Today we're in Bamberg, Germany getting ready to take the train and yes my trains on time

And what I want to give you today are the don'ts of taking the trains in Germany and sadly

I think it's important

I talk about this don't first and that is

Don't be surprised if your train is late when you're here in Germany now

Here's the thing the Deutsche Bahn has a history of being probably the best train system in Europe

But lately it's had some issues with on timeliness. They're trying to get better

I'll give that to them, but I would say is don't be surprised if your train is a little bit

Delayed let's say and

If you have another thing if you got a close connections, I would say this when you plan your voyages

Don't have tight connections

You know the ones are like 10 minutes 11 minutes

Because one delay because of construction or something can really knock it back just five minutes here five minutes there

It adds on and you can miss those connections

So if you're gonna be doing a lot of connections to get places that can cause some issues

That's why I got to tell you if you can

Don't do connections try to get the direct train like here in Bamberg. There's actually a direct train to Munich

It doesn't go all the time

But there is a direct ICE train that goes so that I can get here without having to switch in Nuremberg

Now if I want to go via Nuremberg this trains like every half an hour from Munich to Nuremberg

No big deal same thing from Nuremberg to Bamberg. It's pretty close

It's no big deal. But if I've got my luggage, do I want to switch it around that that can't be troublesome and speaking of luggage

I got to tell you this don't overpack when you're coming on the trains in Germany

Not because they don't have good overhead bins

They do but the thing is it's just a lack of space at sometimes that happens because I got to tell you this

Don't be surprised if there's not a lot of room on the train when you get there

Especially if you're using some of those regional trains like the RE's regional Expresses or interregios interregional trains because those are more commuter trains

So a lot of people might be there in the morning time or in the afternoon time coming back from work during rush hour

So be aware of that

Now obvious a big don't I have for you is don't try to take the train without a ticket because no one's gonna check your

Ticket before you get on the train

But the thing is when you're on the train people do come by and I can't tell you how many tourists just oh

Can I just buy the ticket on the train? Well, you're probably gonna get a fine for that

Okay, and the fines are not a joke here when you're on the train so don't forget to pick up a ticket before you go and I mean I'll talk about the

Online tricketing and the app and all kinds of things like that

But honestly, don't forget to get a ticket because it's kind of important

Now another don't is when you're getting ready to get to your destination

Don't wait until the train stops to get your things down and go to the door

Because don't think the Germans will let you off. It is like a bum rush to get on the train as soon as possible

So it's like people getting on and off at the same time

German line culture is just a very odd thing and when it comes to public transportation and the trains

They're coming on if there's nobody at that door

So if you're still in the train getting your stuff down, you might not be able to get off

Okay, so if you're taking like a regional train like this

It's usually not a problem, but those ICEs that only have maybe a two or three minute stop

You might get stuck in it up in the next city. So do be aware of that

So get your stuff ready cuz they'll announce. Oh and vinegar minute

And a few minutes we'll be getting to they'll name your town like ah

I know we're supposed to get there get your stuff down start heading towards where the exit is

And then when you get there, you can get out

Oh, also, don't forget you might need to push a button to get the door to open because I've seen some tourists

Just standing there going why isn't it open?

Why is everybody else out because there's a little button you should push there to open the door. Okay, so you have that

Ah, yes, and there's the toilet situation on the train one thing

I gotta tell you don't pass up going to the bathroom before you get on the train. I mean sometimes they're clean

It's okay, but sometimes they're not so much but the bathrooms and the stations are clean

Okay

But I gotta tell you this

Don't forget to have some coins because you probably have to pay to use the bathroom in the stations

But they are clean. So that's very nice

But yeah, cuz you don't really want to have a toilet experience when you're in the train in Germany

Another don't I have for you is don't forget to grab some snacks cuz if you're gonna be on the train for a while

You're gonna want something to eat and those I see the fancy trains

Yes, they do have the restaurant car or the little Imbiss that's on there

So you get some snacks, but the regional trains, they usually don't have much on there or anything at all

I mean, I've seen a few like little vending machines, but in general you might be out of luck

So don't forget to grab some snacks either in the station or there might be vending machines to take coins or card actually on the platform so that could be something there, but please don't bring the stinky snacks because ooh, that's gross and and

Don't miss your train because they will not wait for you. Even if you were running down you're saying wait, wait, wait

They're gonna leave without you now

Another don't I have for you is if you're looking to see when trains are gonna go place or when they arrive at different

Destinations don't forget to check the fa plan of the the traveling plan here

Now remember if you're looking for Abfahrt, don't forget Abfahrt is departure

Okay, so the yellow ones that is departure. The white ones are the arrivals on kunt. Okay

Okay, but what's cool is you could look on here and see when all the trains are gonna go

So, you know what track it's gonna be on

You know where it's gonna stop and so that can be helpful if you're not sure like I want to go to Coburg

But which train do I need to take you can look on here and it's gonna be helpful

And yes, don't forget to check the the boards to see if the train line change

But 90% of the time what says on here is what you're gonna get so you can head over to your track and have everything

Married. Oh, yeah, I gotta tell you this on busy weekends. Don't forget to get reservations. So you have a seat

