And trains.
While we’re sometimes justified in moaning about pay packet deductions, drab elections and the annual invasion of beer monsters, trains are a different matter.
German Rail, or Deutsche Bahn (DB), has a reputation for delays, technical failures and strikes.
When things go right, however, rail travel is one of the pleasant German travel experiences that doesn’t involve a Mercedes-Benz 450.
Yes, punctuality has declined in recent years — so hold your stereotyping comments about German efficiency for now — but trains are generally on time and DB claims 90% arrive within five minutes of schedule.
And the network covers all of Germany, transporting 4.5 million people a day on 29,000 trains along 35,000 kilometers (21,700 miles) of tracks.
Here’s how to get the most out of rail travel in Germany:
Before boarding
Although speedy ICE (Intercity Express) trains connect most major cities, the everyday InterCity (IC), EuroCity (EC) and regional trains are cheaper and also cover many destinations.
German trains are never reservation compulsory (except night trains), so travelers can always buy a ticket at the station.
Standard fares are flexible and refundable, and you can just hop on the next available train.
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For those who like to combine historic tramways with pleasant mountain hikes, there’s the Kirnitzschtal Tramway.
The line opened in 1898 and runs through the Kirnitzsch river valley in Saxon Switzerland (an area of Germany close to the border with the Czech Republic), from the town of Bad Schandau up to the Lichtenhain Waterfall.
The historic tramcars from 1966 serve the starting points of many walks in the area.
Hamburg – Sylt and the Hindenburgdamm
To take a train over an ocean, passengers can board the regional train connecting Hamburg with popular holiday island Sylt in the North Sea.
The only connection the island has to terra firma is the 11-kilometer long Hindenburgdamm, or Hindenburg Dam. It was opened in 1927 and is exclusively a railway corridor, which means that even cars traveling to Sylt have to be loaded onto the train before crossing.
A train trip along the causeway between the car terminals at Niebull on the mainland and Westerland on Sylt with mudflats and the sea on both sides takes about 30 minutes.
Kiel – Lubeck through the Holsteinische Schweiz
Another scenic route close to the sea is the railway in eastern Schleswig-Holstein in north Germany.
It links Kiel and Lubeck, the only two cities in the state and travels through Holstein Switzerland, a pleasant recreational area characterized by large lakes and dark forests.
Marcel Krueger is a German writer and translator based in Dublin and Berlin. He mostly writes about history, travel and beer — or all three combined.
