Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
» Toilets are normally clean, well maintained and not of the squat variety, though some
are of the slightly off-putting 'reverse bowl design', not common in the UK or US.
Tourist Information
Every reasonable-sized town in southern Germany (even those with no tourists) has a
municipally-funded tourist information centre, some of which are stand-alone operations,
while others are twinned with a kind of local residents' information point. Only very occa-
sionally will you come across staff who don't speak English and the vast majority of those
charged with aiding tourists on their way are knowledgeable, friendly and efficient. Web-
sites operated by tourist boards vary wildly in quality.
Good websites for your pre-trip research are
www.bayern.by
and
www.germany-tour-
Each
Land
(region) also has its own dedicated website:
Black Forest Tourism Association
(
www.schwarzwald-tourismus.info
)
Baden-Württemberg Tourist Association
(
www.tourism-bw.com
)
Eastern Bavarian Tourism Association
(
www.ostbayern-tourismus.de
)
Franconian Tourism Association
(
www.frankentourismus.org
)
Tourism Association Allgäu-Bavarian Swabia
(
www.bavarian-alps.info
)
Upper Bavarian Tourism Association
(
www.oberbayern-tourismus.de
)
Romantic Road Tourism Association
(
www.romantischestrasse.de
)
Travellers with Disabilities
» Generally speaking, southern Germany caters well for the needs of the
Behinderte
(dis-
abled), especially the wheelchair-bound.
» You'll find access ramps and/or lifts in many public buildings, including train stations,
museums, theatres and cinemas.
» New hotels and some renovated establishments have lifts and rooms with extra-wide
doors and spacious, accessible bathrooms.
» Nearly all trains are accessible, and local buses and U-Bahns are becoming increasingly
so. Seeing-eye dogs are allowed on all forms of public transport.
