Central Europe

Table of Contents: Countries / Cities / Other destinations / Culture and History / Talk / Travel to Central Europe, visa requirements / Get around / Central Europe attractions and sightseeing / Itineraries / City tours / Events / Good restaurants and cheap meals / Central Europe nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs. / Stay safe / Get out More from Europe: Alps, Central Europe, Danube, Eastern Europe, European Union, Mediterranean Europe, Rhine, Western Europe

Central Europe comprises the countries in the center of Europe. These are the German-speaking countries, those Warsaw Pact member states that have joined the European Union, and Slovenia, another ex-communist country, now in the EU.

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Countries

• Austria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Germany
• Hungary
• Liechtenstein
• Poland
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Switzerland

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Cities

Central Europe has some of the oldest and best preserved cities on the continent. Below is a list of nine of the most notable:

• Berlin - Germany's capital, which was divided during the Cold War, has been an important cultural center and an area of rapid development since the fall of the Berlin Wall

• Budapest - Hungary's capital has a wealth of grand architecture and one of the oldest metro systems

• Geneva - Francophone Switzerland's urban center and home of international agencies like the Red Cross and the United Nations

• Kraków - Poland's beautiful second city is famed for its charming medieval architecture

• Munich - Bavaria's capital is a gateway to the Alps and famous for Oktoberfest, a beer festival and one of the world's greatest parties

• Prague - the capital of Czech Republic is one of Europe's most attractive cities and an expatriate melting pot

• Vienna - Austria's elegant imperial capital has countless classicist sights

• Warsaw - Poland's political and cultural center

• Zurich - lakeside financial center in Switzerland

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Other destinations

• Tatra Mountains - beautiful and unspoilt mountain range peaking at 2600 meters above the sea level

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Culture and History

Ethnically different, the countries of Central Europe share similar culture and history throughout the ages.

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Talk

German has the largest number of native speakers in the region and is the official language of Austria, Germany, and Liechtenstein as well as the dominant language in most regions of Switzerland. Czech and Slovak are very closely related and are quite similar to each other. Polish is the dominant language in all regions of Poland. In addition to German, French and Italian are also spoken by the majority in several regions of Switzerland. Hungarian is one of the most difficult languages for other Europeans, as it originates from a different language family. Slovenian is the official language of Slovenia, but also spoken by the Slovenian minorities in Southern Austria and Western Hungary.

Finding people conversant in English is not a problem in most regions of Central Europe, especially in Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. In Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic English is widely spoken in the bigger cities and by most younger people; German is also spoken and understood by many people in these countries.

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Travel to Central Europe, visa requirements

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Get around

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Central Europe attractions and sightseeing

• The English Garden and the huge Deutsches Museum in Munich
• The massive Dom in Cologne
• The modern architecture of Berlin's Potsdam Platz
• The modern skyline of Frankfurt

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Itineraries

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City tours

• Ascend the Reichstag Dome in Berlin
• Hike the mountainous area south of Dresden
• Walk around historic Rothenburg ob der Tauber
• Visit a beer hall, the Olympic Park, and the central pedestrian zone in Munich
• Visit Hitler's Eagles Nest in Berchtesgaden
• Tour the Black Forest and maybe buy a cuckoo clock
• Cruise the Rhine river
• Ride the monorail in Wuppertal
• Stroll through the old center of Salzburg
• Float down the river with the locals in Bern
• Ride a cable car up to Gimmelwald, eat at the Piz Gloria restaurant, go out on the Jungfrau glacier, see a churning waterfall, or hike a mountain ridge
• Stroll historic Vienna and visit Prater
• Go up Castle Hill in Budapest
• Relax in a Hungarian spa
• Visit the world's largest castle and tour the old and new towns of Prague
• Visit the port city of Gdansk
• Stroll Warsaw's old town and old Jewish ghetto, and admire the Palace of Culture and Science
• Tour the historic old town and castle of Krakow, and visit the Soviet worker's suburb of Nowa Huta
• Visit a Nazi concentration camp such as Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau or Treblinka

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Events

• Jazz fans will enjoy two big jazz festivals in Poland:
  • "Jazz nad Odrą" in Wroclaw
  • "Jazz Jamboree" in Warsaw

See also:

Calendar of events and festivals

January | February | March | April | May | June

July | August | September | October | November | December

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Good restaurants and cheap meals

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Central Europe nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

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Stay safe

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Get out

More from Europe: Alps, Central Europe, Danube, Eastern Europe, European Union, Mediterranean Europe, Rhine, Western Europe

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