Intro to Germany
To start this guide off, one must realize that Germany and the United States are very different countries in their everyday life. You cannot come to Europe and expect to live the same way in which you live back in the States. First off and most obvious Germans speak German, for the most part students and young middle age people will definitely be able to understand you, so you don’t have to worry about getting too lost or hunger. Just ask somewhere where the closest bus stop/bakery is at. Another big difference especially if you are coming from a University in the US is that dorms here are very big and you will never have a roommate (the idea is unheard of here). Also don’t expect to be going to your Universities soccer or football games every weekend because schools here don’t have private teams, if you want to see a lot of soccer games it would be a good idea to choose a town/city in Germany that has a team. Also another note on student life here is that there is no campus. For the most part student apartments will be spread out over a town and the same goes for university buildings. Expect to buy a bike or use the public transportation quite a bit. When you go to the supermarket bring your own bags and expect to find smaller size portions of everything, there are no Costco’s here.
That being said this guide is going to about a fair size town called Tübingen. It lies along the Neckar River and it is about 30 Kilometers south of the Capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart. The town has about 88 thousand people living in it, and there are between 20 to 30 thousand are students. It is a good place to be a student; the town revolves around the university.
Getting to Tübingen
It is not a difficult place to get to when first arriving in Germany. Your best bet and easiest way to get here from the states is to fly to the airport in Stuttgart. Once you land you walk out the door and between 8 am and 10 pm there are buses to your left, that leave twice an hour at: 18 and: 48. You will then take a 50 minute bus ride and get off at the very last stop, which are Tübingen Train and Bus Station. From here there is an extensive bus transportation system throughout the town, and it is easy to travel to any part of Tübingen. You could also fly into the airports in Frankfurt or Munich, then from their use the machines to get to Tübingen or just take the trains to Stuttgart Train station and it’s a simple 45 to 60 minute train ride from there. Otherwise it takes about 3 hours from Munich and about 4 from Frankfurt.
A note for students coming from Umass or getting housing here through Stadtwerk for the first time: You have two stops when you get here, first is to pay for your housing which is in Fichtenweg 5, in the very north part of town (take bus 3,4,5 there). Then you have to go to the complete opposite side of town in the French Quarter, it will take about an hour to get there if not longer. There you meet the Hausmeister (zero English) and get the key for your apartment from him. They also have horribly inconvenient work hours here. The house master is only there from 8 to 9:30 in the morning as well as 3 to 5 in the afternoon, and the people in Fichtenweg take an hour off for lunch from 12 to 1. My recommendation is to try to arrive in Tübingen around 12:30 in the afternoon then take one of the buses and arrive a little before 1:30 and get your papers, and head over to the French Quarter to get your key. Also do this during the week preferably not Friday, because if you miss them you will have to find a friend or hostel to stay in, because they are closed all weekend.
Sights in Tübingen
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| Tübingen's Castle |
First off all the buildings in Germany are built completely differently than in the United States. Many have timber frames called Fachwerkhäuser, they are really cool to look at and give the area a traditional feeling. Also in Tübingen, which is in many German towns, is an Altstadt (old town) which is usually a pedestrian zone and it is a great place to walk around, hang out, and grab a cup of coffee. Tübingen also has a couple things that one should check out while staying or passing through here. Like many German towns, Tübingen has a castle. It is free to get inside and it gives you a great 360 degree view of Tübingen. It is particularly cool from the late fall to early spring when there are no leaves and you get a beautiful view of the Neckar River and all the houses in Tübingen. Also in the castle is a museum, with all the university’s archeological collections from all over the world. They have a sculpture of a horse that dates back 35000 years. The museum is free for students, and it also isn’t a bad place to study. It is pretty quiet. Also if you like museums the town has a Stadtmuseum, which talks about Tübingen’s significance as well as giving a history of the town. Not far from Tübingen is a monastery which has its own little town. Technically it is part of Tübingen, but it is outside of town on its own. It’s called Bebenhaus, and it takes a serene hike to get there and it is also a good place for a relaxing walk through a monastery. The jewel of Tübingen though, is probably the Neckarbrücke. It is the bridge in the middle of town between the Old city and the train station. The Tourist Office is right there as well. During the summer, from May to September it is lined on both sides with flower boxes full of flowers of every color. It is a pretty sight to see and one side of the bridge looks over a large stretch of river, while the other overlooks the island as well as many houses each a different color. They are a gorgeous site to see.
