To the people of the European persuasion...

"Once_upon_a_pvt" (eagleruwe07) 12/20/2013 at 13:39 • Filed to: None

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I am being given the pretty sweet opportunity to live in Germany for the next few years. I can't wait to see all the cars us yanks are banned from owning. I am trying to compile a list of places to visit with regards to automotive awesomeness.

I've already decided on the obvious, like the Nurburgring, and whatever factories will let me in. Not to mention a few trips to the UK to try and find the perfect Skyline to import. Anyone have any lesser knows auto meccas I should plan on going?

Hindered23 > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 13:44

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when I visited Munich I just say outside the treasury building by a big ol statue and read my book and carwatched. I've never seen so many of the fast audis and bmws as I did there. not to mention the occasional Maserati or aston. I even saw a tesla roadster and BMW 1m. London tho... rolls Royce's were as common as a mustang in metro Detroit it was crazy. also saw more lambos and ferraris there

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 13:45

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Since nobody else is going to recall or recommend this...



...the Mopar Euronationals.

Once_upon_a_pvt > Hindered23 12/20/2013 at 13:46

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We are planning trips to both places already! I herald from outside Munich a few generations ago, and London is a must see.

lucky's pepper > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 13:48

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Hockenheim. Plus if you're making the trip to the Ring, Spa is only a couple hours away.

Once_upon_a_pvt > Goshen, formerly Darkcode 12/20/2013 at 13:48

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That's a thing?

Goshen, formerly Darkcode > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 13:52

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Yes

Once_upon_a_pvt > Goshen, formerly Darkcode 12/20/2013 at 13:55

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I am definitely going to look into that..

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 13:58

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If you like architecture, Cologne/Koln is a great place to visit.

Kolner Dom is extremely impressive. Especially considering that much of the rest of the city was rebuilt owing to what my History Professor in college affectionately refereed to as the "allied urban-renewal campaign of 1942-1945."

He was an interesting guy.

Once_upon_a_pvt > lucky's pepper 12/20/2013 at 14:00

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Holy crap Hockenheim is close to were I'll be. Like maybe an hour away.

Once_upon_a_pvt > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 12/20/2013 at 14:02

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That's a good way of putting it. I had heard Cologne was still very old world, if you will.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 14:03

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It does have that "old-world" feel to it. But much of the building style is much more modern.

An interesting dichotomy to be sure.

Once_upon_a_pvt > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 12/20/2013 at 14:11

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That will make for an interesting trip. I love the old feel and the wife likes the hidden modern touches.

KnowsAboutCars > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 14:12

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If you don't mind exploring into northern europe may I suggest Power Big Meet in Västerås, Sweden or Gatebil events in both Norway and Sweden.

EDIT: The museums of German car manufacturers are probably worth visiting too.

ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 14:15

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When you tour the church, they've only bothered to patch the bullet holes about as high a you can reach with a step ladder.

You can even follow shooting arcs on some columns. It's fascinating.

BrunoJ > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 14:22

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First city to go is Sttutgard and visit the Museums of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche all in the same day :)

Then, go to Munich and visit BMW Welt and BMW Museum also.

In Ingolstadt you have to go and visit AUDI Museum.

Voilà :)

Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 14:25

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You should visit The Gallery.

It is an museum/car dealer that sells rare/old cars.

Also something that I plan on doing myself one time, is visit Worthersee.

Really big car meet.

Once_upon_a_pvt > KnowsAboutCars 12/20/2013 at 14:40

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I definitely want to visit the northern areas, but that will be a harder sell to the wife!

Once_upon_a_pvt > ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) 12/20/2013 at 14:41

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See now your talking to my military background. That sounds pretty awesome.

Once_upon_a_pvt > BrunoJ 12/20/2013 at 14:43

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Done, done, and done. Those are all on the list

Once_upon_a_pvt > Pabuuu, JDM car enthusiast & Italian parts hoarder 12/20/2013 at 14:44

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Well that made the list easily

KnowsAboutCars > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 15:12

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Well, you could tell her about the long summer days and the atmosphere that come with them if that makes persuasion any easier.

