Generally, the German culture is not much different from the U.S. Below are a few notes we thought could be useful for your trip. Tips: 1. For restaurants: German servers are paid a fair wage, don’t tip like you would in the US. Germans usually tip 3-5% in round amounts (i.e. 1-2€) up to 10% for nicer restaurant. Also, restaurants charge for water and waiters will not just drop off the bill. Germans oftentimes sit, talk, and drink in a restaurant after finishing dinner for a long time 2. Germans are pretty direct 3. Drinking in public is generally allowed with some exceptions (i.e. public transportation) 4. Public transportation is very advanced in larger cities and easy to use 5. Pump gas: Fill up your car first, THEN go inside the to pay 6. Hotels usually do not have AC 7. German beer is the best! No need to argue this! :) Articles: 1. https://blog.lingoda.com/en/biggest-differences-between-america-and-germany/ 2. https://apex-social.org/blog/tipps-hilfreiche-infos/differences
Yes, for the wedding. While you CAN get to the wedding town (Osterode am Harz) via public transportation, we recommend you to get a rental car (or share with others if you're coming in a group). Felix's hometown is one hour away from the nearest airport and a small town that does not have Ubers. For the wedding day, we will organize some type of shuttle service to get people from the church to the venue and to their hotels. Otherwise, we recommend a rental car to better be able to travel to and from Osterode am Harz as well as to other cities if you want to explore other cities. If you are planning on traveling to larger cities before or after the wedding, you will not need a rental cart as you can use trains and buses in all larger cities. MAKE SURE TO INFORM YOURSELF OF ROAD LAWS IN GERMANY. Felix can also provide some insights here. If you plan on traveling around Germany or Europe afterwards, you will be able to use the well-organized public transportation system.
We recommend flying into the Hannover (HAJ) or Frankfurt (FRA) Airport. Frankfurt is the largest German airport and potentially has the most route flexibility, but is a 2.5-3 hour drive away from Osterode am Harz. Hannover is a smaller airport with less route options but is only about 1 hour away from Osterode am Harz.
In Germany, the currency is the Euro (€). Visit xe.com for the latest conversion rate, as it fluctuates over time. Typically, the Euro is worth more than the U.S. dollar (i.e. for $1 you would get 0.85 €). PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING MAJOR TIPS: 1. Make sure to always have sufficient cash at hand. Some smaller local German establishments do not accept credit cards. 2. If you are able to pay by credit card, make sure to check in advance that your credit card does not charge foreign transaction fees and that your vendor is internationally accepted. Germans most often use MasterCard or Visa. 3. Germany has ATMs to withdraw cash. However, unless you are withdrawing cash from a partner bank of your U.S. bank, there will most likely be a small fee to withdraw cash. Our recommendation is to withdraw cash for a few days to make it worth the fee. 4. Keep your coins, they can be worth a lot! Overall, we recommend to check-in with your bank to discuss best travel practices with your funds.
We have made a gift registry on Amazon, which you can access here on the website under the 'Registry' tab. Please refrain from bringing in-person gifts to the wedding, as we would have to ship all of the items back to the U.S.
Germans party until the sun comes up, so bring your comfy dance shoes and enjoy an open-ended celebration!
Yes. Dress code will be formal.
As COVID might still have an impact on your travel plans, please make sure you inform yourself on current travel restrictions for each country you are visiting. For instance, even if you only plan to visit Germany but have a layover in France, we'd recommend you to check out travel restrictions for both Germany and France to make sure you don't run into any issues.