My son leaves for a European vacation tomorrow. He is going solo as all his friends backed out. He is going to visit Berlin and Poznan, Poland. Does anyone have any advice for a solo traveler to Europe or suggestions on places to visit in these two cities.
Thanks in advance.

Some general advice as I have not visited either city.

Utilize the safe if available wherever he is staying.

Beware pickpockets at the tourist sights.

Rick Steves always had great sightseeing advice but it is a bit late to order a book. Maybe utilize the app?

He should have a great time.

My only advice for travel outside the US is try to blend in and not appear American. One of the biggest “tells” that a person is American is short pants. In general, most Europeans don’t wear shorts. Try and dress as the locals dress and not send a beacon signal to anyone that may have nefarious intentions.

I’ve traveled solo a lot in Europe and other parts. Big second on Rick Steves. I’ve used them all and found Rick to be the best.

You'll be relatively safe in Poland. Berlin is a mess.be careful

A pacsafe bag can be handy - and having zippers sown in his pockets. Poland is probably not that bad, but theft in Europe is rampant.

Yeah, be very alert to pickpockets.

When taking money out of an ATM, select use local currency. Let your own bank do the exchange. Do not select "in dollars" or however they word it. That lets the atm owner do the conversion.

Similarly, make all purchases in local currency. Negotiate and pay in local currency. Merchants will cheat by offering a dollar price, then give a "good" exchange rate, which pumps up the price.

The only sites I can think of that I would want to visit are historic. Check Point Charlie, the Brandenburg Gate, etc.

If he will be near a WWII concentration camp it is well worth visiting one. It will be unforgettable.

Just returned from Germany (Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg) trip with the family. Used trains to get between, first class tickets keep you away from the rabble. I'm certain we were clearly identifiable as Americans, but never a hint of a problem. The tourist central areas seemed quite safe, few homeless people and little graffiti. Outside, lots of graffiti and trash, our tour guide in Berlin said the services for cleaning streets had been cut way back. Hopefully, he's been to Europe before, and will avoid the youth hostels in favor of better lodging options. My wife does most of the planning for our trips, and is a huge fan of Rick Steve's guides for Europe. They generally have information for how to stay safe as well.

In the summer of 1992 I went to Poland with a buddy. We were living in Germany at the time. We spent some time in Berlin, took the train to Frankfurt ad Oder, took a taxi to the bridge and then walked into Poland. We exchanged money at the kiosk at the end of the bridge and then started hitchhiking. It was a Sunday, church had just let out and we got picked up immediately and taken all the way to Poznan. Well, he didn't take us to the train station. He dropped us off in the middle of nowhere and told us to follow the train tracks. It wasn't far, but it was a perfect introduction to what became a great adventure.

I was last in Poland in 2018. It's more expensive than Germany now. Be prepared. Oh, and Poland has the hottest women in the world. No one believes me until they go there.

Not familiar with Poznan but we spent a week in Warsaw and Krakow last year, no riff raff anywhere to be seen. I wouldn't worry about him in Poland

I'll tell you where you could run into trouble in Poland. About 1/3 of modern day Poland was part of Germany until the end of WWII. A lot of Germans like to go back and research their roots and can run into some very hostile locals, who sometimes assume they're there to lay claim to their grandparents' property. I went to see a tiny, tiny village in the middle of nowhere near Breslau (modern day Wroclaw) in a rental car with German plates and I was told to be very careful. A German buddy had gone out that way a year or two before with some family records to try to track down some stuff and was threatened with violence more than once. But that's obviously a non-issue in the big cities.

BTW, the Oskar Schindler Factory Museum in Krakow was totally awesome, and requires tickets well in advance.

My wife and I were on a Rhine cruise from Amsterdam to Basel last fall. We spent a week in Amsterdam before boarding the cruise and had a great time. We are mature adults and dress conservatively but I suspect the locals made us as Americans. However, at no point did I feel uncomfortable. I do maintain situational awareness and didn't "feel" anything in Amsterdam or any of the stops along the way.

The one thing I will add, in almost every location the choice of payment is card, not cash. I always carry cash but we didn't use it too often. Convenience stores didn't offer a cash option. When I did get cash, I learned to select the denominations. Otherwise the ATM would dispense 100 euro bills which were not appreciated by most vendors that accepted cash.

Hoping your son has a great trip.

Fantastic opportunity, several good recommendations, don't buy euros at any conversion stand in the airports, always get local currency from an ATM you'll get a better exchange rate.

Like others said, digital currency is everywhere, he can use Apple pay in almost every country in the EU, and Germany, Poland are on the list. Imagine Google pay is the same.

We had great times in Germany, and no issues being American, plenty of people speak english in Germany.

Buy Euros on Craigslist before you leave. Those sellers will be overjoyed to get some of their money back and don't charge fees. ATMs usually charge fees, since you're not likely to have a bank branch in Germany.

For goodness sake don't even try to take any kind of firearm, taser, of AP spray.

The tip to get local money from an ATM is wise.

Thanks for all the good info. My son leaves tomorrow. I'd feel better if he wasn't going solo, but what are you going to do.

I always scan my passport and credit\debit cards and print them out before I travel. Leave copies at home and take paper copies with me. Europe has become so Americanized it's not really that strange for tourists anymore and with a smart phone you can find your way around and translate or ask any questions you might have.

He may need to contact his cc company and let them know he's travelling with the card(s) out of the country.

They have been known to put a stop on purchases until he responds via phone or to a text if his normal patterns are not international.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

plenty of people speak english in Germany.

I spent a year and a half in Barcelona on a transfer-of-technology project. The automobile factory where I was working, shut down for three weeks for summer vacation. The two Spanish engineers who were my team-mates on the project suggested that my wife and I should go to Greece for vacation, they said it's beautiful and very affordable.

I asked how I would communicate there, with no knowledge of the Greek language. The Spanish guys said, "Do what we do when we go there. Speak English."