One of the biggest issues for travellers in a foreign country is connection via phone and internet. You can end up either not willing to pay a lot for phone calls and internet, or have bad online connection that you paid a lot of money for. This will no longer be a big problem for travellers to large German cities where public Wi-Fi is easy to find in many places. Read on to figure out how to stay connected when traveling in Germany.
1. Make use of public Wi-Fi
Thanks to public wifi connections, staying online abroad is possible in many places in Germany. There is even a map of free Wi-Fi spots in the city! Connect to open wifi at a local McDonald’s or Starbucks Cafe around the city centre. Wi-Fi connection is also available at big shopping malls in metropolitan cities like Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg.
Free Wi-Fi throughout Hamburg is available from Hamburg’s volunteer Freifunk Community. You can check locations and online/availability status of single access points on their webpage. When you walk around the city, watch out for the wireless network called “hamburg.freifunk.net”. In the centre of Harburg there usually is a cluster of volunteer Wi-Fi access points near Lüneburgerstraße 32.
2. Connect to Wi-Fi at your accommodation
Wi-Fi connection is normally always available for guests for free at local hostels around Germany. Just ask reception for the Wi-Fi password when checking in. But make sure you read their previous customers’ review about internet speed before booking if Wi-Fi is an essential for you. Some hostels offer Wi-Fi connection only in the room and certain areas of the hostel. Visitors can pay extra to connect if they do not wish to stay as guests. Guests can also ask reception about free calls within Germany.
If you wish to save money for both accommodation and Wi-Fi connection, stay with a local via Couchsurfing or AirBnb. Local hosts usually have high-speed Wi-Fi connection that you can access for free.
3. Get a prepaid German sim card
You can also get a prepaid German sim card and turn on the 3G data function when needed. A German sim card usually works within all of Europe. It’s cheap or sometimes free to call within Germany. Some operators offer flat rates for calling within Germany. However, you will pay a lot for both calling and receiving calls from outside of Germany. There are several operators to choose from such as O2, Tmobile, etc.
I recommend getting a prepaid 20 EUR (roughly 22 USD) sim card from Ortelmobile, which includes 750 Mb of internet data and 300 minutes of calls. Incoming calls from the European Union are also free. Once you have used up all the minutes and data, you can replenish 500 MB for just 9 EUR (roughly 10 USD) and pay 9 cents per min onwards.
You might be interested in these Airbnbs!
4. Renting a pocket Wi-Fi
If you only need data and feel like calling is not that necessary when traveling, rent a pocket Wi-Fi. You pay per day for the pocket Wi-Fi that can be connected to several devices. This option is especially good for digital nomads who need to stay online frequently to work while traveling.
Hamburg Tour Guide
Asaf Leshem
My name is Asaf and I am a professional tour guide. I hold a Ph.D. in Dark Tourism and interpretation of history. In Berlin I guide tours on such topics as the Cold War, the Third Reich, Berlin's Jewish Heritage, Berlin and Brandenburg's Prussian History, and more. I also guide in Potsdam, and I am certified to guide in the Memorial and Museum Sachsenhausen. I am also an enthusiastic runner and cyclist. For repeating visitors, looking for unique experiences outside the city, I guide special cycling tours in Brandenburg's northern lake district, and in the Spreewald Biosphere Reserve.
Tours by Asaf
Hamburg Tour Guide
Jutta
Stay connected offline as well!
Though there are plenty of ways to stay online when traveling abroad, remember to connect with your host, local people and international travelers you meet on the road as well. This is the best way to know the culture, get advice and make great memories abroad. Instead of using Wi-Fi connection for online maps, you can get a paper map from the tourist offices and local hostels. These maps usually include the most important attractions in town and useful tips for eating out and getting around.
When you are traveling in Germany, you must visit these Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Munich, Cologne popular German cities. And also, check out our Hamburg guides Top 5 must-see attractions and Top 5 Romantic things to do
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