Budget - friendly advice

MrsFrantz21, you need a travel group! And there's one in your area:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/travel-meetings/st-louis-travel-group-august-19

Seriously, reach out to these folks. You'll get plenty of answers and advice here on the Forum, but sitting down with real people and asking your questions, hearing their answers and suggestions, and just hearing all their experiences, would be a very good thing.

I've been involved with a travel group in our area for over 5 years, and have learned so much. And it's always a good time, as well. Folks there are interested and non-judgmental.

I posted this a couple of months ago, when announcing an upcoming meeting:

For those of you who are new to travel groups, picture this: A congenial group of folks who, when they ask to see your pictures, mean all of them. A group of folks who mean it when they say "Tell me all about your trip." A group of folks whose eyes do not glaze over when you start talking about your travel, whether it be travel past, future, or just hypothetical. A group of folks who are eager to learn, share, ask and answer questions, give and receive advice. For some of us, the meeting is the high point of our month!

Check out your local group; I'll bet if you go you'll have a wonderful time.

Hi, MrsFrantz21!

A couple of questions: are you staying with your aunt or in a long-term apartment? And do you know what area you will be in? It's hard to advise on local shops and restaurants unless you are more specific (Munich is a large city).

Also with regards to packing, are you going to be in one spot the entire time? If so, you can probably get away with packing more. Keep in mind it will be cold that time of year, so you will need to bring some outerwear.

Lastly, I am assuming you know about Schengen rules, and how important it is to leave the EU before the 90 day deadline is up.

Thanks so much for all the advice. I will totally check out that group.
“ couple of questions: are you staying with your aunt or in a long-term apartment? And do you know what area you will be in? It's hard to advise on local shops and restaurants unless you are more specific (Munich is a large city).”

I will be staying with a outreach/missions organization just south of Augsburg. Which looks to be to the west of Munich.

“ Also with regards to packing, are you going to be in one spot the entire time? If so, you can probably get away with packing more. Keep in mind it will be cold that time of year, so you will need to bring some outerwear.
Lastly, I am assuming you know about Schengen rules, and how important it is to leave the EU before the 90 day deadline is up.”

I’m basically going to be in and around Augsburg and Munich and then on the weekends i will be taking a train over to Stuttgart east to visit my aunt. I hadn’t heard yet about the Schengen rule. What is that?

Did you change your username, Angietravels87, or am I just going crazy? 🤣

I will be staying with a outreach/missions organization just south of
Augsburg. Which looks to be to the west of Munich. I’m basically going
to be in and around Augsburg and Munich and then on the weekends i
will be taking a train over to Stuttgart east to visit my aunt. I
hadn’t heard yet about the Schengen rule. What is that?

The Schengen rule is based on an agreement between countries in the European Union that basically prohibits residents of non-Schengen countries (like the US) from staying in any country in the EU for more than 90 days. You must leave before the 90 days are up or you risk large penalties, immediate deportation and being banned from future visits for longer periods of time. So if you arrive on November 1st, count 90 days and make sure your flight leaves before that 90th day. You might want to leave a few days earlier that that just to make sure delays don't hit and leave you in the country.

I don't know Augsburg that well, but given that you are there for a while and will be going back and forth, it might be easier for you get the €49 Deutschland ticket. This is relatively new and is by subscription, but anyone can purchase it. For €49 a month, you can travel by public transportation (train, bus, tram, etc.) to anywhere in Germany and parts of Austria. Since you will be there for almost 3 months, it really makes sense for you to buy this, then just use it for all your transportation. It will give you the opportunity to see more of Germany and also possibly Austria (for example, Salzburg, which is wonderful!). Here is more information on it. https://www.bahn.com/en/offers/regional/deutschlandticket

For Munich, I would encourage to look through some guidebooks as these will give you a good idea of what to expect and the various sites there. Munich is a very fun and picturesque city, and I know you will enjoy it. One of the frequent posters here; sla019, is actually from Augsburg and will hopefully be able to give you some information about that city as well.

Lol yea i realized earlier that i forgot to change it since I’m no longer married. Also, I can’t get a six month visa before going over? I was told if you are there for longer than three months you have to get something like that.

You can, but I am fairly certain it is only if you have a job there that is a "highly-skilled" job. I doubt that volunteering for an organization will qualify. BUT there are others here who know more about that than me.

I would suggest writing a new post, and putting something in the title about getting a 6 month resident visa in Germany and see what others say.

Awesome thanks!

