Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
We were thinking of traveling to Germany over the U.S. Thanksgiving break to visit some Christmas Markets. The original plan was to fly into Frankfurt, drive to Prague, down to Salzburg, then back up to Frankfurt, hitting small towns on our journey. A few months ago I never would have asked this question but seeing that Germany has closed its border with Austria for the first time in 20 years due to the refugee crisis I think it may be a really bad time to be a tourist. I'd love to hear from people who have direct knowledge of the situation. It just seems that the refugees are coming to many too fast and the infrastructure isn't in place to house them. And now there is the added concern of making our way back into Germany if we leave. I love Europe and have always thoroughly enjoyed my trips there but I am starting to get concerned. Thoughts?
The borders to Germany aren't closed. They are checking the passports of some people, though, which leads to traffic jams. Plus, trains to Germany are cancelled sometimes.
Not literally closed but checking passport closed... Like back in the old days. We see news of overcrowded train stations, city halls and tent cities where people are just crammed in with more arriving every day. I guess I'm curious as to whether the images we get are an accurate depiction of what's actually happening over there.
I am pretty confident you will have no problem whatsoever crossing the Austro-German border. You might very not even see any "refugee" at all. Tv news always exaggerate things.
We are now talking about a number of around 120,000-160,000 people, in a continent of 500 million. Most likely you won't even meet a single refugee. Life here goes on like normal.
We are not flooded or overcrowded or descending to chaos or anything.
The news we get here in the US is that western Europe is being overrun, people are being housed in train stations and refugee camps, refugees are shutting down major highways, train travel and borders. The reporting is very fatalistic, hence my question. Main stream media here likes to sensationalize. Thanks for the boots-on-the-ground information.
The news we get here in the US is that western Europe is being overrun, people are being housed in train stations and refugee camps, refugees are shutting down major highways, train travel and borders. The reporting is very fatalistic, hence my question. Main stream media here likes to sensationalize. Thanks for the boots-on-the-ground information.
That news is so exaggerated... that's just moments, tiny refugee- hot spots in a big land mass. There's a refugee center a few miles from where i live, but i haven't seen a single one yet. There's a few thousand of them in Rotterdam where i work, yet i haven't seen a single one.
No one is over running us, no one is "taking over Europe", Europe isn't going up in flames, I can still drive to work every day, no shut down highways, accept from a few incidents here and there it's all fine.
The news we get here in the US is that western Europe is being overrun, people are being housed in train stations and refugee camps, refugees are shutting down major highways, train travel and borders. The reporting is very fatalistic, hence my question. Main stream media here likes to sensationalize. Thanks for the boots-on-the-ground information.
Well, refugees do actually get housed at train stations and major highways get blocked some times.
Reason for that? People have to sleep somewhere. Trains don't go 24/7, so the government/military arranged some temporary tents.
Most of that happens at places like Nickelsdorf and other European places nobody has ever heard about. The worst thing that could actually happen to a toruist is getting stuck in traffic for an hour due to the police checking trucks for refugees at some border crossings. They don't even check all of them.
I don't think you will have any issue traveling around Europe. Only thing I would say is when in big busy centers. Be a little more aware of your surroundings. Pretty crime, pick pockets and stealing are on the rise. Whilst not dangerous can cause a lot of stress to ones vacation if your wallet or moblie phone is stolen. Just have your wits about you.
Google pick pocket videos for any cities you are visiting, better to be warned before.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
