Getting Here

Since it will be the first time for many to visit Germany we have provided a list of travel tips and advice. But should you require any extra help or have questions, please contact us via email or the usual ways.

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Quick Info

The address you are aiming for on the day is 

Göttien 2
Küsten, Lower Saxony
29843
Germany

Car

There is some parking on site but it is very limited we would recommend that you park at your hotel and then use a taxi or walk to the venue.

Train

If you are arriving by Train aim for Salzwedel Hauptbahnhof

Taxi

The local Taxi company is called Irro Taxi.

To book call:

 +49 5841 4444

Airports

The closest airports to us are:

  • Flughafen Hamburg [HAM]

  • Flughafen Berlin [BER]

The other big international airports are Frankfurt [FRA] and Munich [MUC]. While travel from there to ours is possible it will take a little longer and require more train changes.

Train Travel

You can book all train transport through the Deutsche Bahn Website. Usually if you book from the airport to the destination station e.g. BER —> Salzwedel Hbf the ticket price includes local transport on the S/U Bahn

The train station you should be aiming for when booking is Salzwedel Hauptbahnhof (Hbf). From there you can either come via taxi or let us know a few days in advance when you will be getting in, we will have cars picking groups of people up.

The train ride from Hamburg Airport or Berlin Airport should take approximately 2.5 hours with a few train swaps. Please remember that contrary to popular belief that Germans have things run on time and to a schedule the German trains are notoriously unreliable, leave wiggle room of about 2-3 hours when traveling to absorb delays and cancellations

There are 2 types of Trains that you can book via the Deutsche Bahn site:

  • ICE

    • These are the high speed trains (akin to Japan’s Shinkansen or UK’s HS2 [if it ever gets built])

    • You need to book a seat in advance

  • Regional

    • Slower cheaper trains

    • No need for seat reservations

Travel Passes

You can also buy German or Europe wide travel passes which (if you are planning to travel around a little bit after or before the wedding) can be much more cost effective than buying individual tickets.

If you are traveling as a pair or a family there are additional savings using the Twin Pass or taking advantage of Kids under 12 going free (when accompanied by an adult with a travel pass)

Car Rentals

There are car rentals at the airports HAM and BER. You can expect to roughly drive for 3 hours.

The main car rental sites are:

  • Hertz

  • Sixt

  • Europcar

Please mind the speed limits, as our area of Germany has many non signposted speeding radars. 

Driving Rules

Disclaimer, this is not a comprehensive list of rules just some noteworthy ones, please familiarise yourself with the rules before driving. We would recommend one or both of these sites:

Technically you do not need an International Driving Permit to drive in Germany if you are staying less than 3 months. However, most car rental companies in Germany require this and will refuse to rent you a car unless you have one. Therefore we would recommend that you apply for an International Driving Permit just to be on the safe side, as they can deny you the car rental as you are picking up the car which will throw a spanner in the works.

Speed Limits

  • The Speed Limit in Towns and Villages is always 50 Km/h unless stated otherwise

    • While not explicitly posted on signs, this speed limit is signaled by a distinct yellow sign displaying the town's name. Once you pass this sign, the speed limit automatically adjusts to 50 km/h for all roads within the town or village

  • The Speed Limit on Country Roads / out of Town is always 100 Km/h unless stated otherwise

    • While not explicitly posted on signs, this speed limit is signaled by a distinct yellow sign displaying the town's name and a line striking out the name. Once you pass this sign, the speed limit automatically adjusts to 100 km/h

  • Not all of the autobahn is unlimited speed. Only when you see a white circular sign with 3 diagonal black lines going through it. Other wise the speed limit fluctuates between 130km/h and 120km/h (again unless stated otherwise)

  • Unlike in the UK German Police do not need to put up a sign to say that there is a speed camera coming up, additionally the cameras do not have to be highly visible. The consequence of this is that German speed cameras tend to be as hidden as possible being grey, camo green or black. They also tend to be hidden behind trees or a few meters after a speed limit change.

    • The area we live in is littered with them so we would recommend driving the speed limit even if locals speed past you as every few months the location of these cameras changes so even the locals might be wrong.

    • This is also applicable to all of Germany not just our area

  • Germany has many speed limits that are only applicable at certain times of day or days of the week. Watch out for these

    • Denoted by a white rectangular sign underneath the circular sign showing the new speed.

    • The rectangular sign will tell you which times this limit is in effect and normally also a reason as to why this is the case e.g. School zone or to reduce noise at night

Parking

  • Always Park in the direction of Traffic

  • Most street parking requires parallel parking

  • Some parking is free as long as you put up a parking disk to show when you arrived (these are cheap to buy from gas stations and convenience stores or might already be in your rental car)

General

  • When coming to intersections remember right before Left (people coming from the Right have right of way before people from the Left if there are no signs)

    • This rule is also in effect on small side streets, parking lots

  • Undertaking is illegal on the Autobahn (unless there is slow moving traffic)

  • If there is slow moving/ standing traffic on the autobahn move to the side of the road to form an emergency vehicle passage between the cars (follow the other cars lead)

    • DO NO drive down this new lane under any circumstances

  • No turning left on red

Local Info

If you want information about the local area outside of getting here then visit this page.

If you want information about Germany in general i.e what grocery stores there are or cheap places to eat.. then visit this page

Parking in Göttien

We will have very limited parking spaces on our property (you will be parking in a grass field) and if we run out of parking spots there should be space along the country road under some apple trees towards the forrest (please leave plenty of room on that road, for large farming vehicles to pass)

Preferably if you are driving consider leaving your car at your accommodation and traveling here either on foot or via taxi.

Taxis

We will be giving a heads up to the local taxi company so that they know that there will be people wanting to travel to and from our place to various hotels in the area till late in the evening

Number of the local taxi service +49 5841 4444