Difference between revisions of "Bavaria"
Revision as of 14:26, 15 November 2010
Bavaria (German: Bayern) is the largest federal-state ("Bundesland" or shortened to Land) of Germany, situated in the south-east of the country, and extends from the North German Plain down into the Alps. Bavaria is what many non-Germans probably have in mind when they think about Germany. Ironically, Bavaria has more in common culturally with neighboring Austria than the rest of Germany. This stereotype includes Lederhosen (leather trousers), sausages and lots of beer - Bavaria, however, has much more to offer to the traveller. Along with the Rheinland and Berlin, it is Germany's most popular tourist destination.
Bavarians are the proudest of all Germans. Locals are loyal to their roots and traditions. Bavaria is also the most autonomous of German states, and many Bavarians see themselves as Bavarians first and foremost, Germans second. Some people have called it the "Texas of Germany". The German stereotype of beer drinking, sausage-eating and Lederhosen, is found only in rural Bavaria and mainly in the south and east towards Austria and the Alps or the thick forests that border the Czech Republic and Bohemia.
Most Bavarians can speak a form of the Bavarian dialect (Bairisch). The dialect, however, is extremely difficult for most other Germans to understand—-a person from Niedersachsen (Lower Saxony) would have a hard time understanding a Bavarian. Ironically, an Austrian however would not! Despite the dialect difference from the rest of Germany, most Bavarians can lose the dialect at any moment.
About 60% of Bavarians are Catholic and are usually more conservative than the rest of Germany (or Europe for that matter). Munich, however, is a quite liberal city with a huge number of people from other parts of Germany, Europe, and the world, and it has a large English-speaking community. It can be quite hard to find someone with truly Bavarian origins in the city, as most people come to work there and stay only for a short time.
Train, air, or car. Bavaria is very accessible.
International travellers wishing to visit Bavaria should have no problems to book a flight to Munich, which is home to a large international airport. Alternatively, if there is no direct flight to Munich with your airline, you could book a flight via Frankfurt or Nuremberg and travel to Munich with the ICE high speed train. Furthermore the Airport Memmingen is a low-cost alternative. From there you can get by bus to Munich and Augsburg.
The German rail company  often has cheap ticket deals. Overnight travel to many cities in Europe can be less than €30. You will need to book well ahead of time.
If coming from the Czech Republic, it's often cheaper to buy a Czech ticket to the border and then continue with Bayern-Ticket (see Get around).
If coming from Austria, it's often cheaper to use the Einfach-Raus Ticket, introduced August 2007, much like the Bayern-Ticket (see Get around) is used within Bavaria.
Trains are the main mode of transportation for visitors since they easily connect towns with larger cities.
If you're travelling within Bavaria, you can purchase the Bavaria Ticket (Bayern-Ticket), which will give you all-day travel within Bavaria and even to the border towns of Salzburg or Reutte. The Bayern Ticket for one person costs €21. If there are two or more people travelling together, it would be cheaper to buy an up-to-5-person Bayern-Ticket, which costs only €29. Some locals look for other people to share a journey with to reduce costs. Some even sell their Bayern ticket for a discount after arriving at their destination to recoup some of their funds. In response, the German railway corporation, Deutsche Bahn, now requires you to write your name on the ticket in order to validate it, thus making it harder to sell the ticket to someone else once your journey is over.
You may not buy your ticket from the conductor.
Sometimes, this may be the only way to get around, especially deep in the German countryside. In the countryside, roads are winding, tricky, and sometime