Visitor Information

For info before you go, you can contact the German National Tourist Office (tel. 212/661-7200 in the U.S., 877/315-6237 in Canada, 020/7317-0908 in the U.K.; www.cometogermany.com).

The German National Tourist Board is at Beethovenstrasse 69, 60325 Frankfurt am Main (tel. 069/212-388-00).

In Munich, tourist information is available at the Munich International Airport in the central area as you step off the plane. The desk is open Monday to Saturday from 8:30am to 10pm and Sunday from 1 to 9pm. The main branch of the Munich Tourist Office, Fremdenverkehrsamt, at the Hauptbahnhof, Bahnhofplatz 2 (tel. 089/233-96-500; www.muenchen.de), is found at the south exit opening onto Bayerstrasse. It's open Monday to Friday 9am to 6pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm. You can pick up a free map of Munich, and you can also reserve rooms there. You will find another branch of the Munich Tourist Office at Marienplatz inside the Neues Rathaus, open Monday to Friday 10am to 8pm and Saturday 10am to 4pm.

Websites -- If you open a site that's in German, look for the little British or American flag, or for the word English on some, but not all, to see the pages in English.

• The German National Tourist Board site (www.germany-tourism.de or www.cometogermany.com) has an online tour of several cities and highlights attractions. You can access facts on weather, transportation, events, and so forth. A new, related site (www.visits-to-germany.com) designed especially for U.S. travelers lets you design and price specific itineraries and vacation packages.

• The Hotelguide Germany Hotel Association (IHA; www.hotels-germany.com) lets you book a room at any of more than 750 German hotels through its site. Conduct a search according to location and amenity preferences, or check out the special offers for accommodations conducive to family travel, cultural activities, sports, biking, special events, or last-minute travel.

• Get started on the appealing, if daunting, task of eating in Germany with the help of Gastroscout.com. Search for a schnitzel-filled Gasthaus or eateries by city, price, ethnicity, child friendliness, wheelchair accessibility, or any of a slew of other criteria. Recommendations are also given on this site.

• The Munich Tourist Office site (www.muenchen.de) offers information about the city's history, economy, places of interest (museums, parks, churches, and so on), accommodations, and an entire section devoted to Oktoberfest.

Online Traveler's Toolbox

Veteran travelers usually carry some essential items to make their trips easier. Following is a selection of handy online tools to bookmark and use.

• Airplane Food (www.airlinemeals.net)
• Airplane Seating (www.seatguru.com and www.airlinequality.com)
• Foreign Languages for Travelers (www.travlang.com)
• Maps (www.mapquest.com)
• Subway Navigator (www.amadeus.net)
• Time and Date (www.timeanddate.com)
• Travel Warnings (http://travel.state.gov, www.fco.gov.uk/travel, www.voyage.gc.ca, or www.smartraveller.gov.au)
• Universal Currency Converter (www.xe.com/ucc)
• Visa ATM Locator (www.visa.com), MasterCard ATM Locator (www.mastercard.com)
• Weather (www.intellicast.com and www.weather.com)