Okay, it's very important to have and if you do have any issues, don't forget to talk to the bond people

They're very very friendly

But I think one thing I need to tell you is about the don'ts for being inside the train

So, uh, let's talk about that now. Let's talk about the don'ts you have

Inside the train because honestly

It would be rude of me to film this inside the train because the biggest don't I have for you when you're in the train

In Germany is don't be loud. The Germans like it. Oh, they like it

Still they like it calm and quiet on the trains whether they're doing work with their headphones, whatever

So loudness not not cool on the German trains

Okay

And if people are loud don't be surprised if someone goes

Hello and gets their attention to get them to quiet down now when you're on the train here in Germany

It is a good idea

Don't forget to get seat reservations because they don't have a limited number of tickets on the train

So literally there's can be more people on the train than there actually are places to sit

So it is a good idea to get seat reservations and don't think the seat reservations are expensive

It's literally like five euros maybe to get a seat to make your life so much easier

Now if you do get your seat reservations

I gotta tell you this don't be surprised if you have to ask somebody to move and also don't be surprised if that person asks

You to prove well show me on the the Deutsche Bahn, you know app

Let me see your seat reservations

So I know you have the right thing because Germans can be a little bit sticky when that comes around

So do be ready to show it if they don't move don't be afraid to go and talk to the conductor

The conductors actually very helpful

I find the Deutsche Bahn conductors actually pretty nice and insightful and they'll gladly help you out to help them

Move from their seat so they can find something else and you get your seat reservations

Now the thing is most people don't get seat reservations and don't worry if you don't have seat reservations

They will still let you on the train because they actually sell more, you know, they sell more tickets

There actually are seats on the train

So don't be surprised like a Friday night or a Sunday night or during the holidays if you're literally either one

Sitting in the bar car to have a seat or sitting on the floor between the trains like where the stairs are going down

Because yeah

That's that that's really a thing here because it does get that packed

Now if you want to get tickets and you don't use the kiosk or go online or anything like that

You can go to the Rises Centrum

Inside the people they'll sell you the tickets your ticket reservations

Like if you have your euro pass, so you already have your tickets

But you need the reservations you go in there and get them people are very friendly very helpful so they'll be able to hook you up but don't feel you have to go there to buy your tickets because

You can use these ticket automats and they're all over German. They're very simple to use they come and look like ten languages

So if you don't speak German, it's okay. You can choose your language and I'll help out there

They takes lots of takes cash credit cards so you can pay that way

Hey, you miss what takes coins so you can get your tickets here

And so that could be a little bit easier and faster

Especially when there's a long line because the Rises Centrum I got to tell you those lines can take a while

Another thing that's cool is if you're the train stays here in Germany

Don't forget the shops are open on Sundays in the train station around Germany all the shops close on Sunday

Except at the train station. So this can be your little like help

I have no food and it's Sunday or I've didn't I gotta buy I gotta get a souvenir or something

Train station hook you up now. Also when you're taking the train, I gotta tell you this

Don't pack too much now the reason why I say that is because

There's usually not a lot of space like on the ground for you to put your luggage

You've got to put your luggage up above the seats and those can get very full

But I will give Germany this on the ICE the IC trains the nicer ones

There's usually plenty of luggage space, but you've got to lift it up and put it up there

So don't pack heavy and don't have it loose because things roll around

I had a friend of mine. No joke

Watermelon rolled off the the overhang thing and hit her in the head. I thought she was gonna die. Okay, so Lily

I'm glad you survived. All right, but these are things you got to worry about

I mean and honestly, you don't have to worry too much on the train

It's a very safe experience when you are on there

But I think some other don't you need to know one don't put your bags on the seat next to you

You may not want somebody to sit there

But they're gonna sit there because they're gonna notice that there's nobody no seat reservation and they'll ask it's dossier fly

Is it free here and you got to let them have that?

So it's better to have your stuff up and out of the way then have to do it later when there's no space above

Oh

Also, if you don't have the seat reservation and you get on the train

Don't forget to look above the seats and see if there is a reserved spot and you might see a sign that says

Oh, this is reserved from Munich to Berlin or maybe it's only from Bomberg to Nuremberg

It's reserved so you can kind of plan out which seats are available when so you can do that

But realize it does have that reservation up there. Someone probably is gonna come for that seat now

I know I keep going into the sea reservations, but I think it's also important to realize some trains don't have sea reservations

So if you're like in a regional Express or a regional bond like a regional train those a lot of times don't have any sea

Reservations, so there's really nothing you can do about that

And if you're gonna be taking a regional train to get to a city

Don't expect a lot of luggage space on those regional trains and I guess that leads into there some don't think that every train in

Germany is the same train and also don't think every ticket works for every train in Germany

Because if you buy a ticket and you look online whether you're on the app or you're looking in the kiosk or wherever and you see

Oh, there's a train to Munich for for 50 euros and another one for 150 euros

I'll take the 50 euro one

You want to make sure you look and see what type of train it is because the one might be the IC that's fast and

Gets you there in an hour and a half the other one might be the regional Express

It takes four hours to get there

So it's really important to kind of think about that because don't just look at the departure time