Once_upon_a_pvt > KnowsAboutCars 12/20/2013 at 15:28

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Ooo summertime in a Polestar. Like a real one. I need a few million dollars.

BrunoJ > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 15:41

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... Great :)... and remember, if you are willing to drive trough the Alps (I think you should) and go to northern Italy... just imagine the possibilities... :)

lucky's pepper > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 15:47

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So where will you be living?

Once_upon_a_pvt > BrunoJ 12/20/2013 at 15:53

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O yea. I'm already looking into the rentals. Im selling my E90 because insurance rates on financed cars is ridiculous, so I'm thinking a nice Quattro or X-Drive through the alps, maybe a trip to Monaco. Lol dream big I guess

Once_upon_a_pvt > lucky's pepper 12/20/2013 at 15:54

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Baumholder, in the southwest.

davedave1111 > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 16:07

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From there, a visit to the http://citedelautomobile.com Schlumpf Collection is practically mandatory.

Once_upon_a_pvt > davedave1111 12/20/2013 at 16:16

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Hell yea that looks like a few days worth of exploring.

davedave1111 > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 16:18

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Keep an eye on the budget airline websites. You should be fairly close to Frankfurt-Hahn, which is where all the cheaper flights go from. Anything up to about 300 miles is a short enough flight that you can day-trip it any time the flights are cheap, and a 300 mile radius of there includes everything up to the Dutch coast (inc Amsterdam), Prague to the east, and northern Italy - Milan, Turin - to the south.

Need to check they have a morning flight out and an evening flight back on the same day:

http://www.hahn-airport.de/default.aspx?m…

Hah, you could take the girlfriend to Venice for dinner one evening, make it back the same night :)

Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 17:06

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Events:

Goodwood - both Festival of Speed and the Revival

Le Mans (duh!)

Old Timers GP at the Nurburgring: classic cars + 'ring = all the win!

At least one F1 race even if you're not a fan - its all about the sound and the smell, even if they're going to wreck the sound next year

Ditto a WRC rally

DTM races

Gatebil

Drives:

The Ring (duh!)

Hire the fastest car you can, find a deserted stretch of unlimited autobahn while they still exist, and set a personal best speed

Find a car with a great engine note and go tunnel hunting in northern Italy

Eastern European mountain passes (less busy and enforced than Swiss)

The backroads above Maranello

Welsh and Scottish B roads

Pretty much all the major OEMs have collections of their historically important cars on display somewhere near their HQs: Porsche, BMW, Jag, Mercedes, PSA, Renault. Presumably the BL collection still exists someplace too. A number of them do factory tours too

In the UK, Pistonheads' Sunday Services are pretty much the equivalent of Car & Coffee. Dunno what there is similar in Germany but I bet it exists.

Go to London and hang out outside Harrods for a few hours and you'll be amazed what you see. The Knightsbridge area of London has more supercars per square inch than anywhere oustide the Bugatti factory, due to all the rich Arab kids.

Once_upon_a_pvt > Distraxi's idea of perfection is a Jagroen 12/20/2013 at 17:47

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I'm going to print this off and usr it as the first years to do list!

Once_upon_a_pvt > davedave1111 12/20/2013 at 17:48

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Cheap flights are a must, thanks for the site

davedave1111 > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 18:28

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Try skyscanner.net as well. Not sure of a German equivalent, but I expect there is one.

I had another look at the map, and it seems like Saarbrucken is also close, although pretty small. And Luxembourg, Metz, Frankfurt - the proper one, not the out-of-town cheap-flight one - aren't too far for slightly longer trips.

The European rail network is also a good way to get around. I'm a big fan of the sleeper trains for slightly longer trips - more expensive than flying, but you can take as much luggage as you like, and you save on a night in a hotel or get an extra day at your destination. Leave latish on Friday evening, sleep on the train, wake up next morning somewhere hundreds of miles away. It's almost magical.

http://www.raileurope.com/

And none of that's to say that driving isn't also a good way to get around, just that there are loads of different travel options depending on where you're going and for how long.

