Guidebook Updates for Germany

• Following the success of 2022's experiment with a single monthly ticket for nationwide transportation, Germany now offers the €49 Deutschland-Ticket, which covers regional trains, buses, and urban transit for one calendar month. (It doesn't cover the three fastest classes of trains — you still need a separate ticket to ride any ICE, IC, or EC train.) Tickets are available in stations and via the excellent DB Navigator app (worth downloading if you're doing any European train travel, as it has up-to-date, easily deciphered schedules for the vast majority of Europe's trains). If traveling with others — especially if they're kids under 15 — other offers may be a better deal than the Deutschland-Ticket. Check out your options on our Germany Rail Passes and Train Tips page.
• Per new requirements set by the UK government, all passengers on Eurostar trains to/from the UK must now enter their passport details online before boarding. Once you've bought a ticket, enter your ticket's reference number at Eurostar's Manage Your Booking page to reach the page for entering your passport info. If you don't have a reference number issued by Eurostar, head to the manual check-in desk at the Eurostar terminal. Given the UK's new procedures for border checks, it's especially important to allow plenty of time for check-in (Eurostar recommends that standard-class passengers at least an hour ahead of their departure time; gates close 30 minutes before departure).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The Marienbrücke ("Mary's Bridge") above Neuschwanstein Castle has reopened.
• You can now book Neuschwanstein reservations online with the Bavarian Palace Department's 14-day ticket.
• From the ticket pavillion between the castles, the most direct, least steep way to reach Neuschwanstein on foot is the path begins across the street from Hotel Müller (walking to Schloss Bräustüberl is out the way).
• Füssen's UnFassBar has closed. Laura's Schiffwirtschaft, also in Füssen, is now just called "Schiffwirtschaft."
• Sauerwein Alois Café-Konditorei-Bäckerei in Schwangau is now Schloss Backstube.
• The "Venus Grotto" at Linderhof Castle remains closed through 2024 while it undergoes restoration work.
• Oberammergau's tourist-information office no longer stores bags.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• At the "King's Castles" (Neuschwanstein and Hohenshwangau), you can simply show the bar code for your reserved tickets, whether on your phone or a printed email, right at each castle's entry — as long as you have a reservation, there's no need to stop the ticket center at the base of the hill (and hence no need to arrive so far in advance of your tour time — but do allow yourself time to reach the castle entries in time for your reserved tour). Reservations aren't available with free children's tickets — all free and reduced-priced tickets must be picked up at the ticket center (and the "Königsticket" and "Schwanenticket" combo-tickets are not currently available). Without a reservation, aim to arrive at the ticket center before 8:30 — at peak times, tickets can sell out by 9:30.
• The Füssen–Reutte bus is now #100 (not #74); it no longer changes numbers at the border.
• A new cable-car line now directly connects the Eibsee (a lake near Garmisch-Partenkirchen) with the Zugspitze summit; the narrow-gauge train up the mountainside to a shorter cable-car ride remains a second (slower) option from the Eibsee to the summit.

For books printed before September 2019, the following may also apply:

• The Romantic Road bus no longer stops in Augsburg or Füssen; the route now starts/ends in Munich. (You can connect to the route by train to/from Augsburg or Füssen via the town of Donauwörth.)

