Germans love their bread and cakes, which means that bakeries are top notch and great value, especially for generous sandwiches. And you’ll always get good value out of a German market, so it’s worth timing your visit to coincide with at least one of these. A meal at an inexpensive restaurant outside the main cities costs between €10-€25 per meal, while mid-range establishments can charge €25-30 per person. A beer in a bar ranges from €4-€6 and a glass of wine averages around €5.50. 

While a service charge is often included in the bill (look for the word Bedienung), leaving an extra tip of between 5-10% is normal in restaurants. Especially as the service charge is a taxable income in Germany and often doesn’t go to the kitchen and waiting staff. The word for tip in German is Trinkgeld, which translates as drinking money, going back to the tradition where the staff get a drink at the end of the night too. Tips aren’t expected in bars, but having some coins to round up the bill is very much part of the culture. 

Generally it’s excellent although it can still be problematic in some rural areas. In general, however, it has one of the average fastest download speeds in the world which, for techies, is 109.79Mbps. For more information on speeds and providers, see here. And, the most useful wifi phrase you can have on your travels in Germany is ‘Wie ist das WLAN-Passwort, bitte?’ (what is the wifi password please?). For pronunciation, check out this short video.