Germany Travel's Tips

Accomodation

a)  Hostel
Email the Hostel directly would be better. No processing fees applied.
But then again, there are no known harm securing your reservation through multiple website for lodging such as Hostelword or Booking.com etc

b)  Airbnb
I recently discover this! Airbnb basically about Host renting their extra space for other fellow travellers. Honestly, you guys should try this! The pictures of Listing in their website is amazing. Airbnb is like Living in Hotel for the price of a Backpacker's Hostel. The website is secure too. All payments are handled by Airbnb not the Host, which making it a bit expensive than backpackers Hostel. Honestly, I prefer Airbnb than Couchsurfing.
(Read safety precautions posted on the website first)

c)  Couchsurfing
Someone at some cities offering their couch for you to spend you night at their city. They sometimes even offer to guide you in the city. Completely free. But as a guest, you should know your place. Bring something for the host such as food or perhaps souvenir from you previously visited city.
Just search for your potential host at couch-surfing's website and you'll be rolling on their couch. literally!
(Read safety precautions posted on the website first)

d) Free-loading
If you have a friend in the targeted city is better. Just ask them if you can free-load for a few days. Remember to be a good guest. Do some chores and help your friends since you free-loading at their house, ask for their WiFi, eat their food and sometimes they even be your free tour guide



Transportation

a)  Rental car
Here is a few famous Rental Car company
Europecar
Sixt
Avis
Hertz
Buchbinder

I only have experience with Buchbinder. They are pretty cheap. (Be careful for additional cost. Ask everything!) The problem is Buchbinder doesn't usually located nearby airports.

b)  Train by Deutsche Bahn

German Rail Pass
only valid for non-German/Europian citizen. If you have any visa for Germany then you are invalid for this offer as they can only be bought from outside Germany. The Pass also come with a few extension (with additional cost of course!) such as travel to Brussels, Prague, Austria and Italy
# Valid for all kind of train (ICE, IC, EC, RE, RB etc) except city Transport (Tram, Bus, U-Bahn, S-Bahn etc)

Länder-Ticket
This tickets gives excess to all places in one region (such as Hessen, Bayern, Sachsen etc) for only one day. Useable for up to 5 person with additional cost for every second to fifth persons.
# only valid for red coloured train (RB, RE etc) and city transport. ICE, IC, EC not included

All over Germany in one ticket in one day (lol. its impossible)
This ticket only useful if you want to jump from one region to another. exp : from Bayern to Baden-Wuttenberg
Weekday's Option : Quer-Durch-Land
Weekend's Option : Schönes Wochenende

# for more ticket's option just go to bahn.com




Foods (For Muslim Islam)
Research! Research! Research!
Google halal restaurants at each place.
If no halal restaurant available on the area (which I doubt this would happen), just order a Vegetarian food or known as Vegetarisch/Veggie here. Ask if the food are cook with alcohol or not. If yes, ask the chef not to.

a)  Halal Chicken and Meat
And for those that planning on cooking (if you stay on rental apartment or hostel that have kitchen) I suggest that you bring a lot of instant cooking packet like this :

Halal fresh meats and chicken can be bought fresh from Turkish-owned supermarket. Or you could buy a Wiesenhof Whole Chicken at Supermarket Edeka or Gut Langenhof Chicken (by portion and parts) at Norma. The halal/helal sign are written at the back of the packaging.

Source : lebensmittel.de

b) Drinking Water

One of things I don't about German is they really enjoy drinking carbonated water (and beer too). As for we Malaysian, we just love the original taste of H20 and Sky Juice. So if you plan on buying mineral water at shop, look for this keyword (not the price) :

• Stilles Wasser (say this if you want to order normal water at restaurant)
• Ohne Kohlensäure

c) Haribo

I know. Those gummy bears are irresistible. But NEVER buy it at normal supermarket and vendor as these product contain gelatin which we would really doesn't need to think twice of its source. Instead, buy it from a turkish supermarket. The Haribo are imported from Turki and it is halal.

Before you buy any food's souvenir, Please Check the ingredient. Not all chocolate are Halal as it might contains alcohol. Download a English-German dictionary on your smartphone and check for the translation if you isn't sure of the ingredient.

More update are coming!