• The Pergamon Museum is closed to accommodate a thorough renovation that's expected to last 14 years (!). Parts of the Pergamon Altar, however, should be back on display in 2027.
• The EurAide train information office at the Hauptbahnhof has closed.
• Private operator European Sleeper now runs overnight trains between Berlin and Brussels (3/week, 11 hours).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• Tickets to visit the Reichstag are now often unavailable weeks in advance — book as soon as you can.
• The German History Museum's main building (Zeughaus) and all permanent exhibits are closed and under renovation until 2025. Temporary exhibits, however, are on view in the Pei annex building.
• The Neues Museum and Pergamon Museum are now closed on Mondays (as are all other Museum Island museums).
• The Käthe Kollwitz Museum has moved to the Theaterbau wing of Charlottenburg Palace.
• The Humboldt Forum, in the rebuilt shell of the former royal palace on Museum Island, is now open for visits to its various museums and other cultural attractions.
• The Gemäldegalerie is undergoing a multiyear phased renovation that may see some areas closed during your visit (ticket prices may be reduced at these times).
• There is no longer a €12 combo-ticket for Kulturforum sights, but they are still covered by the Museum Pass Berlin.
• The tourist information offices at the Europa Center and the Park Inn on Alexanderplatz have closed, but new ones have opened in the Humboldt Forum and at Brandenburg Airport.
• All stops of new U5 line of the U-Bahn are now open.
• Bus #245 no longer runs between the Hauptbahnhof and Alexanderplatz.
• Simple Rent a Bike bike sharing is not operating (consider using an app, such as Next Bike).
• Hotel Augustinenhof and Hecker's Hotel have closed.
• Hotel Jurine is now Hotel Birgit.
• Hotel Alexander Plaza is now Classik Hotel Alexander Plaza.
• Several recommended restaurants have closed: Die Schule, Vân Anh, Zuhause, and Zillemarkt, as well as Aufsturz pub.
• Weltrestaurant Markthalle has been replaced by Marktlokal restaurant.
• Hasir restaurant, in the Hackescher Markt area, is now called "Alay by Hasir."
• Cocolo Ramen X-berg has moved from Oranienstrasse to Graefestrasse 11.
• Bite Berlin food tours are no longer operating.
• St. Hedwig's Cathedral is temporarily closed and no longer hosting free organ concerts on Wednesday afternoons.
• The Hekticket ticket clearinghouse is no longer operating.

For books printed before January 2021, the following may also apply:

• The Berlin Brandenburg Airport (BER) opened in late 2020. Schӧnefeld Airport became BER's Terminal 5, while Tegel Airport is no longer operating.
• Insider Tour's groups meet outside the Friedrichstrasse train station, on the square beside the Palace of Tears.
• Original Berlin Walks now meets in front of Starbucks across from the Hackescher Markt S-bahn station.
• Local guide Bernhard Schlegelmilch has changed his email address to [email protected].
• The James-Simon-Galerie's entrance pavilion is now open on the west side of Museum Island and connects to the Pergamon and Neues museums.
• The Kennedys Museum has closed (to become a "touring museum").
• It is no longer possible to purchase a timed-entry ticket in advance for the Neues Museum.

For books printed before September 2019, the following may also apply:

• As of August 2019, many of Berlin's buses have undergone changes, including:
  • Line #200 now runs via Spittelmarkt and Berlin City Hall instead of via Unter den Linden (new line #300 — which goes from Tiergarten/Philharmonic to Warschauer Strasse — has replaced this portion).
  • Metro Bus M48 has been cut (lines #200 and N2 have replaced this bus between Potsdamer Platz and Alexanderplatz).
  • Line N2 has been rerouted to follow the U2 subway line.
• The tourist information office on Rankstrasse (across from the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church) has closed.
• Bassy Club has closed.

For books printed before December 2018, the following may also apply:

• Passports are now required for entry to the Reichstag, and must be presented with the confirmation letter received after making the required online reservation.
• The Pergamon Museum has a new combo-ticket that covers the "Pergamon. Das Panorama" exhibit with museum admission. The exhibit — a wraparound panorama painting of the city of Pergamon in AD 129 — is in a pavilion across from Museum Island while the Pergamon Altar is undergoing restoration.
• The Museum Pass Berlin now includes the German History Museum.
• We now recommend buying tickets online in advance to avoid lines at the DDR Museum.
• Several recommended guides have updated their contact information: 
  • Lee Evans has a new mobile number: +49 176 6335 5565.
  • Torben Brown has a new email address: [email protected].
  • Carlos Meissner has a new email address: [email protected].
• The Jewish Museum Berlin is no longer open late on Mondays.
• The Deutsche Kinemathek Film and TV Museum is now open on Mondays and closed on Tuesdays.
• The Silent Heroes Memorial Center has moved from the Hackescher Markt to the German Resistance Memorial location.
• The famous Fassbender & Rausch chocolate shop on Gendarmenmarkt has dropped "Fassbender" – it's just the Rausch chocolate shop now.
• Several recommended restaurants have closed: Die Zwölf Apostel (both the one near Museum Island and the one on Bleibtreustrasse), La Bodeguita del Medio (Lychener Strasse 6), Imbiss 204 (in the Kollwitzkiez area), and Café Sibylle (in eastern Berlin).
• The Fat Tire Bikes location at Zoologischer Garten has closed.
• In Potsdam, the #603 bus only leaves from the main train station on summer weekends. On summer weekdays and off-season, you can catch the #603 at Platz der Einheit, a 15-minute walk past the Alter Markt (reachable by multiple bus or tram lines from the station).

