Re: Last week of November or First week of December
[quote=neworlean]this will be my first time in germany. i am trying to figure out if the last week of november of the first week of december is worth making the trip, or should i just wait untill sometime next year.[/quote]
any time is a great time to visit germany. by the first week of december the advent/christmas fairs have started in the larger cities and will typically end a day or two before christmas. some start the last week in november. the fair is called weihnachtmarkt or christkindlmarkt depending on the local tradition. smaller towns' fairs are often just a few days long or on weekends. just a warning that as december 25 approaches some hotels/pensions actually close down and the occupants of the rlds and fkks also rep001ter home or to warmer climes for the holiday slow period. that said, all the facilities and services you may be interested in will be open and active all of november and the first two weeks of december.
if your name on this board is indicative of your current physical location, you might find germany a bit cold in december and you'll need to bring appropriate clothing. i suggest a layered approach even for your coat. i found a gore-tex rain parka with a zip-in fleece liner was a good combination. windproof, easy to configure and not too bulky. even then, there were times like berlin at night in mid-december, when i felt very cold. don't forget a hat and gloves. drinking hot glühwein or hexenpunsch at the fairs will either warm you up or, after a couple of mugs, you just won't care anymore.
some say the christkindlmarkt in nürnberg is the best of the fairs. i've been there but i have many other christmas fairs to visit before i can give a definitive decision. there's a lot of heidelbeer glühwein to sample. (smile)
[quote=neworlean]i am also considering visiting budapest and romania. any advice would be appreciated.[/quote]
if you're planning only a week for your trip, i think germany would fill it as would a trip to either budapest or romania. it depends on how frenetic a pace you can bear and how much you're want to take in at each destination. if you really have only a week or so, i'd choose one region in germany or either budapest or romania, and not try to squeeze too much into a short period of time. i'd direct questions about budapest and romania to the appropriate sections on this board.
i'm excited about your first trip to germany. have fun and report back.
rufus
Sources of foreign currency cash over time
Through the eighties when I travelled I used to put extra cash on my credit card and take travellers cheques and small amounts of foreign currency to get me going in each coutry I planned to visit. As I was in credit on my credit card I could draw on cash like an debit card does today. I think back then, not all debit cards were linked up internationally like credit cards so this was the concept on how to create a debit card from a credit card. You got international rates and the fees were lighter than say using a bureau of exchange. I found the travellers cheques were a pain as you were always on the look out for a bank that dealt with international customers or a specialist bureau de change.
The other benefit of putting cash credit on your credit card is that if you are travelling for extended time you would not miss any credit ard payment since you are not at home making payments to your credit card since the card was in cash credit.
When it came to the nineties I would usually take foreign cash obtained from home and my debit card to be used in ATMs. I would also take my credit card with cash put on it since it gave me flexibility if my home debit card did not work since the international network for debit cards was not as full as it is for credit cards. Travellers cheques were out the window as not friendly to use and not readily exchangeable as Rufus T Firefly says.
Now come the noughties, I exclusively use my debit card for cash withdrawals everywhere I go in Asia, Australasia, Europe, Middle East and the Americas. I must admit I have not done it in Africa as I the last time I went to Africa was in the nineties and I took cash and credit card only. Up until a several months ago my bank absorbed all the bank fees and foreign exchange fees on cash withdrawals worldwide. Now my banks charges 0.84% fee on each withdrawal for currency outside of Europe which is the standard visa foreign exchange fee. In Europe there are no fees still I think since when I look at the FX market rate on the wires and then my bank statement for the FX rate I see that they are pretty much in line. For example, to show the different at present the EUR rate is €1.12 per unit of my currency and the local bureau de change says €1.05 per unit so you can see that over time you save a bit of cash.
Hope this helps give reassurance that ATMs can work. Just make sure that you have a four digit PIN number that is numerically based.
