THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO LEIPZIG Step 1: Orientation Get your hands on a map as soon as you can, if you lose

it: dont fret, there are plenty of maps all around town and at every tram or bus station. You can always pick up more free maps at the LVB (public transport) offices in downtown Leipzig and near the main station. Your best bet would probably be to buy a week ticket, which costs about 20 bucks and lets you use any public transportation 24/7 for a week. Also Leipzig people are nice folks and will do everything they can to help you find your way, as will your host students! Step 2: Explore the city! The number one thing to see would have to be downtown Leipzig. We have a lot of amazingly beautiful, history-charged churches: the Thomaskirche and the Nikolaikirche are right in the city center, definitely go and give them a look. They are open 9am-6pm and its obviously free! Guided tours, in English, are 1. In May, you should also be able to tour the steeple if youre into that and want to see an amazing view of the city! Also on the agenda: old city buildings: among the most famous is probably the Old City Hall Altes Rathaus which is situated right off the central marketplace > which you should visit on Tuesday or Friday if you wanna sample a bunch of regional food for free or wanna buy something to bring back home for your family. If you wanna check out the more traditional art scene, have a look at either of these museums: 1) Museum der Bildenden Knste > pretty huge and they always have changing special exhibitions, pretty affordable entry fees for students 2) Zeitgeschichtliches Forum > historical museum with a lot of info on the city of Leipzig and its past, changing exhibits: and its free! 3) State Security of the GDR Museum, as you probably know, the GDR loved to secretly surveil its people: here, you can find anything related to that, pretty interesting stuff! When you walk around town, Im sure that different things will catch your eye.. just explore. Theres a TON of retail shops, (fast) food joints, sit down restaurants, bars, and a fairly big new mall called Hfe am Brhl. If you wanna go shopping, Leipzig definitely has a lot of stores that are not available in the U.S. So Ladies, go for it and see if you find something you like. But beware, clothes are usually a tad bit more expensive. Also note that the Leipzig downtown architecture is somewhat funky because of its little winding alleys and passages that connect the buildings to one another. But I promise its super easy to navigate! Definitely also check out part of our campus which is located downtown as well. Step 3: Explore the outdoors! If the weather is nice and youre feeling outdoorsy, try to organize a boat tour with the nice people at Bootsbau Herold! Its probably going to cost you about 5 bucks per person and they take you around the major waterways in the city plus you usually get nonalcoholic beverages + 1 beer for free (you can buy more on the boat.. )which is just a great chill thing to do for about 1-2 hours on a sunny afternoon. Be sure to have some of the Leipzig students call them first and make sure they know youre coming, if you choose to do it!

A lot of the Leipzig culture in the summer centers around the major parks, where people just go to chill or play sports (SOCCCER!), barbecue, and generally hang out with friends their day is done. I recommend you grab a blanket and some brews, head over to Johannapark and just enjoy the scenery. This park is in a 2 minute walking distance from the part of the university where youll spend most of your time. Also, if you can: borrow a bike from someone and go on a little biking adventure. Although its a pretty big city, Leipzig has a TON of parks, lakes etc. Its really fun to explore that way and the bike paths are in great condition for the popular routes. I also absolutely recommend the Zoo Leipzig! GO! Its an amazing, huge complex so plan most of your day for this one. They significantly expanded in the last year and the animals are organized by continent its pretty cool! You can play with real life monkeys, but beware: they will steal your shiny stuff. So jewelry off! If you can prove that youre a student (Ohio ID for example), they usually let you in for about 15 and its definitely worth the money. Check out their website for more info! Step 4: Nighttime Fun! Ok, obviously you wanna go out and have a good time! You will! Just make sure you have your photo ID with a birth date on you and youre pretty much good to go. Obviously, its generally a good idea to act sober and not too loud in front of the bouncers if you are trying to get into a club Ok so in order to save money, you probably wanna pregame. And the good news is: you can buy your booze anywhere, its pretty cheap and you can consume it pretty m uch wherever the hell you want. Theyll usually even let you on the tram with an open beer in hand and dont say anything, just dont be dumb about it or break things, duh! If its warm, I recommend pregaming in the parks, and/or depending on how your host students are, at their places. On to the next step: I believe that most of you will be living in the South Side of Leipzig (Sdvorstadt), which is convenient because most of the cool bars are located in that area as well. The Court Street of Leipzig so to speak is called Karl-Liebknecht-Strae, or for short Karli, and it has a ton of great food places, little shops, and most importantly bars on bars. All have their own flavor to them, but here are some of my Karli favorites: Puschkin (strong drinks, great food, cheap beer, nice outside sitting area and super friendly staff) Hotel Seeblick (awesome food, cool atmosphere, but more of a daytime location, hipster crowd) Caf Waldi (not actually just a caf, turns into a bar by night, often has live music, ridiculous dcor, cool bartenders, nice little biergarten outside) Volkshaus (big patio open if its nice out, good food selection, rustic feel, chill crowd, moderately priced drinks) Flower-Power (the weirdest bar in the city, just go preferably in the early morning hours! a trip to Leipzig without a stint at this trippy location didnt really happen) Killi Willy (best irish pub in town)