You mean 1 November 2023, right?

Broken record here, but below I'm linking to 2 major sections of this Rick Steves website that could be very helpful in your planning.

Travel Tips covers most of the basics on traveling in Europe. Although the group you're volunteering with should provide a lot of this kind of information specific to working with them, this section can help with what they may not think to tell you as well as informing you about what you need to know that you didn’t know you need to know. https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips

The Explore Europe section can get you started with what to see and do in Germany and especially in your specific areas of interest. You can also find basic info on other countries. This link is to Germany: https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/germany

Another very important resource is the Man in Seat 61 for information on train travel in Europe. This is the part titled A Beginner's Guide to Train Travel in Germany: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-germany.htm

To advise on what is budget friendly, knowing the budget and what it would be for would be helpful. Being unsure of what your budget needs to cover, I'm going to recommend that you use Booking.com to look for accommodations which could be the most expensive part of any excursions away from where you will be staying most of the time.

About what to pack, it will be winter -- cold, dark and quite possibly snowy. Take a look at timeanddate.com and search for actual historical weather data for the past few years in Munich and Augsburg to get an idea of recent weather trends. When I lived in Nürnberg in the early 80's it was like I described above. It could be different now 40 years later.

Assuming you won't be on a farm outside of town, there will be restaurants and shops wherever you are. Your aunt and the other mission folks should be able to help you with that. Googling something like Bavarian cuisine will give you lots of information to drool over. Add a city name and there will be specific restaurants to explore. Keep in mind that there will also be restaurants from other European countries and other parts of the world. Even 40 years ago, there were Italian, Chinese and Greek restaurants in Nürnberg. In fact, there was a Greek restaurant a block from my apartment that specialized in food from Crete.

I hope everything works out for your trip, and I'm glad you've already been informed about Schengen. Please be mindful of the advice to plan to leave the Schengen area earlier than day 90 in case there is some delay in your departure.

South of Augsburg

That can be anywhere from boring Bobingen to lovely Landsberg am Lech, but none of these places is close to Munich. If you will be near a train station on the Lindau-Munich line, e.g. Kaufering, you will be in Munich in 40-50 minutes, but from Landsberg, Klosterlechfeld, Schwabmünchen, etc. it takes an hour or more with a change of trains in either Kaufering, Buchloe or Augsburg.

There is a lot to do and see in Munich, best start with the official website of the city: https://www.muenchen.de/en/home. Also you should visit Augsburg (10-20 minutes by train from the places mentioned above). Augsburg is the oldest city in the region (a Roman foundation from from 15 BC.) and the town hall is considered the most important Renaissance building north of the Alps. If you are interested in church history: In the Fugger-Palace in the Maximilianstrasse Luther was examined at the Reichstag of 1518 and it was also there that the Augsburg Peace was concluded in 1555, which established Protestantism as an equal denomination to Catholicism. Also, the monastery where Luther lived in 1518 and from which he finally escaped with the help of friends, is still standing (St. Anna, in the Annastrasse; there is a small memorial site). By train the foothills of the Alps can be easily reached, e.g. Füssen and the royal castles, Lindau and Lake Constance and the lakes west of Munich such as Ammersee.

I live in Augsburg, and if you have specific questions, please PM me.

Wow, thank you all so much for the advice. Yea my trip will be three months in Germany and then I talked to a few friends who live in both Amsterdam and England and they said there were no restrictions there. So as long as I am out of Germany before the 90 days I should be fine. I do have a Zoom meeting with the directors of the program I will be staying with next Thursday and I plan on finding out more information before I leave. I am so excited to begin this amazing journey. Again, thank you everyone for the advice.

I talked to a few friends who live in both Amsterdam and England and
they said there were no restrictions there

Have your questions prepared for your meeting, regarding length of stay, Schengen restrictions, and extended stay visas. Your friends are not totally correct. The Netherlands are part of Schengen, so fall within the 90 days in 180 restriction. England is outside the zone. It is very important that you fully understand the rules if you don't get a visa.

And don't make the mistake of thinking you can spend nearly 90 days in Germany, hop over to the UK for a while and then go to the Netherlands for a nice visit. It doesn't work that way. If you leave the Schengen area, your day count pauses; it doesn't reset to 0.

The clothes you wear in St. Louis should be about right for this trip

Glad you had a good time, Angie! Feel free to post a trip report of your travels--we always like hearing about other folks' trips!

so glad it all worked out well for you. Hope your aunt is better.

Any chance of a trip report?