Things to do
Being a University Town there is plenty for students to do. The University doesn’t have any sport teams, but that doesn’t mean that there are no sports here. In fact, Tübingen has an extensive intramural sport program with everything from soccer, archery, judo, and a crew team. Most of these are free for University students with some requiring a 40 Euro commitment at the beginning of each semester. There are also a couple areas of town with soccer and basketball courts where you can go after classes to play some pick-up games of either of the two earlier said. The biggest area is at a middle school up in the WHO (where Fichtenweg is). There they have one large soccer field, an “indoor” soccer field that is outside; also they have three basketball courts up there. Another interesting sport that is available all over the city is ping-pong. They have tables in between many buildings, one being in the French quarter.
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| Beautiful view from the river |
If sports are not your thing, there is still plenty to do in Tübingen. There is a pond not far from the train station, only two stops away in a place called Hirschau. But take note, in Europe it is much more accepted to swim in public places like a lake without clothing. So if you do go, which I recommend doing, be prepared to see at least a couple people in their birthday suit. Tübingen also has a free swimming pool for everyone. It will be the same bus as the one going to Hirschau, but it’s the first stop. They also have an outdoor track here. Also a very popular thing for people to do here is take a boat out on the Neckar River called a Stocherkahn, it is difficult to describe what it is, but it is propelled by someone in the back who uses a stick. Also there are two great parks here where it is great to grab a coffee or ice cream and lounge in for a couple hours. One is an island on the Neckar River, and the other is the Botanical Garden which is near the University buildings. On any sunny day there will be tons of people there. You can try your hand at walking on a tight rope; they have those in the park. Or you can watch people fall off, also quite fun. Another awesome thing in Tübingen is that it is bordered on the North and South by fairly large forests, which have an abundance of hiking and walking trails. There is also bike trails going through town, which lead out of town and can give you some great scenic views.
Also available to students are a couple groups that encourage meeting new international students as well as German ones. The group called StudIT, has many activities and excursions throughout the year. These are a great place to meet other international students and have a great time. Some of the events they organize are trips to Berlin, France and Switzerland. They also have many events that take place in Tübingen, for example, weekly Stammtisch’s (weekly dinners at different restaurants in town) as well as pretzel making sessions in a real German bakery. The other group is also affiliated with StudIT, is called the StudIT Tandem/Mentor Program. For the mentor program, they pair you up with a German student and they help you get acquainted with Tübingen, they are there to help you find things, and are good too because they become a good friend while here. The other program, tandem, and pairs you with a German student who is interested in improving or speaking his/her English. And in turn is good to improve the student who is abroad, German skills.
Also for the students traveling abroad, don’t be afraid to speak to the Germans. If you are here to learn or work on your German, having a few German friends makes it much easier and quicker to get better. And if you’re here for the culture, many Germans have good English and they like practicing it. They can give you heads up on Festivals and recommend great places to travel to. If you live in the French Quarter in Tübingen, there are three grocery stores very close to you (10 to 15 minute walk). They are called Lidl, Kaufland, and Marktkauf. Lidl is the cheapest, but has the worst selection. But you can still get all your staples here for a good price. Kaufland is the best, with a good selection as well as good prices. And Marktkauf is the closest to you, and they have the best selection. They are almost like a Walmart and grocery store combined. But everything there is a little pricier. Sometimes the same exact thing you would buy at Kaufland will be a whole Euro more expensive at Marktkauf. Also for other things to do in Tübingen the Tourist Office is a great resource. You can sign up for theater shows there, or get recommendations from the clerks who are working on what you can do.
Places to Eat
German food service is not at all similar to the States. The good news is that you barely give them anything for a tip. Usually you round up to the nearest Euro, or give them 25 cents. If you really liked the service you can give them 10 percent. The downside is the meals are a little more expensive if you factor in the Euro to dollar conversion. Don’t expect the same service you get in the States. Once you order and get your food, you won’t see the waiter or waitress until you flag them down. Also on that note it is not frowned upon at all to stay at a table in a restaurant for several hours and only order a couple of small things. Another great thing is that beer is usually the second cheapest drink on the menu. Soda is always more expensive and there is no such thing as free refills here, so keep that in mind. Also another mistake a lot of Americans make is when you order water, it is not from the tap and therefore costs money. If you want tap water you have to clarify that that is what you want.
