Background
I’ve always pictured traveling a lot through Germany during my studies. While I spent almost the entire first semester in my dormitory, the end of the second semester marked the first time I saw parts of Germany beyond Hamburg (apart from a conference in Berlin).
Due to the Covid pandemic, the German government increased domestic spending and aimed to lower living costs, partly by reducing transportation expenses. The result: For June, July, and August 2022, it was possible to purchase tickets for 9€, granting access to all local transportation (including buses, ferries, and U-Bahn) and regional trains. Students at the University of Hamburg, who already had free access to local transportation in Hamburg, saw their tickets become valid nationwide. I had to seize this amazing opportunity to explore the country because there is nothing like exploring Germany by train. In May 2023, the German government introduced a successor to the 9€ ticket, the 49€ ticket or Deutschlandticket, which we students also received.
After writing my semester exams, it was finally time to discover Germany.
The Summer of 2022
Externsteine-Bielefeld
The first place I chose to visit was Bielefeld, inspired by the famous Bielefeld conspiracy. This theory humorously claims that Bielefeld doesn’t exist and that its supposed existence is upheld by the government and mysterious entities known only as them. Think about it: do you know anyone from Bielefeld, or anyone who knows someone from there? Probably not, which made it the perfect destination to test out the 9€-ticket. Tom Scott has an excellent introduction to the Bielefeld conspiracy:
I decided to visit the Externsteine first, a stunning sandstone rock formation in the Teutoburg Forest, not far from Bielefeld. I hopped on the train early in the day, excited for the journey!
In my opinion, the best trains to travel through Germany are the Lower Saxony Metronoms. They feature two floors, wide seats, and wifi throughout the ride — a rarity in German trains except for the ICE.
I exited at a small train station in a village near Porta Westfalica. I took a bus, initially in the wrong direction, and eventually arrived at the famous… well, forest? Yes, the bus stop was at a forest road crossing the main road, surrounded by trees. I followed the forest road and met an older man with a camera. We decided to head to the Externsteine together and, lo and behold, the famous rocks stood imposingly at the end of the road. The view from them was delightful. Westphalia is truly beautiful, a land of endless small hills covered with forests, villages, fields, and numerous wind farms.
Then I headed to the town that supposedly doesn’t exist — Bielefeld. It turned out to be a very average town in western Germany. The train station had a cool design, and I took the tram, which also functions as the U-Bahn, to the city center. I was on a mission to find the famous conspiracy stone! The municipality had once held a competition to disprove the town’s existence, offering a grand prize of 1,000,000 Euros. Despite hundreds of submissions, no one could prove the town didn’t exist, leading to an official proclamation of its existence…
I found the rock behind a church in a bush, and it wasn’t very large. I think this is a missed opportunity: imagine UFO-shaped hotels! Bielefeld could profit immensely from tourism if it embraced its conspiratorial charm, but alas, the locals don’t like the conspiracy.
On the ride back, I nearly ran out of water on a warm day and was greeted by a lot of people at Hamburg’s central train station.
Now that I had mastered travelling with the 9€-Ticket, I decided to embark on my next big tour across the country, this time exploring the east! But first, I indulged in some walnut pancakes with peanut butter.
Jena and Weimar
raveling to East Germany is an intriguing experience—you can spot more run-down train stations along the way. It became clear to me that this was my first time in what used to be the DDR. Despite this, East Germany isn’t all that different from West Germany, and the landscape remains just as beautiful.
Finally, I arrived in Jena! This beautiful city, nestled in a small river valley, is where I met ThuyAn, one of the first people I got to know in Germany - we chatted in her parent’s restaurant. Jena’s charm and scenic location make it a memorable destination.
My next stop was Weimar, a city known for being the old capital of Germany during the infamous Weimar Republic. The main reason for my visit was that I had booked a room in a local hostel — the only one I could find in the region — with a check-in deadline of 18:00.
