Hi. I'm Larry. I have traveled extensively in Germany - all or part of 11 trips to Europe since 1987 - 8 trips and 115 days since 2000, and, more importantly, I have spent countless hours studying the German travel websites, including those in the German language.

I guess I can say that I am funtionally fluent in German. At least I can travel comfortably in Germany and communicate at a basic level with the people I meet there.

I am an active contributor on several travel websites, and I am repeatedly envolved in the same discussions. I decided to create this website, so I can write the answers down once and for all.

In the late 1990s I discovered Rick Steves. I immediately embraced most of his travel philosohy, particularly the parts about traveling light, staying in inexpensive accommodations, and finding your own backdoors.

Although I consider Rick Steves to be my mentor, my understanding of the German language has enabled me, in Germany, to go far beyond what Rick recommends. I can read the German Rail and town websites, make effective plans for economical rail connections, and find my own accommodations in Germany. Most importantly, I find my own backdoors.

Hopefully, on this website, I can teach you to do some of the the same.

For information about how to navigage this site, see the bottom of this page.

Topics on this site

1. My travel philosophy
2. How to save on travel in Europe
3. Rail Travel    Lots of information on traveling by train in Germany
4. Finding accommodations
5. Jet lag
6. Packing light
   1. Type of bag
   2. Quick dry clothing
   3. Laptops
7. About electricity in Europe
8. My trips to Germany (Aug 2000 to Nov 2008)

Fans of the (Graffiti) Wall
Denver area readers of and contributors to the Rick Steves Graffiti Wall are invited to meet monthly. Click here for more information.

How to navigate this site

1. At the top of every page, there is a navigation banner, like the example below, with direct links to common topics. The subject you are on is in bold and is not a link.

   Home	Offers of the Bahn	Schedules and fares	Regional Offers	Länder map	FAQ	Site map



2. The path to the page (in bold) you are viewing is shown under to navigation banner. For instance
   
   Home > Regional Offers > Länder map > Bavaria > Bavaria, Page 2 > Bavaria, Page 3
   
   means that you are on the page for regional transportation (Nahverkehr) and local transit districts (Verkehrverbünden) in Bavaria (Bayern). The preceding pages are shown as links. You can go back to any of them by clicking on the link. Often, if this page is part of a thread, the subsequent pages in the thread (here, Bavaria, Page 2) are also shown as links.



3. In addition, on the page, imbedded in the text, are links to other pages or URLs applicable to the topic.

Throughout this site, I will try to identify any German words used in the text with italics.

Contact me