Once_upon_a_pvt > davedave1111 12/20/2013 at 18:34

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We were looking into the train systems, but couldn't find much as far as like a yearly pass or something? Train seems like a good way to go.

lucky's pepper > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 18:44

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Lived a couple of hours to the east in Heilbronn. Germany is an absolutely beautiful country. If you're a history and/or beer enthusiast too, you'll never want for something to do.

Make the most of your time there, and enjoy it. You may never get back.

davedave1111 > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 18:46

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I don't know about a yearly pass - it would be seriously expensive, I think. Maybe a discount/membership card of some kind for the German railways.

There are rail passes, but they're generally for shorter periods.

I'm not sure what the difference is between Eurail and Interail passes.

http://www.eurail.com/

http://www.interrail.eu

Eurrail has a 3 month continuous pass, but that's €1500. One of the X days in Y months passes would probably be better.

Because you're American - right? - you can also get a German rail pass for travel within Germany.

http://www.germanrailpasses.com

They actually look pretty reasonably priced, especially the two-person ones.

Once_upon_a_pvt > lucky's pepper 12/20/2013 at 19:02

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I plan on taking advantage of it to the fullest for sure

Once_upon_a_pvt > davedave1111 12/20/2013 at 19:03

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Yea the certain days in the month thing is probably the most promising, we would only travel once a month at the most. I'll bookmark the rail sites.

stuttgartobsessed > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/20/2013 at 21:01

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Go to Modena. Its quieter than Bologna and you can get to Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferarri, and Pagani from there. Plus its a beautiful country. Close to the Lake Region too! You should totally crash Villa d'Este if vintage million dollar cars are your thing. Also the French Auto Museum (Cité de l'Automobile) in Mulhouse. As for Deutschland, definitely go see BMW, Mercedes and Porsche museums/factories. I've done the MB one and it was super cool.

Non car related things:

France: Paris, Dijon, Lyon, Avignon, Strasbourg, Le Harve, Caen, Normandy Beaches.

Monaco

Italy: Venice, Florence, Cinque Terre.

Germany: Hamburg, Stuttgart.

All of Switzerland.

Scandanavia is supposed to be awesome as well. Try and catch the Rally of the 1000 Lakes. (WRC Finnland?)

Also Eastern Europe (Czech Republic (GO TO PRAGUE!), Croatia, Moldova, Latvia, Estonia, etc.. are very beautiful)

Damn I love Europe. Just go everywhere. If you have a chance to go see something somewhere do it.

Once_upon_a_pvt > stuttgartobsessed 12/20/2013 at 21:25

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I can do quiter, Modena sounds great. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Klaus Schmoll > Once_upon_a_pvt 12/21/2013 at 09:11

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http://www.technik-museum.de/en

carsandmusic > Once_upon_a_pvt 01/26/2014 at 12:14

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There are discount passes for the German train services (bahn.de) offering 25% discount on normal and reduced prices for around 60€/yr and 50% discount but only on regular prices for 125-200€ (I'm not sure about the correct price). So my recommendation would be to get the BahnCard 25 (25% discount), because there are many tickets for 29€ per person and direction in the high speed trains (ICE). Slower trains (IC) are less modern and comfortable but cheaper. There is also an "all-inclusive" BahnCard 100 but it is around 3500€, so for most people not worth the money. All prices are for 2nd class which is enough. There is much more legroom than in airplanes. 1st class offers even more legroom, leathered seats and daily newspaper. And maybe more importantly less people/families/groups... But I don't think it's worth paying the difference.

There is an equivalent for sky scanner called Kayak (kayak.com). It's working most of the time but sometimes doesn't list Easyjet flights and never lists Ryanair. So you would have to look for these low-cost airlines at their websites. There are a lot of tickets from 25€ so city-hopping can be very cheap. Another recommendable airline is Germanwings (low-cost airline of Lufthansa) and AirBerlin (as nice as Lufthansa but less expensive).

In case you want to make a round-trip through one or more countries you might have a look at Interrail and Eurail passes, but it might be cheaper to book the tickets individually at the country's rail service. We travelled Spain by train and paid abound 1/3 less than Interrail buying the tickets directly at Renfe (Spanish rail service).

If you have any further questions, feel free to ask!