Unfortunately, the train from Jena to Weimar was running late (my fault), so after checking the maps, I decided to get off at a small train stop just outside Weimar…
This was a big mistake! Surrounded by hills, fields and a few socialist buildings, Weimar hidden behind a hill, completely out of sight, I got myself into a big predicament. With no mobile data left and only 15-20 minutes to check in, I was in a big rush. Speed-walking all the way to the hostel, I ran across a rural road, then uphill, and finally arrived in the city, reaching the hostel at exactly 18:00. Holy schmuck! I managed to check in just in time and had the most relaxing moment in my room, which I had entirely to myself.
I then returned to Jena and met up with Marija from Serbia, whom I had met during a DAAD conference in Berlin. She showed me around the city center, and we went for a drink. Jena was really beautiful and bustling with people. Despite its size, the city felt very alive.
The next day began with breakfast at the hotel — since it was going to be my only meal for the day, I ate a lot. I took the bus to the Weimar train station and was struck by the architecture of the city. Weimar truly feels quintessentially German — every building, even every car exudes a German vibe. If you asked AI to generate an image of a German city, it would probably render something similar to Weimar. However, I didn’t explore much because I had a train to catch to my next destination, Leipzig!
Leipzig
Leipzig boasts a huge train station designed in the old Stalinist architectural style.
In Leipzig, I met Tony from Ghana, another colleague I had met at the conference in Berlin. He gave me a tour of Leipzig, and we went up the tallest tower in the city for an amazing view. We visited the university, which was simply beautiful and very modern, and finally, we checked out the Monument to the Battle of the Nations, commemorating the Napoleonic wars. Leipzig was a unique experience; it felt very modern and alive, challenging the stereotype of a dull, socialist East German city. It felt just like a West German city.
However, one thing wasn’t going well—my leg. It started feeling increasingly stiff and warm. You see, I have an endoprosthesis since my cancer surgery, and although I had been on a 20km hike to Triglav a year before this journey, I hadn’t been exercising my leg sufficiently in Hamburg. Sitting in narrow train seats didn’t help either, and eventually, my leg refused to cooperate anymore.
Dresden
In the afternoon, I traveled to Dresden to see the city, but sadly, my leg was too uncooperative. I had to cancel touring the riverbanks, which boast incredibly beautiful buildings. Crossing the Elbe (yes, the same river that flows through Hamburg) by train was breathtaking—every building was so beautiful. I checked into the hostel, and I must say, the people in Dresden have a thick Saxon accent—it left a lasting impression on me. It’s not hard to understand, just very unique (and a bit funny) - they say “Zoŭŭŭ” instead of “Zo” as I’d spell it in Esperanto.
I had the opportunity to meet Paulina, whom I also met at the conference, and her family from El Salvador. They were incredibly nice and interesting people, and they even gave me a cool bracelet.
The next day, I explored the part of the city close to the train station. I planned on visiting the beautiful rocks of the Sächsische Schweiz but had to cut those plans short. I did manage to get a few nice photos of Dresden before embarking on my journey back to Hamburg (yes, trains to Hamburg are always more crowded).
Flensburg/Flensborg and Kiel
After a few days of rest, I decided to travel to the north of Germany and explore Flensburg and Kiel. Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of Germany, is quite different from the rest—it’s hard to describe, but the architecture feels very Danish-influenced.
I didn’t meet anyone in Flensburg and Kiel, but it was nonetheless a pleasant experience. Flensburg feels very Danish and even has a small Danish-speaking minority. It’s a charming city with a beautiful Altstadt, narrow roads, and small hills overlooking the sea—it’s hard to believe, but on the other side of the sea is Copenhagen (and a few other Danish islands).
Kiel, on the other hand, resembles Hamburg—it’s a port city but smaller and more compact.
This journey has been short, and now that I’ve covered North and East Germany, it’s time for the West!
Düsseldorf
My adventure through West Germany began in Düsseldorf, where I was warmly welcomed by family friends whom we affectionately call Kumeki. They had assisted me with some important university documentation before I came to Germany. They gave me a tour of the city, and I have to admit, Düsseldorf surprised me. I had always imagined it as a big industrial city with many factories and chimneys. However, in reality, it is a very modern, clean, and attractive city with sleek buildings and a beautiful center along the Rhine River.
