Getting started in Tübingen

Welcome to Tübingen This page is an informal collection of tips to help you get started in Tübingen. Maybe you just arrived here for a research project or a degree in biochemistry or a related life science. Accommodation, accounts, and paper work need to be sorted out. A little German will surely come in handy and you have to set up your life in a new city. Welcome and please add your comments and tips here.

Tübingen Tübingen is a small town, inhabitants 80'000 incl. 20k students comparable to Cambridge (UK). It has an excellent university and lies in the south-west of Germany, close to France and Switzerland (map). Wikipedia entry Tübingen Tübingen official city pages lonely planet: Black Forrest & Stuttgart For a British tongue-in-cheek perspective on the Germans and their peculiarities try the Xenophobe's Guide to the Germans. add a info/link	Accommodation Finding accommodation in Tübingen is problematic. The worst time to search is in late summer/early fall before the beginning of the fall term. Avoid if at all possible. If you want to go for student housing, apply as early as possible. You can apply before you have received an offer! If you are looking for a shared flat, try WG-gesucht and Studenten-WG (WG stands for shared flat in German). There's also a university accommodation page. add a tip/link	Transport Public transport is good in Tübingen and organized by the Naldo company. Check the bus network map (v2012). If you are a student one of the most cost effective fares is the semester pass that you can get with your student registration. The next bigger city is Stuttgart which you can reach best by train with the Bahn. The closest airport is Stuttgart. It lies at the southern edge of Stuttgart, direction Tübingen. You can reach it from Tübingen with the airport bus 828 add a tip/link
Banking Local banks like Sparkasse are often more accessible than international ones like Deutsche Bank. add a tip/link	Communication LEO is currently the best free English-German online dictionary or download a free dictionary like QuickDic (Android) or bab.la (iPhone) onto your phone. The BBC and Deutsche Welle have worthwhile language learning resources. Or try Duolingo, a new online language learning system. The university also offer courses and support. There's a lively expat online community called Toytown Germany where you may find advice or open ears for your rants regarding Germany. add a tip/link	Student matters You currently need to pay your registration fees from a German bank account on in cash. You will receive your student card, log in details in several letters by traditional mail. Also the text is currently still in German. add a tip/problem