Bus Travel

Maggie...do you mean Warren, MN...west of Thief River Falls, north of Crookston? Great town! Yes, public transit in a large city can be intimidating. Depending on where you're going, many cities are served by excellent subway systems. Those are much easier to follow, since the stations are labelled with their names, so you just have to keep a wary eye out. It's also usually easier to count the number of stops along the line so you know when to start looking. And in many cities, the sites you will want to visit are usually within walking distance anyway. Paris, London, Rome, Madrid, are all great cities for doing a lot of walking. Bus networks are, admittedly, more difficult, since they're usually far more dense, and not all stops are listed on the maps. If you can, try to do a day trip to the nearest city with a public bus network. Find their transit map on line, plan a route to take you to a destination downtown, then note where it is on a city map. Keep your eyes open for the major cross-streets as you go....when you hit the major cross street just before your stop, ring the bell. You may not be at the exact stop you planned, but you'll be pretty close!

I stay in medium priced hotels, and the hotel clerks often know English in Europe. The desk clerks have been very helpful when it comes to public transportation. When I was in Berlin, I told the desk clerk I needed a cab. She talked me out of taking a cab to save me money. I told her where I needed to go, and she told me which bus to take and where to get off. Sometimes if I wasn't sure where to get off, I would tell an English speaking bus driver where I needed to get off, and he would tell me when we were there. One bus driver that didn't know the building I was going too was so helpful, he got on his cell phone to call someone to ask. He did find out for me and let me know where I should get off. These drivers didn't know a lot of English, but enough so they can help. My German is limited, but I tried my best to speak their language too. Also, often a friendly passenger would over hear me asking,and a passenger would tell be where to get off. A post on another thread said how unfriendly the Germans are, and that made me sad. Most Germans were so friendly and helpful. This is not only in Germany, but I found this true in other countries too. But my best advice to you is to ask a hotel desk clerk, because so far, I find them the most helpful for public transportation information.
Also, I like the advice Norm gave you about looking at a route map on line. I've done this already for my Milan trip this fall. I don't want to make a habit of depending on other people. Sometime, I may not be so lucky. So doing some research on line is wonderful! You can find out just about anyplace where you need to go. I looked up how to get to my hotel from the main train station. Also I looked up the name of the street where I need to catch a bus for an early morning tour. I printed out the information and will take it with me.
By the way, there is a Warren Michigan too!

Bus travel in Germany is fairly easy. At each bus stop are signs that will have every stop listed, the time the bus will stop at your stop and how long it takes to get to each stop. This is helpful for knowing when to get off the bus. In Frankfurt, the name of the next stop also flashes on an electrical sign up in the front of the bus. When I was in Rome, though I don't read a lick of Italian, their bus system looked similar and we were able to find our way. Waiting at a bus stop with a city map and looking puzzled will usually bring some help. Folks waved us onto buses and told us when to get off. It is part of the adventure of traveling. Most city maps will have the bus routes on them and any hotel clerk worth their salt will clarify your routes for you so you don't have to feel lost. My kids and I even took these mini-buses (more like a van)when we were in Turkey and that was quite the adventure, as no one spoke English or German, but we still had fun.