• Hotel Deutscher Kaiser in Baden-Baden has closed.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• Baden-Baden's "Kurhaus" tourist-information office location is not in the Kurhaus itself, but in the nearby Kolonnaden building.
• Contrary to what's printed in some Rick Steves guidebooks printed before 2023, you should indeed follow the advice posted near the hot-water fountain at the Roman-Irish Bath in Baden-Baden: Don't drink from it.
• The German Clock Museum (in Furtwangen) is now closed on Mondays.

• The Roman-Germanic Museum remains closed for renovation until at least 2026. In the meantime, major exhibits are on view at the Belgian House (Cäcilienstrasse 46).
• High-speed Thalys trains — which connect Cologne and Dortmund with Brussels and points between (and beyond Brussels) — have been rebranded as, and are now operated by, Eurostar. (Prices have not changed significantly; see our advice for Belgian train travel.)

• Recommended guide Liane Richter has passed away.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• Ibis Hotels Bastel, Königstein, and Lilienstein are now collectively known as Ibis Dresden Zentrum.
• Star Inn is now Star G Hotel.
• Several recommended restaurants have closed: Altmarktkeller, Gasthaus am Neumarkt, King's Bread, and Teestube.
• Bülow's Bistro is now Caroussel Nouvelle.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• Combo-tickets are now available for the Historic Green Vault and other Royal Palace sights. (You still need to select a timed-entry window for the Historic Green Vault.)
• Hotel Martha Dresden has a new email address: [email protected].

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The Jewish Museum has reopened after a long renovation. The engaging museum uses arts and crafts, historical documents, and everyday objects to explore Jewish life in Frankfurt from around 1800 to the present day. The exhibits thoughtfully connect touching personal stories with the context of the local Jewish community’s history.
• Frankfurt's tourist information office has a new phone number: +49 69 247 455 400.
• The Romantic Road bus now runs only once or twice a week.
• The Holiday Express Hauptbahnhof is now Premier Inn Frankfurt City Centre (+49 69 6677 8738, [email protected]).
• Hotel Topas has new contact info: +49 69 2380 5820, [email protected].
• Several recommended restaurants have closed: Cafébar im Kunstverein, Urban Kitchen, BonaMente, and L'Emir.
• Galeria Kaufhof's Leonhard's Café and Restaurant is now just called "Galeria Restaurant."
• There's no longer a post office in Frankfurt's airport, but the "Book + Press" shop on level 0 offers postal services. The airport's medical clinic is no longer between terminals 1B and 1C, but has moved outside the 1C arrivals area. And the airport's Wi-Fi is now free.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The Rainer Abicht harbor and port boat tour no longer has live narration in English (an English audioguide is available on their app).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• Mercure Hotel Art Leipzig is now Art City Hotel Leipzig.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• The Monument to the Battle of the Nations (Völkerschlachtdenkmal) has a new website: www.stadtgeschichtliches-museum-leipzig.de.

• The €9 ticket cited as covering the train-and-bus connection between Cochem and Burg Eltz no longer exists, but a day ticket (€15.70 in early 2024) does cover the whole day's travel on both the train and bus (as do other ticket deals; see Germany Rail Passes and Train Tips).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• In summer, it's now easy to reach Burg Eltz without a car, thanks to a new train-and-bus connection via Hatzenport: The hourly train from Cochem to Hatzenport is timed to meet the bus #365, which runs between the Hatzenport train station and Burg Eltz's parking lot twice an hour (€4.10, 24 minutes, one-hour total from Cochem, April–Oct only). Trains also run hourly from Koblenz to Hatzenport (75 minutes total). Bus #330 from Treis-Karden, a less convenient way to reach Burg Eltz, is no longer running.
• The Gleis 9 café in Cochem's train station, where you can pay to leave your bags for the day, is now closed on Wednesdays.
• Weingut Rademacher in Cochem has closed (both as a winery and accommodations) upon the death of its owner.
• There's no longer a grocery store in central Cochem.
• The F.J. Weis Winery in Zell no longer offers tours.

