Planning a visit to Germany from South Africa

Hi all,

Me and my husband are from a small town in South Africa, Mpumalanga, we are planning a visit to Germany either end this year or early next year.
We want to know when will the best time be to go.
We have a grandfather who stays there in Rostock and a cousin in Lubeck.
We are planning to stay between them for about 10-14 days.

We will be landing in Hamburg airport.
First we want to visit Rostock - we need transport arrangements from Hamburg to there and back at a later stage to Lubeck.
We dont want to inconvenience our family too much or lie on there backs as we already stay with them for free.
We want to buy our own food and see some sights in these two towns.

We would like to have some tips from Germans as to go about the whole visit and especially cost wise.
Regarding food prices (for us to budget) and trips that is worth while in these two towns.
Apparently there is a day trip you can take from Rostock to Denmark or something of the sort.
All advice will be highly appreciated!

Rostock - Gedser (Denmark)

Rostock - Trelleborg (Sweden)

Thanks that helps a lot!
As we are on a tight budget I think we'll opt for the Rostock - Gedser trip!

if you'd choose end of this or early beginning of next year, i'd be going for end of this year, anytime after the 1st of december up to the 23rd, just so i could go check out the christmas markets. i have no idea if there are events of any special kind in that area, but they surely would have xmas markets.

food/drinks, i pay about €30 - 40 a week depending on what i buy, usually loads of fresh veg and fruit, cerial, milk, some beef or poultry, juice beer wine whatever i feel like really. dont think that the supermarket prices would be much different in rostock but hey who knows, except someone who lives there.

as for transport, i'd take "die Bahn", they got the monopoly in germany, so theres no point to search for some cheaper coach service, if you'd find one i'd be really surprised, but if you should lemme know
and if you book in advance you sometimes can get a pretty fair deal, but unfortunately not always.

enjoy your trip

Not quite ...

Liste deutscher Eisenbahngesellschaften

well ok fine i see your point, but they even list the KVB here in cologne and they dont bring you to berlin if you'd want to go there and the others are probably pretty much the same, arriva is a bus service and from what i can see its more like a list of local public transport services but doesnt give you a change to get from hamburg to rostock or luebeck except if you got 5 weeks time to travel, then if yer lucky maybe you'll make it, but thats only maybe

Thanks guys, I did have a look at the DB site, unfortunately it is a bit greek to me but I'll figure it out!
Think first we should decide on a date and then I can book the travel between towns in advance to get the discount.
Our Grandfather usually use a taxi from Hamburg to Rostock but I think that would be more expensive.
Would like to go by train as it would be an experience.

Another thing I would like to know is the cost of eg Clothing, a lot of people say we should rather buy a
warm jacket over there that is made for the spesific climate rather than buying one here at home to take over.
Your thoughts on that?

I would strongly urge you not to visit northern Germany in "winter".
It will be approx. 5°C and rainy. + strong westerly winds.
That time of the year it is no fun to be outside.
.. a waste of time and money.
The best time is definitely May/June 'til August.
HEM lives in northern germany for 20 years. May be he can comment on it.

Some would say that this is the same in "Summer"...


25+ years actually... To be honest the "safest" time for weather would be September. Its very unlikely to be too hot, too cold or stormy. More likely to be calm, high-pressure weather.

What does hot mean for you? You guys up north call 25°C hot.
Somebody from SA will probably need a jumper if the summer is only average.

I just looked some facts up: Between November and February : 2h sunshine per day
Sunrise at Christmas is 8:30h, sunset is 16h. The days are pretty short!
Do yourself a favour: come during the European summer.

.. and it will be cheaper since you don't have to buy extra clothes.

DB timetable
From: Hamburg Flughafen
To: Rostock
To: Luebeck
and select as means of transport "only local transport".

If you stick to regional trains you can use for these trips the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket. A mini group day ticket good for up to 5 persons traveling together. EUR 25,00.
In Hamburg use the bus #110 to the local train station U/S Ohlsdorf. This bus is covered by the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket. The express bus from the airport to the main train station is not covered (EUR 5,00 per person).
Hamburg Airport on this
End of 2008 the new train station at the airport will open. Than you can start directly by train from the airport using the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket.
Just buy the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Ticket on spot from a ticket machine at Hamburg Airport.

Rostock local public transport
Lübeck local public transport
Hamburg local public transport

Thanks for the Ticket tip, so If I understand correct we can buy one ticket for my husband and myself to share, for multiple trips that this ticket covers and then how many days is it valid? Or is it just for eg from Hamburg to Rostock, do we have to buy another say the next day to go to Luebeck?

The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern ticket is a DAY ticket. It costs €25 and allows up to 5 people to travel anywhere in the area of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, for one day. So if its just you and your husband, you can travel anywhere together on this one ticket. Or you can invite 3 other people to join in the fun. For one day only.

If you plan to do a lot of site-seeing days, then there might be some more appropriate ticket eg a 3 day travelpass or something, but im afraid i dont know, just thought id clarify what has been said already.

Thank you for all the travel advice, these links to the Traffic dept of each town really helps.
Sjoe I hope we dont get lost! :-)
Maybe I will ask a family member over there to just help book the tickets we need to get from one town to another
When we are actually in the town I think we can experiment with the trips so see the sights!
This has been a great help thanks!