Old stereotypes die hard! British travel guides have warned tourists off Germany as a holiday destination – but Germans will either laugh or be appalled.

More news Stupid travel agents Holiday couple sent to the wrong Sydney! Travel agents managed a stupid mix-up when they sent an Italian couple on holiday to the wrong Sydney – a small town in Canada not the Australian city!

England jokes Do you know why the English drink so much tea? Have you tried their coffee? 1 / 3 vorheriges Element nächstes Element

The first problem for Brits: Unfortunately Germans do not look like Germans. No Dirndls, no lederhosen. ‘Culture Shock Germany’ suggests going to Bavaria for the best chance of such a sight.

Even somebody who wants to go German beaches should be warned. In her book ‘Planet Germany’, Cathy Dobson writes of her shock on finding respectable middle-aged couples parading around in public topless or “even naked”.

Apparently even in public places – one of which is called an English Garden – you could suddenly find yourself in front of a German naturism fan, grilling his bratwurst.

What the author found particularly fascinating was the abundant body hair, saying that the rest of the world invests enormous amounts of money to free legs and armpits of hair, while Germans seem to fertilise these parts of the human form instead.

Beer gardens are supposedly the scene of many dangerous mishaps, too: For example the benches which can fly up like a see-saw when someone at the other end suddenly stands up.

Germans can clearly deal with this but for the unsuspecting visitor, accidents are inevitable.

The autobahns are most dangerous of all, apparently. This is where the law of the bigger engine applies. Dobson stresses upon her readers that the left lane is reserved exclusively for Porsche, BMW and Mercedes drivers, with only dark-coloured cars permitted.

Another curiosity in Germany is that cars are worshiped like "sacred animals” according to the travel guide. Don’t touch! Don’t lean against! Just worship!

Even the renowned ‘Lonely Planet’ suggests in its Germany edition that Germans are not overly friendly at first contact, but that it should not be taken personally as they are just as curt with each other.

Whoever is confused by all these strange perceptions can take heart from the fact it goes the other way too. Greg Nees begins his book ‘Germany – Unravelling an Enigma’ with the sentence: “The Germans are an enigma not only to the rest of the world but also to themselves.” Thanks for the analysis!

The British are a funny lot, and they clearly often have misplaced expectations when it comes to holidays. But they're not the only ones to experience holiday mix-ups as you can see by clicking through the gallery below...

Think before you click In 2008, an over-zealous and under-vigilant German from Bavaria had wanted to book his family a relaxing holiday in San Jose, California. Instead he booked his holiday online to San José in Costa Rica. They didn't notice their mistake until they got to the airport in Germany, and re-booking the flights cost over €9,000. The man tried to get some of their money back, but without luck. 1 / 14 vorheriges Element nächstes Element

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