• The tourist information office outside the main train station (at Luisenstrasse 1) is now open Mon–Sat 9:00–17:00, Sun from 10:00.
• The Neue Pinakothek remains closed for major renovations, with plans to reopen in 2029. Until then, some of its key works of 19th century art are on display on the ground floor of the Alte Pinakothek and in the Schack Collection.
• The Munich City Museum has closed for a major renovation that's expected to last until mid-2031 (!). Its recommended Stadtcafé remains open (until summer 2027).
• Haxnbauer restaurant is reopening, as Haxnbäurin, in a new location at In Tal 38 (between Marienplatz and Isartor) in summer 2024.
• Hotel St. Paul has closed.
• The EurAide train information office in the Munich train station has closed.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• While construction is underway at the train station, look for the travel center (Reisezentrum, with ticket counters near track 11 (not track 18). Car rental agencies are currently located on streets around the station, not opposite track 22.
• The Romantic Road bus now leaves from Karlsplatz 21, not the central bus station (ZOB), and only goes once or twice a week.
• All Gray Line buses also now leave from Karlsplatz 21.
• Both MVG customer service centers are now closed on Sundays.
• Radius Tours' office is now located at Dachauer Strasse 4, near the train station.
• The Munich Walk tour company is no longer operating.
• The first of two completely overhauled wings at the Deutsches Museum's main branch has reopened, and with a new entrance on the southwest end of the complex. (The second wing remains closed and under renovation until 2028.) The museum no longer offers combo-tickets with its aviation or transportation branches.
• The in-person München Ticket Office in the New Town Hall has closed; information and tickets are still available at www.muenchenticket.de.

For books printed before March 2022, the following may also apply:

• Hotel Monaco, Pension Lindner, and Pension am Jakobsplatz have closed.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• Munich's transit tickets now reflect the city's new transit-zone system, with Zone M being the central zone in which most travelers spend most of their time, though Dachau lies in Zone 1, and the airport in Zone 5. Ticketing otherwise remains the same.
• The Nazi Documentation Center no longer charges admission (and still doesn't charge for audioguide).
• Litty's Hotel has closed.

• The Blaue Nacht culture festival is held only in odd years, and isn't always on the first Saturday in May (it's planned for May 9–10 in 2025).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The Nürnberg Transport Museum is now the DB Railway Museum.
• The tourist information office near the train station has closed.
• While the expansion and remodel of the Nazi Documentation Center is underway the center is hosting an interim exhibit about the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. The center is set to fully reopen with a new permanent exhibit in 2025.
• The Biergarten Kettensteg has closed.
• Istanbul Restaurant is now called "Bosporus Restaurant."

