Breakfast usually consists of a boiled egg, bread rolls with jam, honey, cold meat and cheese slices, juices and coffee. Available from snack bars and cafes are grilled, fried or boiled sausages (wurst) with a crusty bread roll. In restaurants, a salad plate will often be produced before a main course, whether or not a starter has been ordered; it is not a side dish, waiting staff will expect this to be eaten before the meal is brought - it can cause confusion for non-Germans. There is an emphasis on meat, potatoes and noodles, but fish dishes are also popular. International speciality restaurants, such as Chinese, Greek, Turkish and others, can be found everywhere in the former West, and increasingly in other parts of the country.

Things to know: Bars can either have table service and/or counter service, although often drinks consumed are simply marked on a beer mat to be paid for on leaving.

National specialities:
• Bratwurst (grilled sausage).
• Eisbein mit sauerkraut (leg of pork) and mashed potatoes.
• Schwäbische maultaschen (large savoury ravioli from Stuttgart).
• Eierpfannkuchen (pancakes).
• Schwarzwälder kirschtorte (Black Forest gateau).

National drinks:
• Beer of many varied kinds.
• Ebbelelwoi (apple wine – principally in Hessen).
• Schnapps (available in hundreds of varieties).
• Kirschwasser (cherry spirit, principally from the Black Forest).
• Rhineland wines.

Legal drinking age: 18.

Tipping: It is customary to tip taxi drivers, hairdressers, cloakroom attendants, bar and restaurant staff; a 10% tip is standard.

In all larger towns and cities in western Germany and also in the major eastern cities, visitors will have the choice between theatre, opera (Deutsche Oper Berlin, Hamburgische Staatsoper, Dresden's Semperoper and the National Theatre in Munich are some of the most famous names), bars with live music, and nightclubs catering for all tastes and inclinations.

Berlin, in particular, is famous for its large selection of after-hours venues. Traditional folk music is found mostly in rural areas. There are bierkellers in the south and wine is drunk in small wine cellars in the Rhineland Palatinate, Franconia and Baden region. Hamburg's Reeperbahn is the country's best known centre for ‘adult' entertainment.

Special purchases include precision optical equipment such as binoculars and cameras, porcelain, handmade crystal, silver, steelware, Solingen knives, leatherwear, sports equipment, toys from Nuremberg and Bavarian Loden cloth. Special purchases in eastern Germany include musical instruments, wooden carved toys from the Erzgebirge Mountains and Meissen china (the workshops in Meissen are open to the public). Cuckoo clocks, contrary to popular myth, did not originate in Switzerland, but in the Black Forest region.

Shopping hours: Most large shops are open Mon-Fri 0900-2000 and Sat 0900-2000. All shops, except a few bakeries, are closed on Sunday.