Federal Republic of Germany

Federal Republic of Germany - by the numbers

1 week trip. Helps to have a direct flight into München or Munich. Capital of state of Bavaria. In the very south of the country.

This was one of those inspired solo wanderings bereft of specific timetables but just enjoying the journey. It did help to have handy tech in the pocket in the form of a DB planner that ran on my iOS enabled phone. This is an app that is hosted by the national railways in Germany. The railway is branded Deutsche Bundesbahn or German Railway. A complicated network of rail that supports both passenger and goods traffic over 20,000 miles of track.

DB can shuttle people all over the country from its northern fringes by the ocean to the southern borders and lands east and west. Some of its trains run right into neighbor states like Switzerland, Austria and Belgium to name a few.

I happened to visit in its south and western borders for the week I spent. Below are some stunning stats to show how quick one can travel with an efficacious transit network.

Train miles traveled = 3,000 km or 1,864 miles (distance equivalent to Delhi to Kanyakumari)

Countries entered /visited = 4 (Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland)

Rivers crossed on foot (on a bridge) = 8 (of which 7 were in Germany and 1 in Austria)

Wupper in Wupperstal (to see the hanging monorail)

Neckar (in Heidelberg)

Rhine (in Basel)

Danube (including the perceived source of this river, Donauschigen in the Black Forest region)

Regen (in Regensburg)

Main (in Frankfurt)

Isar (in Munich)

River Salzac (Salzburg)

Beers drank to nourish the weary feet = 21 (at about 3 a day) :)

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