Germany Travel Guide: 5 Cities, Costs and Itineraries
Berlin history, Bavarian beer halls, and Europe's fastest, most punctual trains.
Overview
Germany rewards a route more than a single city. Berlin gives you the recent history (Wall, division, reunification) and the nightlife; Munich gives you Bavaria, beer halls, and easy day trips to the Alps and Neuschwanstein; Frankfurt is mostly a finance hub with a walkable old town rebuilt after the war; Hamburg gives you a working harbor city with more canals than Venice, and Cologne gives you the cathedral and a base for the Rhine valley. The Deutsche Bahn ICE network connects all five in 1.5 to 4.5 hours, which makes a multi-city trip genuinely easy to string together without a car. Two things trip up first-time visitors: shops are shut nearly all day Sunday nationwide, with narrow exceptions for bakeries, station shops, and gas stations, so plan grocery and souvenir shopping around it, and Germany still runs more on cash than most Western European countries, even as card and contactless acceptance keeps expanding in cities. Restaurants, museums, and transit are typically open Sundays; retail is the gap.
Best time to visit
May-September gives the warmest weather and the longest days, with June-August busiest and priciest, especially around Oktoberfest in Munich. Shoulder months (April, May, September, October) balance mild weather with thinner crowds. Christmas markets make late November-December worthwhile despite the cold.
- Mar-May
- Cool to mild, parks and biergartens reopening, fewer tourists, lower hotel prices than summer.
- Jun-Aug
- Warmest and busiest, long daylight hours, peak hotel prices, Oktoberfest crowds hit Munich mid-Sep to early Oct.
- Sep-Oct
- Mild days, cooler nights, wine and harvest season, Oktoberfest itself runs mid-September into early October.
- Nov-Dec
- Cold and often gray, but Christmas markets run nationwide from late November through December.
- Jan-Feb
- Coldest months, lowest hotel and flight prices, short daylight hours, good for museums and indoor sights.
Visa
Canadian passport holders do not need a visa for tourism or business stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period across the whole Schengen area, which includes Germany. This is cumulative across all Schengen countries combined, not 90 days per country. Your passport needs to be valid for at least 3 months past your planned departure from the Schengen area. ETIAS, the pre-travel screening and small fee that will apply to visa-exempt travellers including Canadians, has not launched. The EU's current target is 2027, after repeated delays from earlier target dates of 2024 and 2025; no confirmed start date has been locked in and applications are not open. Do not pay any third-party site claiming to process an ETIAS application now, it does not exist yet. Check travel.gc.ca and the official travel-europe.europa.eu/etias page before you book, since this is the rule most likely to change before a 2026 or 2027 trip.
Money
Currency: EUR. Card and contactless acceptance has grown a lot in German cities over the last few years: hotels, chain stores, larger restaurants, and most train tickets take card or Apple/Google Pay without issue. Germany is still more cash-reliant than France, the UK, or the Nordics, though. Many bakeries, small cafes, market stalls, some traditional restaurants and beer halls, and a fair number of independent shops are cash-only or strongly prefer it, and a few ATMs and smaller businesses charge a fee or set a card minimum. Carry EUR 50-100 in cash as backup, especially outside big cities. Germany tips modestly. Round up or add roughly 5-10% at restaurants for good service; service charge is not built into the bill the way it sometimes is elsewhere. State the total you want to pay when handing over cash or card (say the amount including tip) rather than leaving coins on the table. Bar staff and taxi drivers get a small round-up, not a percentage tip. Hotel porters and housekeeping: a couple of EUR is fine, not obligatory.
| Budget | Mid-range | Splurge |
|---|---|---|
| 70 | 150 | 320 |
Getting around
Deutsche Bahn's ICE trains connect major cities at up to 300 km/h and are the backbone of a multi-city trip; book ahead (Sparpreis fares) for the cheapest tickets. The Deutschlandticket (EUR 63/month, up from EUR 49 at launch in 2023) covers unlimited regional and local transport nationwide: RE/RB regional trains, S-Bahn, U-Bahn, trams, buses, but not ICE, IC, EC, or most long-distance buses. It's an auto-renewing subscription needing cancellation by the 10th of the month, a poor fit for most short trips; a city's single tickets or a day pass is usually simpler for a stay under a week. Most shops close Sunday; restaurants, transit, and museums generally don't.
Connectivity
An eSIM from a provider like Airalo, Holafly, or Nomad, bought before you land, covers Germany fine and activates in minutes. For a physical SIM, Telekom, Vodafone, and O2 have counters at major airports and shops in city centers, with tourist data plans typically in the EUR 15-30 range for a few weeks. Wifi is reliable in hotels and cafes in cities; coverage on some regional trains and in rural areas is patchier than the ICE network's onboard wifi.
Where to go
Locations on this map
Berlin
A city built on its own scars, cheap by Western European standards, and still figuring out what it wants to be next.
Cologne
A compact, rebuilt Rhine city that fits its huge cathedral, its own beer, and a genuine sense of humour into two or three days.
Frankfurt
Germany's banking capital and its busiest airport, worth a day or two on its own merits rather than as a bucket-list stop.
Hamburg
Germany's port city runs on water, red brick warehouses, and a nightlife strip with a century of history. Come for the harbor, the model trains, and the Elbphilharmonie skyline.
Munich
Beer halls and baroque palaces sitting a short train ride from the Alps, a city that runs on order and tradition but loosens up completely every autumn.
Frequently asked questions
Is Germany expensive to visit?
Mid-range for Western Europe: more than Portugal or Poland, roughly comparable to France, less than Switzerland or the Nordics. A frugal traveller can manage on roughly EUR 70-90/day outside peak summer and Oktoberfest; a comfortable mid-range trip runs EUR 150-200/day, more in Munich during Oktoberfest and in central Berlin or Hamburg.
Do I need cash in Germany?
Yes, some. Card and contactless payment now works in most hotels, chain shops, and larger restaurants, but many bakeries, market stalls, small cafes, and some traditional restaurants are cash-only or prefer it, and a handful of businesses set a card minimum. Carry EUR 50-100 as backup, especially outside major cities.
Is the Deutschlandticket worth it for tourists?
Usually not for a short trip. It's a EUR 63/month auto-renewing subscription that needs cancelling by the 10th to stop, and it excludes ICE/IC/EC long-distance trains entirely. For a visit under a week, single tickets or a city day pass for regional/local transit is simpler and often cheaper than committing to a full month.
Why are shops closed on Sundays in Germany?
National and state-level shop-closing laws (Ladenschlussgesetz and its state successors) require most retail to stay shut on Sundays, rooted in a constitutional protection of Sunday as a rest day. Exceptions include bakeries for a few morning hours, train station and airport shops, and gas stations. Restaurants, cafes, and museums are generally open.
Do I need ETIAS to visit Germany as a Canadian?
Not yet. Canadians remain visa-exempt for stays up to 90 days in any 180-day period under the Schengen rule. ETIAS, a pre-travel authorization and small fee, is targeted for 2027 after multiple earlier delays, but no firm start date is locked in and applications aren't open. Check travel.gc.ca before you book.
How do I get between Berlin, Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, and Cologne?
Deutsche Bahn's ICE high-speed trains connect all five directly or with one change, typically 1.5-4.5 hours depending on the pair, city center to city center. Book Sparpreis fares in advance for the lowest prices. It's faster and less hassle overall than flying between most of these city pairs once airport transfer and security time are counted.