Questions for upcomimg Germany/Austria trip

I've seemed to wind up with Seat Puntos lately and they have a lot less umph than a Golf and work just fine on the autobahns. Autobahn's aren't the free-for-all you seem to imagine. You'll probably cruise along at around 80/130 most of the time, but you can also slow down to an absolute crawl. You should also be aware that good chunks of the autobahns do, in fact, have speed limits. Also, know that you may or may not get a Golf - - all you're promised is a car of that class.

Paindorf doesn't have a ticket counter. It doesn't even have a station building, just uncovered asphalt platforms. According to the station plan (http://www.stationsdatenbank.bayern-takt.de/StationsdatenbankBEG/Steckbrief.html?lang=de&efz=8004747), only one of the platforms, the one in the direction of Munich, has a ticket automat. Ticket automat in Germany are not difficult to use. The newer ones, which was all I saw in May, have touch screens and can display in English. You can get a station plan for any station in Bavaria here. Added: Even if an automat doesn't take your CC, it will take cash.

Hi, Do you plan on driving from the Munich area to Warstein/Westf.? That's close to 5 hours of driving...from Bavaria to Westphalia I am familiar with the area but never went to Warstein. The closest city to Warstein is Soest. There's a direct connection from Munich Hbf to Soest on the ICE, takes close to 5 hrs. Soest is the nice place to visit in that area, skip Hamm, serves mainly as a junction point, has that tedious early 1960s rebuilding style, Paderborn is interesting. If it's beer that strikes your interest in the region, go further north between Minden and Osnabrück to the town of Herford. The ticket machines in Germany do accept the magnetic stripe US credit cards...no need to worry about that.

Thanks for all the responses! I'll be sure to buy a train ticket ahead of time for our trip into Munich - since my Credit Card might not work in the automated machines. I had trouble with them when we traveled to Italy last year We'll be spending a couple of days in Munich, but overall we will be about 2 weeks total in Germany/Austria.

Lori, To allay any concerns you might have on the buying a ticket from a DB ticket machine, I used my magnetic stripe credit card to get a ticket Hamburg to Kiel on this past trip and it worked...no problems. You won't have any problems in Germany as you did in Italy. Yes, as pointed out, they are new machines.

I could be wrong on this, but i don't think magnetic stripe cards work at ALL automated ticket machines in germany. the ones at unstaffed stations i used recently very specifically showed a card with a chip on them - of course, i was using a chip card, so i can't speak to this, but i suspect that maybe ticket machines in larger cities with more international tourists might be more likely to accept non-chip cards. can anyone weigh in decisively about machines outside of large metro areas? but the easy way around this worry is just to carry plenty of cash. as far as finding out whether the stations are staffed or not, the bahn.com website gives you station info, but bizarrely, does not say whether it is staffed. i would just assume outside of a large city, they won't be staffed, to be on the safe side.

<Do you plan on driving from the Munich area to Warstein/Westf.? That's close to 5 hours of driving...from Bavaria to Westphalia I am familiar with the area but never went to Warstein. The closest city to Warstein is Soest.> Our trip will be a little over 2 weeks long. We fly into Dusseldorf, drive to Cologne to sleep overnight(we land in the morning, after an overnight flight, so we will probably check out the Cathedral and get some lunch and nap), then travel to the Bacharach area the next day, do some exploring around the Rhine for a couple of days (boat ride, then explore by car), , then meander down the Romantic Road (Spending nights in Colmberg(outside Rothenburg) and Fussen(Castles to visit), then spend about 4 days in a hotel about 30 miles out of Munich, and day trip from there - to Munich, to Zugspitze. , Dachau - then into Austria for 5 - 6 days - Rauris area ( Ice Cave, Krimmler WFall, Lichenstein Gorge) and Saltzburg ( Salt Mine, daytrip Eagles Nest) We plan to visit Warsteiner the day after we land, then drive to Bacharach, continue with the vacation - why Warsteiner - hubs loves their beer,and at least online, the tour looks interesting - something a little low key to do while we get unjetlagged. It's been fun planning and checking out things to see and do - we've got places to stay reserved, and now are trying to check out the details ( like whether I need to get tickets ahead of time, or just bring cash) I don't want to microschedule too much - and be flexible as to weather, etc.

I didn't check every automat in Germany on my recent trip, but the Bahn seems to imply that all the newest automats, and that's all I saw, take mag strip cards. Bahn.de has a " tour", in German, of the new (2nd generation) touch screen automat. Click on "Erste Schritt am Automaten", then on "Bezahlen am Automat". The part on paying with a credit card shows the position of the magnetic strip, so one would have to assume it takes that kind of card. It also says to input your PIN, so you must have to have a PIN with your credit card or use a debit card. Unlike the 1st generation automat, these automats take cash, although bills must be smaller than €50. Note that the tour also warns you that there might be three "things" printed, first a receipt, then a reservation, lastly the ticket. Make sure you don't just take the receipt and leave the ticket.

I seem to remember that Bahn ticket machines, just like German ATMs, search first for a chip and if the card has a faulty chip or none, they use the magnetic strip as a backup. There is sporadic talk about disabling the magnetic strip authentication (because it's much more vulnerable to 'skimming' attacks), but as far as I know that hasn't been done yet.

Lori, Good that you're breaking up the driving upon arriving in Düsseldorf to go to Warstein...that's certainly doable. Very doable by public transportation too. I've taken the train from Düsseldorf to Soest, transfering in Hamm, never went all the way to Warstein (for the beer !) As pointed out above, the new DB ticket machines accept cash, but unlike in Paris, it's both bills and coins. It's all shown on the instructional pictograms to the left...very easy to follow But your magnetic stripe credit card will also go through without calling for your pin. I didn't put my pin in when I brought that ticket Hamburg to Kiel on this past trip.

Since you are planning on a lot of driving, it's important to know if the gas stations are manned, if they take US credit cards, if they are self-serve, if they take cash. . . I remember seeing a thread recently (though not for Germany) about having a lot of trouble buying gas, since most stations on the highway were unmanned and chip-cards only for payment.

>>Since you are planning on a lot of driving, it's important to know if the gas stations are manned, if they take US credit cards, if they are self-serve, if they take cash. . . <<< I hadn't really thought about that - I asumed that I there would be at least some manned stations, at least for payment - and that they could input my number, if I didn't have the chip/pin cards. I guess I'm just used to most even "self-serve" stations having a manned booth for payment. What's usual for most places? I don't plan to be out driving late into the evenings, I don't think, but I don't want to carry large sums of cash with prices for gas so high. Is there a way to scout around for gas stations ahead of time online?

Hi Lori, We've been to Germany and Austria 7 times since 2001, most recently Nov. 2010, each time with a rental car. We've been to a self serve gas station twice so far. Both times someone was there for payment, as they were a gas station/convenience store and you paid the clerk at the store counter. You will not get "run over" on the autobahn in a VW Golf. We had a Golf once and most times have a 1.4 liter engine compact. Never had a problem on the highways or even on the high alpine passes. Last car was a Ford Fiesta. You'll do fine, plus you may nopt even wind up with a Golf. It's just the class of car that is reserved, not the actual make or model of car. Paul

"I remember seeing a thread recently (though not for Germany) about having a lot of trouble buying gas, since most stations on the highway were unmanned and chip-cards only for payment." If pay-at-the-pump exists in Germany and Austria, I have never seen it. All of the petrol stations on the Autobahn network are staffed. This will be a non-issue for you.