Page 17 - (DK Eyewitness) Back Roads Travel Guide - Germany

Practical Information 15

Above left Old-fashioned telephone booth Above centre Posters advertising events Above right Street vending machine for telephone cards
hours of monuments and museums, Time DIRECTORY
accom moda tion, organized Germany uses Central European
excursions and city tours. They also Time, which is GMT plus one hour. COMMUNICATIONS
sell or give away useful material There is Daylight Saving Time
about city attractions, such as between the end of March and the International Access Codes
Australia: 0061
guidebooks, maps and postcards end of October, when the clocks
and may be able to find and book a move forward one hour on the Ireland: 00353
hotel room. The website of German last Sunday in March and back UK: 0044
National Tourist Office is also a on the last Sunday in October. US and Canada: 001
useful source of travel information.
Many cities also sell a Welcome Electricity TOURIST INFORMATION
Card, which allows the user 2–5 Germany’s electrical system provides German National Tourist Office
days’ free use of public transport 220V, except in some hotel Beethovenstrasse 69, 60325
Frankfurt; 069 97 46 40;
and discounted access to museums. bathrooms, where a lower current www.germany-tourism.de
is provided as a standard safety
Opening Hours measure. UK 220V appliances can be
The opening hours of shops, offices plugged into German sockets with
and other businesses depend to an adaptor. However, US 110V
a great extent on the size of the appliances will need a transformer.
town. In larger cities, the usual
office opening hours are Monday Smoking in Public
to Saturday from 9am to 6pm. Due to the federal system of
Supermarkets and other shops often government, the law on smoking
have longer opening hours (mostly in Germany varies from state to state.
until 8pm). In smaller towns, However, smoking is completely
however, nothing tends to open banned on public transport and in
until 10am. Shops everywhere are hospitals, airports, public and federal
usually closed on Sundays. Museums buildings, including the Parliament. Below far left Information centre, Landshut,
and historic monuments are also However, there are differences Bavaria Below left One of the many banks in
usually open from 9am to 6pm. between the German states when Germany Below centre Notice board outside
However, some places might be it comes to smoking in bars and Rieskrater Museum, Nördlingen, Bavaria
closed on a particular day, often restaurants. In some places, such as Below centre right Signpost along the road
Monday, so check opening hours small pubs and bars, or during late to Bad Harzburg, Lower Saxony Below Tourist
before arranging a visit. hours, the ban is not observed at all. information office in Würzburg, Bavaria

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