Bavaria

Bavaria (German, Bayern)[1] is the largest federal state of Germany, situated in the south-east of the country, and extends from the North German Plain down into the Alps. Bavaria is what many non-Germans probably have in mind when they think about Germany. The stereotype includes Lederhosen (leather pants), sausages and lots of beer - Bavaria, however, has much more to offer to the traveller.

Regions

Cities

  • Munich (München) - the capital of Bavaria
  • Bayreuth - a festival city in Oberfranken
  • Dachau - site of the first Nazi concentration camp in Germany
  • Augsburg - an important medieval city
  • Fürth - small city, next to Nuremberg
  • Nuremberg (Nürnberg) - a city of toys, famous Christmas Markets and former host of the Nazi Party rallies
  • Passau - a small university town by the Austrian border
  • Regensburg - the city on the banks of the River Danube (Donau)
  • Würzburg - a university city in the northwest of Bavaria
  • Rosenheim -a small city in the southeast of Bavaria
  • Bad Reichenhall - A small spa town.

Other destinations

  • for information about Bavarian palaces and castles see this official page: [2]

Culture and History

Bavarians are the proudest of all Germans. Locals are loyal to their roots and traditions. Bavaria is also the most autonomous of German states, and many Bavarians see themselves as Bavarians first and foremost, Germans second.

Most Bavarians can speak the Bavarian dialect (Bairisch), whether or not Bavarian is its own language is debatable. The dialect, however, is extremely difficult for most other Germans to understand—a person from Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) would have a hard time understanding a Bavarian. Despite the dialect difference most Bavarians can lose the dialect at any moment.

About 80% of Bavarians are Catholic and are usually more conservative than the rest of Germany (or Europe for that matter). Munich, however, is a pretty liberal city with a huge number of people from other parts of Germany, Europe, and the world, and it has a large English-speaking community. It can be quite hard to find someone with truely Bavarian origins in the city, as most people come to work there and only stay for some time.

Talk

German is spoken throughout Bavaria - there are also four main dialects which will be difficult to understand for most foreigners: Bairisch (Bavarian), Fränkisch (Franconian), Oberpfälzisch and Schwäbisch. Most people speak at least some English, or other foreign languages, especially the younger generation.

Travel to Bavaria, visa requirements

Train, air, or car. Bavaria is very accessible.

Flights to Bavaria, airtickets

International travellers wishing to visit Bavaria should have no problems to book a flight to Munich, which is home to a large international airport. Alternatively, if there is no direct flight to Munich with your airline, you could book a flight via Frankfurt or Nuremberg and travel to Munich with the ICE high speed train.

By train

The German rail company [3] often has cheap ticket deals. Overnight travel to many cities in Europe can be less than 30 euros. You will need to book well ahead of time.

If coming from the Czech Republic, it's often cheaper to buy a Czech ticket to the border and then continue with Bayern-Ticket (see Get around).

Get around

by Train

Trains are the main mode of transportation for visitors, since they easily connect towns with larger cities.

If you're travelling within Bavaria, you can purchase the Bavaria Ticket (Bayern-Ticket) [4] which will give you all-day travel within the state. If there are two or more people travelling together, you will find it's cheaper to buy a 5 person Bayern-Ticket. Many locals look for other people to share a journey with to reduce costs. You can also sell your ticket for a discount when you arrive at your destination to recoup some of your funds. Unfortunately, the German railway corporation "Deutsche Bahn" now offers mainly Bayern-Tickets that require you to write your name on the ticket in order to validate it, thus making it harder to sell the ticket to someone else once your journey is over. If you are lucky, you might be able to travel free by sharing a journey and then selling a ticket for half price.

Warning: Since April 1st, 2007 in regional trains it is no longer possible to by tickets from the conductor.

Good restaurants and cheap meals

Bavarian cuisine is famous for “Schweinsbraten” roast from pig, “Bratwürstl” sausages, “Nürnberger Bratwurst”, probably the smallest sausage in Germany, “Weisswurst” sausage made from veal, “Leberkäse” meatloaf, “Schweinshaxe” grilled pork leg as well as a variety of different “Knödel” dumplings and “Kartoffelsalat” potato salad. Also in the Oberallgäu, the southwesternmost part of bavaria, the traditional food is “Kässpatzen”, made with much Bavarian cheese.

Bavaria nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

Beer

Bavarians love their beer and one of the most beloved is the "Weissbier". It is a cloudy, unfiltered beer brewed with wheat (it has a slightly sour taste) commonly consumed earlier in the day with a Weisswurst and sweet mustard. It's good to know that there exists a special ritual with this beer: Normaly it will be served in a special glas, called "weissbierglas". But if you get the empty glas an the bottle with beer, you have to fill in by yourself - in one step without dropping the bottle. Weissbier is more carbonated than most other beers andproduces a lot of foam so it is not easy to fill without spilling something.

The highest brewery density (in the world) is in the north of the state, in the Franconian region. There, you can find a brewery in almost every village (it is sometimes very small and maintained among a few families). You can find a lot of local beer specialities, as for instance the "Bamberger Schlenkerla" (a beer with a taste of smoked bacon), so try to stick with the local beers always—especially tasty (and supposedly healthy) are the unfiltered beers (only served in pubs).

In summer, you can generally find beer festivals everywhere - not only in the bigger cities, but also in the smaller villages; be warned though that the beer there is often served in one-liter ceramic or glas glasses called "Mass". The biggest certainly is the Munich Oktoberfest, followed in second place by the Erlangen Bergkirchweih.

Brandy

Germans generally make brandy out of everything; most common are the fruit brandies (Obstler) and the herb liqueurs (e.g., Jägermeister).

Wines

The north of Bavaria is famous not only for its beer, but also for its (white) wines that come in special bottles called "Bocksbeutel" (bottles with a big round yet flat belly).

Stay safe

Statistically, Bavaria is one of the safest regions (if not the safest) in Germany and probably Europe. The biggest threat to your wallet are the (perfectly legal) high prices.

Be aware that there is a big difference between the Bavarian police and the police from maybe Hamburg or Berlin. In Berlin it might not be a problem if they find 2 or 3 joints in your pocket (because you may carry it for your own needs), in Bavaria it definitely is a big problem for you. Opposed to this you won't have any problems if you drink alcohol in public (if you are over 16 years old).

Get out

Retrieved from "http://wikitravel.org/en/Bavaria"
Featured articles
China travel tips: Language
pensions culture in Barcelona
cheap youth hostels singapore
hotels and hostels in Trastevere in Rome
Major Morocco tourist attractions
South Africa's political attractions
Vancouver visitors guide, culture & youth hostels
.
.
TravelTips24 2007
website stats