Tübingen in not far from the Schwabian Alps, so the regional cuisine as well as the dialect, pulls heavily from Schwabish tradition. There specialties include Käsespätzle, which is like a thick dish of Mac and Cheese. Also there is Maultauschen which are similar to raviolis but with more veggies inside. Wurstsalat is a salad made of shredded meat which isn’t as bad as it sounds. Of course a hugely popular thing in Germany is all sorts of sausage and potato meals. Naturally there is beer; there are so many tasty brands that it is useless to recommend any. I do recommend Hefeweisen though. It is a type of beer, like Pilsner is, and the Baden-Württemberg region is well known for it. During the winter a very nice treat is Klühwein, which is warmed wine with some seasonings in it and sometimes some rum. It is a great way to enjoy a Christmas market.
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| Neckarmüller overlooking the river |
Tübingen has many great eating establishments all over the city. You never have to look very hard to find a restaurant near you. The biggest and most famous is probably Neckarmüller. It is a restaurant/brewery on the Neckar River, with a very large outdoor sitting area, that many people sit during the summer and drink beer and eat bratwurst. It is a little more expensive than most places but it has a good selection and fine beer. You can get many regional dishes here. Another good one is Manufaktur, it is a pizza shop just outside the Altstadt, and they have a very large selection of delicious pizzas all for 5 to 7 Euros. Note: Most of the times in Germany pizzas are usually for one person. They are about a foot in diameter. There are also 3 different places that are owned by the same person or family that are a great value for your money. They are called Stern, Unkel, and Hades. They have a good selection between lots of different things from hamburgers to pasta to pizza, and the majority of things on the menu are 5 Euros and some are 6. They are pretty good, but don’t expect a Chilies or Applebee’s hamburger though, it’s a bit smaller and not as flavorful. There are restaurants all over the town, especially in the Altstadt. If you are in the French Quarter, a very good one is Credo. It is right across the street from Aixer Straße bus stop. The meals are reasonably priced, and they have the best Käsespätzle that I have ever tasted. There is also a fantastic breakfast place in the Nonnenhaus shopping center, it is called Eis Mara. They have a very large choice of breakfast you can order, and they are also an excellent place to get some ice cream. They make many fantastic ice cream creations, from very classy looking sundaes to caterpillars made from scoops of ice cream.
When you get out of class and are looking for a quick bite to eat, you have a couple of options. If you want a decent meal at a great cost, the best places are Clubhaus and the student Mensa. Both are in the middle of most of the university buildings. Clubhaus is right next to the library and has a large selection of drinks, pastries, and sandwiches. Everything is already made and you take the items you want off the shelf and put them on your lunch tray then pay for them. The sandwiches are really good as well as being very cheap. It is difficult to find anything more expensive than 2 Euros. The student Mensa is also a good deal. It is straight across from the University Library and you get an entire meal for 3.5 Euros. They usually have a meat deal and a vegetarian dish, with a salad and a side dish. It also comes with all you can eat soup. The downside is that the food is not something you speak great things about, it is very similar to school cafeteria food, but it is a full meal. Also it would be a good idea to bring a drink with you because they don’t give you one here. Also for an after class meal Unkel is right there in the middle of class buildings as well.
On a side note, a very popular snack in Germany is a Turkish snack called the Döner. It is kind of like a taco, it has meat, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and peppers all tucked in a pita bread shell. It is an extremely tasty treat. There are 4 or 5 places in the main part of town that sell them and they are always open pretty late. It is a great thing to buy and eat after hitting the bars and clubs of Tübingen. Also something else that is interesting, the Chinese food we eat in the States is not real authentic Chinese food, neither is the Chinese cuisine here. But the Chinese food here doesn’t taste at all like its U.S. counterpart. It is slightly blander, but still good.