Frankfurt
Next on my list was Frankfurt am Main. The train ride took me through the breathtaking Rhineland landscape, with vineyards adorning both sides of the Rhine River. I arrived quite late as the sun was setting and made my way to the hostel. In Dresden, the hostel was filled with people from Poland, but here, the majority of tourists were from the Netherlands. Frankfurt is truly an amazing city — it’s the New York of Europe, Germany’s financial hub, boasting an impressive skyline. Unfortunately, the Main Tower was closed that day, so I couldn’t enjoy the city from above. Still, it was a delightful experience. By noon, I was back on the train, heading to Heidelberg.
Heidelberg
Heidelberg is a charming small university town, home to the renowned University of Heidelberg. The city reminded me a lot of Maribor, surrounded by forested hills with a distinctly Central European appearance. I met up with Hana, an old classmate, and she gave me an incredible tour of the Altstadt and the castle, which also houses the largest wine barrel in the world.
Augsburg and Munich
I then traveled through Stuttgart and Ulm towards Munich, but as night fell, I decided to find a hostel room in Augsburg. The following day, I finally ventured to Munich and wandered through the Altstadt. The architecture in Bavaria is unique, distinctly Central European. The most memorable building was definitely the city hall. At noon, I headed to Munich’s central bus station and began my journey back to my parents’ place, thus ending my exploration of Germany.
Die Plünderer
With the end of the 9€-Ticket, I stopped traveling through Germany, not only for financial reasons but also because I decided to take on a very large number of credits at my university. Fortunately, the German government introduced the Deutschlandticket, and every student at my university received one. I had to take advantage of it, which is why we founded the hiking club! Since we were also on the lookout for geocaches, we decided to name ourselves die Plünderer, German for plunderers.
Around Hamburg
As a preparation for greater hikes, we first decided to get our feet wet around Hamburg.
Sachsenwald
This was our first big hike - we trekked through the forest and then down the Billetal, making a stop in a small village on the other side of the river.
and here is a strange sign that says: Entry allowed! Truly strange!
Boberg
Boberg lies just south of Hamburg City and there lie the famous Hamburg dunes and a small airfield - we even got to see sailplanes take off and landing.
Der Schlangenweg
The snake path was a relatively short path not far away from Sachsenwald, we had a picknick and enjoyed the day.
Wohldorfer Wald
This was also a very calm hike, nothing major happened - we mostly talked about physics, signal processing, philosophy and psychology.
And we found jam in the forest. We’re not sure who left it here, but it was a very fascinating thing to find.
The Hasselbrack
The Hasselbrack is the tallest mountain in Hamburg at 116 meters, so we had to visit it. It’s not very well-known, but that’s an advantage because it meant we wouldn’t have to deal with large crowds. The path was really beautiful; we even managed to catch a slow worm and a lizard (of course, we released them right afterward and washed our hands). There were tons of blueberries. We also got nearly lost during our descent from the mountain 😅.
But overall it was a very nice hike and it was a nice way to end my final semester.
Outside of Hamburg
Holsteinische Schweiz, Bad Malente and Plön
Our first hike where we actively searched for geocaches took us to the Holsteinische Schweiz, a stunning region just an hour and a half train ride away from Hamburg. Starting in Bad Malente, we hiked around the many lakes until we reached Plön. There was so much to see; it was truly breathtaking.
“Who’s saving up, is saving up for his descendants”
Trittau
Trittau was a very unique experience. We decided to hike in the forest next to Trittau and climbed the tower at the top. We even measured the height of the tower by dropping a pen and timing its fall. Afterward, we planned to walk to a nearby village with a bus stop and grab something to eat. But there was no restaurant, unlike what the map suggested, and the bus never came. We were forced to march back to Trittau under the sun, only to find out that most of the buses had been canceled that day. We ended up in an American restaurant with surprisingly low prices and planned our next move. Luckily, we caught the last bus back to Hamburg. What an adventure!