But that is not nearly all of them! Also note when tipping in a restaurant, we usually pay at the table and tell the waiter the amount that we want to round our bill up to. Most

people pay in cash, but its possible to pay with cards too. Definitely ask whether they have a limit for paying with cards. Its not quite as common as in the US and Id say your best bet would be to always have some cash on you! When youre on Karli, make sure to get a DNER at any of the many places that sell it. Its a Turkish staple, perfected in Germany. Basically a kebab with salad and sauces in it. You can also get it with chicken instead of the traditional veal, or completely without meat and with falafel instead. Its SO GOOD and everyone loves it! Because the shops usually dont close until 2 or 3 on weekends, its also supreme late night drunk food! As for clubs: there are many and it really depends on what youre into. I think no one can really go wrong with the MB (short for MoritzBastei) which is a former bastion with most of its action happening under ground. MB is open every Wednesday and Friday and Saturday, unless there is a special concert. Music is super random at times, but generally pretty mainstream pop/hip hop/rock. A good mix Id say. They also have 2 floors if you wanna switch it up. Drinks are ridiculously cheap and cover is 5 max. Its the notorious student club in Leipzig and I think most of you would like it! Next club is the only real hip hop club in the city: Nachtcaf Leipzig. It draws a pretty international crowd and sometimes has lines. Usually worth the visit. The dancefloor is small but the atmosphere is good! People are friendly, the drinks are a little bit more expensive than at MB, but cover is the same. Note: whereas MB is not dressy at all and people would probably look at you weirdly if you show up in a bodycon dress and heels, feel free to wear that to Nachtcaf! Another club is 2UG, but I feel like they change their name all the time so just ask people for 2UG! Crowd-wise its a mix of MB and Nachtcaf. Here, it really depends on the day: when they have special parties like their student Erasmus parties, its packed. Other days youll be one of 10 people in the room and turn right back around. This is trial and error but definitely a cool location (under ground as well) and when its good, its really good. Other clubs in the downtown are: L1 (more pseudo posh, but really just older guys and younger girls, dance/electronic) and Club Twentyone (big club, depends on the party they are having that day, crossover music wise). There are a couple more, such as Alpenmax or Nightfever, but they are really not worth a visit and tend to attract strange crowds. The better clubs, IMO, are situated in the southern part of the city too. Distillery (my fave), Sweat (across from Caf Waldi), Ilses Erika (farther down south), and StuK all play music that is more on the electronic side, but they do switch things up for special events. Student crowd, cool people, good atmosphere and partying until the sun rises. There are more cool clubs in the Plagwitz area, but that is pretty far out west. Also look out for impromptu DJ sets in the parks during summer, they tend to attract a crowd and are pretty fun and low key. Ask your hosts about them! Thats about all I have for now, if you have more questions, feel free to ask. I hope you enjoy your time in Leipzig and I want to hear all about your adventures when you get back Have fun!!!