Cafes and Bakeries
There are no Dunkin’ Donuts in Tübingen, there are actually very few in Germany and Europe as well. You will see quite a few Starbucks in Europe but there are not any in Tübingen. Instead if you want your coffee fix there are a very many café or bakery that will help you out. Bakeries usually have a very large selection of pastries, cakes, sandwiches and breads. No bagels though. The breads here are incredible there are lots of different types and they are on a whole new level then the average bread back home. There are also so many types of pastry that it would be an accomplishment in itself to try them all. The prices for pastries area very reasonable, usually they are not more than a Euro or two. The most popular item to buy is a butter pretzel. It is a large soft pretzel which a baker will cut in half and put some nice thick butter inside. Extremely good. Another thing to realize, there are no extra large or large coffees. German coffee is stronger than in the States but it is also much smaller, most of the time it comes in a cup around the size of a tea cup. There are no extra large ice coffees either. If they even have ice coffee they charge an arm and a leg for it.
Like restaurant there are many, many bakeries and cafes to eat at. Café Lieb at the Friedrichs Straße bus stop has the largest selection of things to purchase. They also have one of the biggest cups of coffee. A good deal that they offer is there cup of coffee with a butter pretzel for 2.50 Euros. The best deal in Tübingen though for coffee and a snack is a place one street parallel to the Wilhelm Straße’s Neuphilosophie building. It is called Gauker and they offer a butter pretzel or pastry and a coffee for only 1.29 Euro. It is a great and delicious snack for in between classes. In the Altstadt, you will see lots of tables in most streets and all over the square. These are also great places to grab a bit to eat and sip a coffee. You can sit here chat it up and follow the European tradition of people watching. A good bakery close to the French Quarter would be Weit, also across from the Aixer Straße bus stop and right next to Credo, it offers a decent selection that doesn’t require a trip into the heart of the town.
A very popular thing in Europe is grabbing an ice cream and walking around town. It might almost feel like being back in the 50’s. Tübingen is no exception. There are four or five ice cream places, and every sunny day, it seems that every other person has bought one. The ice cream here is the same as back home. They got all the good flavors. The prices are also realistic, it cost only a Euro per scoop, and you can get them in a cup or cone.
Nightlife in Tübingen
Now for the part you have been waiting for, Tübingen’s nightlife. There is always plenty to do. The wildest places depend on what you want; there are lots of different things you can go for chilling, partying, and dancing to name a few. Tübingen has three or four popular places to go to dance. The biggest and most extensive being Top10, it is a ten minute walk from French Quarter. It has a large dance room with DJ’s 3 bars and a couple stripper poles, no one strips on them though, and it is either for hired dancers to use or drunken people to attempt to use. They also have another room with a revolving center dance floor, the room is not at big and has more tables and places to sit. There is another whole room on the second floor dedicated purely for people to smoke in; it has a monster bar in the center and lots of tables and stool all around. The last room has more of a bar feel with a Mexican theme. Those are all the rooms to dance and drink and they also have a room when you enter Top10 that you can order and eat food all night. The best night to go is on Wednesdays, on that night it is student night, and all students enter for free and get half price drinks all night. Any other day of the week it costs 4 or 6 Euros depending on what is going on. Definitely an exciting place to be, a little on the expensive side though, I recommend if you want to drink a lot do so before going. Another dance place which is usually hit or miss is a place called Kuckuck. Their big nights are Friday and Saturday. They are in the same building as Fichtenweg 5, where you go the first day in Tübingen. It has a small dance floor, which is completely packed by 1 o’clock. The drinks here are priced very well, beers are 1.50, mix drinks 3, and shots are one. It’s a long trek to get to, but usually worth it. Usually at least once a month Kuckuck will have a theme for the evening, these are always fun to go to and you can expect themes like Suspenders party, 80’s,or dress like famous people. Sometimes though, it gets a little too crowded and it is difficult to move through the tightly packed crowd. The last dance place I will talk about is called Clubhaus, during the day it’s a student lunch café and on Thursday nights it become a student Mecca. Every Thursday Clubhaus has a big party for all the students who want to start their weekend early. It is kind of like a combination of Kuckuck and Top10. They have two large dance rooms upstairs and then they also have cheap beers. There are also plenty of places to chill away from the music and chat with friends. It is purely for students only, so if you are traveling through or have friend or family coming to you here, it would be wise that you have a student card from your home university available. Entrance is free and occasionally you will get the university to fund the party for different departments of the school. Germans do not dance the way Americans are use to. You will rarely see the bump and grind being performed here. In fact, people have been kicked out of clubs for dancing too provocatively. Germans dance more so in groups, almost like a middle school dance, it is weird to see when you first get here.