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• At Ehrenberg Castle a new, second incline elevator takes visitors from the suspension bridge station up to the Schlosskopf ruins.
• The local bus that runs between the train station and Ehrenberg Castle is now #120.
• Hotel Wolke 7 has closed.
• Ausserfern Bauernladen is at Untermarkt 9, not Obermarkt 3.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• You can now skip the steep climb to the Ehrenberg Castle ruins by taking the "Ehrenberg Liner" elevator from the visitor center up to the suspension bridge, where you can continue on the footpath to the ruins.
• The Füssen–Reutte bus is now #100 (not #74).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• K-D Line riverboats run on a significantly different schedule than what's listed in Rick Steves books printed before 2023; check schedules (look for "Fahrplan Hauptsaison Rhein" table on pages 21–22 of the linked pdf) before heading out.
• Bacharach's tourist-information office no longer offers walking tours.
• The Jost souvenir store in Bacharach is now a wine shop.
• St. Goar's tourist-information office has moved down the street to Heerstrasse 81, and now has shorter opening hours in high season: Mon–Tue and Thu–Fri 10:00–16:30, Wed and Sat–Sun until 13:00.
• The Signal and River Pilots Museum (Wahrschauer- und Lotsenmuseum) in St. Goar has closed.
• The Montag family's beer-stein souvenir shop in St. Goar has closed; the steins are now for sale in their cuckoo-clock shop.
• Expect Rheinfels Castle to close for a week during the Castle Beats music festival (late August or early September).
• St. Goar no longer has taxi service to Rheinfels Castle from town, but in summer (May–Oct) a shuttle bus runs every 30 minutes, except at mid-day (€3.50 one-way, leaves from the riverside directly downhill from the train station, as well as from a stop at the castle end of Heerstrasse) — and the 15-minute walk from town can be done without too steep an incline.
• At the Rhein Hotel in Bacharach, all rooms have air-conditioning (but only the "hiker room" has an in-room sauna).
• Gasthaus Jägerstube in Bacharach has closed.
• Rusticana restaurant in Bacharach is now Café Bistro Noy.
• Marksburg Castle now offers English-language tours only at 13:15; German-language tours (which include an English handout) no longer run on a set schedule. There's no longer a tourist train running between Braubach and the castle.
• Burg Pfalz has more limited opening hours than what's stated on its English-language website and in Rick Steves books printed before 2023.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may apply:

• The English Conversation Club is no more.
• Hotel Spitzweg has closed.
• The Romantic Road bus now runs only once or twice a week, and only in summer (May–Sept): Between Frankfurt and Rothenburg it runs only on Sundays; along the Munich–Rothenburg stretch it still runs on both Sundays and Wednesdays.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• The former Gästehaus am Klosterhof is now Gästehaus Edelzimmer Rothenburg, run by Jennifer and Martin Menzel, and it no longer offers breakfast (+49 163 7710 9959, [email protected]).

• The Obersalzberg Documentation Center (above Berchtesgaden) has reopened.
• Mirabell Palace is now open on Saturdays (generally 8:00–18:00, same as weekdays), but closed on Sundays.

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• The Makartsteg bridge has been renamed "Marko-Feingold-Steg."
• The best phone number for the daily walking tour that meets at Salzburg's tourist information office is +43 664 340 1757.
• A'Velo bike rental has moved to the Old Town side of the Staatsbrücke (Salzburg's main bridge) and now closes Nov–March.
• The tourist information office across from the train station in Berchtesgaden has closed.
• At the Hohensalzburg Fortress, the audioguides are gone, but free 30-minute tours are given at 9:30 and 19:00, starting at the fortress's info point. A new "Panorama Ticket" budget option allows entry only into the Panorama exhibit on the fortress itself, and tower view (€11 by funicular, €8.50 by foot; only available May–Sept 8:30–10:00 and 18:00–20:00).
• Admission to the cathedral is now €5. Cathedral tours are offered in English daily at 14:00 for €5 and organ concerts are daily at noon for €6; these tickets include admission to the church — so if you're going to visit the church anyway, they are basically free.
• Haus Ballwein, on Moosstrasse, has closed (Pension Ballwein, however is still in operation).

For books printed before February 2021, the following may apply:

• Karl Marx's House now has shorter hours in the off-season (Nov–March): Tue–Sun 11:00–17:00, Monday 14:00–17:00.

• The Mainfränkisches Museum at Marienberg Fortress is now the Franconian Museum (Museum für Franken).

For books printed before January 2023, the following may also apply:

• Martin Kamphans, long recommended as a local guide for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, now lives in and gives tours of Würzburg (+49 1577 0220 513, [email protected]) — but still also offers tours in Rothenburg and other towns along the Romantic Road.
• The Prince's Building Museum at the Marienberg Fortress is closed (indefinitely) for renovations.
• City Hotel Schönleber is currently closed, as it's housing refugees from Ukraine.
• Hotel Dortmunder Hof is now City Hotel Petite.

For books printed before February 2021, the following may also apply:

• Hotel zum Winzermännle has a new email address: [email protected].