Porta Westfalica
Porta Westfalica is a unique town, nestled between two large hills with a river flowing through the valley. It separates Westphalia from Lower Saxony. We hiked both hills and then made our way back. It was a long hike, and we had some trouble with the trains. We missed a train in Hannover and had to wait another hour. Unfortunately, the train either didn’t arrive, or we were at the wrong end of the station. We had to take the last train to Hamburg, arriving at 1 am, when the U-Bahn and buses were no longer running. I would have had to wait an hour for the night bus and wouldn’t have gotten home for another three hours. My prospects looked bleak, but we were incredibly lucky to be gifted a taxi ride at the train station information desk. We got home safe and sound.
A geocache was located in a small cave!
We could see the rainfront crossing the beautiful Westfalian landscape.
Sylt
I had always wanted to travel to Sylt, the most well-known German island, to see what attracts thousands of people to its resorts. The weather started out cloudy, which is great for hiking, but progressively became sunnier and warmer.
Do you notice the billingual signs? In the northern part of Schleswig-Holstein there is a small Danish minority.
We crossed the sea when the water was low - so we were sorrounded by muddy landscape - until we saw grass again. This was the first picture I took of Sylt.
Lots and lots of expensive cars - Sylt is clearly for the more affluent. After a while we finally reached the west coast and the Atlantic ocean - it was so beautiful! The waves were huge, the sand was white, so we decided to walk for a while along the beach and took our shoes off.
The famous red cliff.
Then we finally took a bath and it was amazing. The water only had 17 ‘C but we had amazing fun with the huge waves and there was nothing like jumping onto a wave as it ran towards you. And just as we started bathing the sun appeared!
The houses and the nature on Sylt feels like from the Hobbit.
I finally finished Goethe’s Faust II on the train back to Hamburg.
While travelling back to Hamburg it felt like we were hovering just above the ocean. What an experience! And all for 0,00 €!
The Brocken
Ever since I arrived in Hamburg, I had wanted to visit the Brocken, the tallest mountain in North Germany at 1,141 meters. It used to be on the border between the BDR and DDR. Our journey started early, as we had to change many trains to get to Bad Harzburg. From there, we took a bus to Scherze, where we began our hike up the mountain.
The forests in the Harz, the mountain range of the Brocken, were in a very sorry state. More than 70% of the trees had died due to climate change and the bark beetle. Almost all the trees there were planted spruces, and since the area is now protected, it was impossible to intervene to stop the catastrophe. It’s quite sad because the nature, with its hundreds of waterfalls and streams, is truly gorgeous.
The Brocken as seen in the background from our train
A waterfall on the bus to the Brocken
The ecosystem was completely nuked as can be seen on the images, but there were also spots of nature that were unaffected on the way.
Finally we reached the top of the mountain and got an amazing view of North Germany and the Harz mountains. From the top of the mountain we then headed towards Ilsenburg.
We saw tons and tons of waterfalls of the Ilse river.
And then as the sun started setting down we were waiting for the train to Halberstadt at the pond in Ilsenburg.
We spent the night at the apartment of Wieland’s father, who was extremely generous and let us sleep there, and even provided breakfast. The next day, the group split for a while as I wanted to visit an old colleague and see the town. Halberstadt has a unique blend of traditional German, modern, and socialist architecture.
Commie blocks in the suburbia.
An interesting observation: A lot of buildings in East Germany have small windows.
On the left side lie new buildings, and on the right, old ones. We all met at the train station at noon, despite the pouring rain, and finally took the train back to Hamburg. This had been a crazy adventure, and all for 0.00€ thanks to the Deutschlandticket we students received 😉
Conclusion
These journeys across Germany have been truly beautiful and unforgettable. From the bustling cities to the serene countryside, Germany has something to offer for everyone. If given the chance, I encourage everyone to has the opportunity to travel to embrace the chance and explore — you never know what wonders you might discover! 😁🚄🏞️