For those of you who do not like dancing there are plenty of alternatives. There are many bars and pubs, so much so, that there is almost one on every street. These are all pretty good places to be, you can grab a drink, listen to music, enjoy the scenery, or do whatever it is you do when you drink. There are several places though that do stand out, Neckarmüller, has a large outdoor seating area overlooking the river. It has a very German beer garden feel to it. You can order beers as well as light dishes of bratwurst or pretzels. It is a great place during the summer to meet up with friends and have a good time. Another gem of Tübingen is named the Blauer Saloon; it is also called the Karl Marx or Communist Bar because they have a large picture of Karl Marx on the wall. This place is great because the beers are so cheap, only 1.50 Euros. It has a cool atmosphere and occasionally it even has live music. It is located right around the corner from the large church in the center of town but it might be difficult to find because there are absolutely no signs on its building. Another good bar as well is called the Last Resort; they are open every night until pretty late. This place is great as well. They have an entire room closed off for people who are smoking, so if you do smoke you can enjoy a cigarette inside, and if you don’t then you don’t have to worry about smelling or being in the presence of smoke all night. The beers here are you average German price, around 3.00 Euros. They have a bunch on couches, a foosball table as well as a Nintendo 64 which are all free to use. This is a good place to stop off at any point in the night, whether it is first stop of the night, mid way through the night or a place to grab that last beer before calling it quits for the night. It is located not far from the bus station, right across the street from the Deutsche Bank. Another place of note is a place called Shooters. It is a spot bar on the outskirts of the Altstadt that have a selection of over 100 shots, with names ranging from the Monika Lewinski to Mercedes. It has a lively atmosphere and is always fun place to be. The shots are 2 Euro for each one, but they are not that alcoholic. Right across from Last resort is another excellent nighttime place. Every Monday a place called Tangente gets a huge crowd and also its karaoke night, it is great everyone sings along with the person who is singing and it creates a immensely fun experience.
The French Quarter also has a few fine establishments as well. Latour is a place midway up Aixer Straße. It is a relaxed place, and has a very chill environment. They often play jazz music and the staff is very friendly. Once or twice a week they even have live music, usually jazz performers from the area. If you play jazz music yourself, inquire if they need a live performance, and they will help you out. Also not far from that is a place called Sieben. It is a student run hang out bar, that is only open on Wednesdays and Fridays. It is great for the people who live in the French Quarter because it is so close. They have plenty to do from a whole closet full of board games to pool, foosball or darts. They sometimes bring in a DJ but it is always a great place to meet Germans or other Americans as well. They have plenty of couches as well as really cheap drinks, 1.50 for a large beer and 3 Euros for strong mixed drinks. The students run the bar not to make lots of money, but rather to provide a great place to relax and hang out.
Places near Tübingen
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| View of Heidelberg for afar |
Tübingen is in the geographical center of Baden-Württemberg and there are plenty of easy day trips not far from here. Heidelberg is a beautiful old German city only two hours away. It has an awesome castle plus there are very scenic walks you can talk along the River. There is also the capital of Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart, which is only a meager hour away. There are quite a few museums there that are worth checking out, most notably is the Mercedes Benz Museum. Stuttgart also has lots of different shops that you can pretty much buy anything you need there. Also if you are into hiking and nature walks and paths, Tübingen has a great location because it is situated in between the Black Forest and the Schwabish Alps. There are plenty of picturesque hikes within an hour of here. There are two castles on top of mountains that are certainly worth the hike, one is the Fortress Hohenzollern which is only 15 minutes away on a train. This is where many of the Wilhelm Dynasty’s family members are buried. It is your classic German castle and is quite the site. The other is castle Lichtenstein which is 30 minutes away. You hike for about an hour before you come to the castle. It is ideally located and quite beautiful. You get a magnificent view of the entire valley below that quickly makes you forget you aching calves. There is also a nice restaurant at the top which has good regional food and is not too expensive.
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