Trips

The advantage of traveling within Germany is that everything is relatively close. Germany is smaller than Montana, but has about 81 million people. The best adjective to describe it is decentralized. Although there are not huge cities like the US, there is a town about every 10 minutes of driving.
The Schöneswochenende pass is the cheapest way to travel within Germany. It's good only on the weekends for 5 people all day on either Saturday or Sunday.

You'll be in Europe so there are obviously many, many great places to see. You can go to the large metropolitin of Berlin, to the old city of Heidelberg, or to Munich. All of these places have numerous things to see so I recommend going on some sort of tour. This will point out all of the highlights of the city so afterwards you can backtrack through the places you want to spend more time in. A lot of the time you will be looking at what seems like an old building, only to find out that it was 85% destroyed in World War II. I sometimes find this somewhat frustrating but the renovations are continuous and very accurate. Thankfully some cities like Heidelberg and Tübingen were virtually untouched during the war, so their streets are filled with buildings dating back hundreds of years. All throughout the countryside you will also find ancient castles and amazing ruins. The cathedral in Cologne, Mad King Ludwig's castles in Bavaria, Hamburg's red light district, the Rhine Gorge, the Black Forest and Munich are all highly recommended sites of Germany.

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Make sure you take the advantage of seeing all of Europe while you're in Germany. Everywhere you look, there is something worth seeing. Travel! You are already here so throw away the "someday" attitude. You're young and this is an opportunity of a lifetime! You may want to consider traveling earlier in the term, to avoid the inevitable summer tourist rush.

Austria (Österreich)
Within Austria is the amazing city of Vienna (Wien). Vienna is one of the cities that topped many former students' lists of places to go. It is absolutely gorgeous. For those of you who are Klimt fans, they have numerous museums with his work. Take a look around the rest of Austria too for this is the country where the hills are alive and worth seeing.

The Netherlands (Die Niederlande)
Although most people think of Amsterdam when they think of the Netherlands, there is much more than just that. If you like a big city with lots of coffee shops, Amsterdam is for you. The city is filled with museums and beautiful buildings. It also houses the infamous redlight district, Heinekin Brewery, and the Van Gogh and sex museum. If the country side is more your thing, you can rent a bicycle and spend all day riding around the countryside. The country is quite flat as a whole, so bike riding is "einfach."

Hungary (Ungarn)
Budapest, the country's capital, is one of the cheapest places to travel near Germany. You probably don´t think of Hungary when you think about traveling in Europe, but perhaps you should. It has been enjoyed by many of the participants of the Program.

The Czech Republic (Tschechien)
Prague is another very cheap, wonderfully beautiful city. It is not unusual to hear someone say that this is the most beautiful city they've ever been to. While you're there, visit one of the unique Black Theaters. On recommendation of former student who knows from personal experience, don´t eat blood sausage on the train there.

Italy (Italien)
Italy has a lot of cities to see. The top four would probably be Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan. The farther south you go, the more careful you need to be. Count on Rome having people trying to take your money. Go to the Vatican and to Milan for the "The Last Supper". It was reopened in 1999 after 10 years of renovation, so go and see what you think.

England
After spending a few months in a non english speaking country it may be nice change. A bit of a warning though. Although London is very beautiful, it is also quite expensive. It's definitely worth a visit, but just remember to bring plenty of money.

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