Berlin, Bavaria and beyond: cash culture, trains, tipping, the best time to visit, traveler tips, and easy mobile data with an eSIM.
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Germany rewards travelers who look past a single city. Berlin's history and nightlife, Munich's beer gardens and Alpine day trips, the Rhine's castle-studded valley, Hamburg's harbor and the Christmas markets that take over every town square in December each feel like different countries.
Things famously run on order and punctuality, yet the surprise for many visitors is how much of daily life still runs on cash and how seriously Sundays are taken: most shops simply close.
The pleasure is often ordinary: a perfect bakery roll, a beer garden under chestnut trees, a Christmas market mug you are not supposed to steal, and a train that leaves at the exact minute it promised. Lean into that. Germany is not trying to dazzle you every hour. It is trying to work, and that is oddly relaxing.
Berlin plus one other mood is a strong first trip — Munich and the Alps, the Rhine, or Hamburg. Christmas-market season is its own trip entirely, and worth building a December around if you can stand the cold.
Essentials
Traveler tips
Real advice from people who have been to Germany, curated by our team with links to the original sources.
Germany is the most cash-reliant country in Western Europe. Plenty of respected restaurants, bakeries and market stalls take no cards at all, and you will not find out until the bill arrives.
Supermarkets and nearly all shops are shut on Sundays by law. Stock up on Saturday; only bakeries (mornings), restaurants, and shops in train stations stay open.
For regional travel, the flat-rate Deutschlandticket is unbeatable value. On ICE trains, a seat reservation is separate from the ticket - without one you may stand on busy routes.
Crossing against a red pedestrian light, even on an empty street, draws looks and sometimes a comment. Wait. It is a small cultural tell, and children are watching. Germany takes the little rules personally.
A warm brotchen, a pretzel and a coffee is a legitimate breakfast, and the quality is consistently high. Skip the hotel buffet once and eat standing up like everyone else on their way to work.
Rick Steves Travel Forum
Many bakeries and Imbiss counters take cash or a German Girocard (the old EC card) and nothing else. Your US credit card working at the hotel does not mean it works for a pretzel. Ask 'Kann ich mit Karte zahlen?' and keep euros for markets, festivals, and anything under a sit-down meal.
View sourceRick Steves Travel Forum
Withdraw from a Deutsche Bank, Sparkasse, or other bank machine — including at the airport. Independent Euronet kiosks are the expensive ones. Decline dynamic currency conversion and take the amount in euros. Small vendors will break a €50; they will not love a foreign card for a bottle of water.
View sourceTripAdvisor Forums
Plastic bottles and cans with the deposit logo go back into the supermarket machine, not the bin. Christmas-market mugs work the same way if you want the coin returned.
View sourceTripAdvisor Forums
A long-distance ticket lets you board; a seat reservation is a separate add-on. On a busy ICE you can end up in the aisle, so book the seats with the fare if you are travelling as a group.
View sourceFAQ
Often no. Germany still has cash-only counters that will surprise you at the worst moment. Carry euros. Unlocked iPhone XS / Pixel 3 / Galaxy S20+ work with a travel eSIM; German prepaid SIMs need video-ident, which is why visitors skip the shop.
German law requires identity verification to activate any SIM, which for prepaid cards means a video-ident or in-store passport check - awkward in a foreign language after a long flight. A travel eSIM is verified before you leave home and just works on arrival.
Train apps, ticket QR codes, maps and translation put most travelers at 1-2 GB per day, so 10 GB covers a week comfortably. Do not count on train Wi-Fi to lighten the load - it is patchy on many routes.
In cities coverage is strong, but rural rail corridors still have notorious gaps where both Wi-Fi and mobile signal drop. Download offline maps and any tickets before a long train leg, and treat the gaps as part of the experience.
A single-country Germany plan will not, but regional Europe eSIMs cover Germany along with the rest of the continent. If your itinerary crosses borders - easy to do by train from Germany - pick a Europe-wide plan.
eSIM plans
Between train apps, ticket QR codes and finding which door of the U-Bahn to take, Germany assumes a working phone. An eSIM gives you local-grade data from touchdown in Frankfurt or Berlin without touching your home plan.
DB Navigator, U-Bahn maps and the QR code on your ICE ticket all assume you are online. Train Wi-Fi will let you down. An eSIM will not, including in the station when your platform suddenly changes.