First Oppo post/European travel tips

"DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize" (DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize)
05/21/2014 at 17:28 • Filed to: Firstpost, Eurotrip

Hello everyone, welcome to my first post on Oppo. In just under a month I'm off on my first trip to Europe and I thought I'd ask everyone here for their suggestions on where to go, what to see and where to drive. So far I've got a week in the UK for the Goodwood Festival of Speed, a week in France and then a week in Germany. I plan on putting together a series of articles and videos when I come back, any help would be great. Thanks in advance!

DISCUSSION (16)

EL_ULY > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/21/2014 at 17:36

welcome to OPPO I've not been to Europe to give you any tips but have lots of fun and post many pics! :]

dinobot666 > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/21/2014 at 17:40

The exchange rate for the dollar to the pound is pretty atrocious right now, so factor in basic costs like food and transportation being essentially double what you're actually paying. I guess if you've got that much of a trip planned, then costs probably aren't much of a factor.

Your US issued credit or debit card won't work with them fancy pants Eurotrash chip and PIN card machines, but most of the time vendors can also swipe your card with another machine.

desertdog5051 > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/21/2014 at 17:48

First post, eh? You get a DD welcome.

You'll be sorrrrry.....This is a land where things are not as they seem and before you realize there is no escape, you are trapped ...This, my friends, is the OPPO ZONE.

Welcome.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/21/2014 at 18:01

Welcome :)

Are you hiring a car or training places?

One very cool place in the South of England is the Brooklands museum. It's built on what's left of one of the oldest racetracks in the world, and has some really cool old cars and planes :)

Automotive-wise in France there's the Le Mans museum which I've been to as well. That's pretty cool :)

Do you know where abouts you will be mostly in each of the three countries, or are you pretty free to travel around?

f86sabre > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/21/2014 at 18:36

Welcome! Goodwood is amazing. Be sure to make it up the hill to the rally stage. As folks have mentioned, Le Mans is a natural. Nurburgring in Germany. A trip to Manaco to walk the track is a must.

Beyond Motosports tuff I would recommend visiting the south of France and driving along the Med. Some great little towns and amazing food. Trier in Germany is a great place to visit. About an hour west of Nurburg, it was a Roman capital and has a colosseum, arches and other artifacts. Just another 45 min to the west is Luxemburg. Another great town. Traveling along the Rhine is awesome if you are into castles.

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > EL_ULY
05/21/2014 at 18:42

Thanks, will do!

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > desertdog5051
05/21/2014 at 18:43

Thanks for the welcome

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > dinobot666
05/21/2014 at 18:44

Thanks, yeah I'm not looking forward to how expensive the cities will be, I may have to get a new travel card.

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/21/2014 at 18:49

Thanks, I've recently got my international drivers license so I wouldn't mind booking a car if I can keep it in budget, Brooklands museum sounds great! Yeah I've got to make my way down to the Le Mans museum, I wish I could have started my trip earlier to make it for the event, there's always next year i suppose. For the UK I'll be in London, France I'll be in Paris and my time in Germany is split between Berlin and Frankfurt. Ohh and I've got something a bit special planned for Nurburgring already.

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > f86sabre
05/21/2014 at 18:57

Thanks, I am a big fan of rally, I'm hoping they have some Group B's out during the festival. Southern France sounds great, I'l have to budget a hire car for France by the sounds of it. I've looked into one for Germany to visit the Porsche and Mercedes museums, I little more driving would be great.

Jobjoris > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/22/2014 at 04:41

Welcome!

Many thoughts have been shared already. Thought I'd add a few things.

UK: Brooklands indeed is great, the Beaulieu National Motor Museum (near Southampton) as well is a great Museum to visit. And I really loved Stonehenge, that's about 20 miles from Beaulieu.

France: LeMans Museum I would recommend as well but although it's a great selection of cars that drove le 24 heure du Mans, is a very small collection. If you want to see a somewhat bigger collection and as you're planning to go to Stuttgart anyway (Mercedes Museum) you should certainly go to Mulhouse and see the Schlumpf collection in the Cité de l'Automobile. Lots of old Bugattis. But driving the Le Mans course is great fun, Gueux (Reims) also has an old track complete with abandoned pits/grandstand.

Germany: Freiburg (near Stuttgart) is a great city to visit. When going to the Nordschleife I'd recommend to see much of the Rheingau area (Rüdesheim) and the Mosel area. Lovely B-roads. In Berlin I could easily stay a couple of days with the Marienplatz, Eastside Gallery on the Mühlenstrasse, DDR Museum, Helmut Newton Museum (if you're in to photography), Friedrichshain (if you're into music) etc. But that's all not car-related. Take your time for Berlin!

If you have the time, take a trip to Amsterdam in the Netherlands as well. It's just awesome.

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > Jobjoris
05/22/2014 at 05:23

Wow thank you so much! I have a few free day sbefore Goodwood so I'll try to make it out that way. For France I'll definitely be visiting the Cité de l'Automobile and will try for the Le Mans museum, I don't know if I can make it onto the course this time because I've already committed some coin to nurburgring track time, but it's on my bucket list(plus I saw just recently that the Porsche museum has a Le Mans exhibition running at the moment). Those museums and galleries in Berlin sound very interesting, definitely my pace. Thanks again, I'll let you know how I go!

Jobjoris > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/22/2014 at 07:10

Most of the Le Mans track is a public road. You can't go flat-out but it's impressive any way (especially when you realize they do over 300km/h on 'Les Hunaudières' which is public). I really love the Musée des 24 Heures du Mans :

Kinja'd!!!

If you go this summer there will be a Matra exposition so that's another reason for you to go!

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > Jobjoris
05/22/2014 at 08:38

Awesome! I've never seen a Matra in person before, I hope there's a 630-02 somewhere .

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize
05/23/2014 at 13:49

Brooklands really isn't far from London, but Le Mans is a fair trek from Paris. Definitely doable, but still a decent drive.

Nice scenery if you take the back-roads though. We've got a holiday-home down in the Loire Valley so we drive past Le Mans whenever we go down there.

DeuxCentCinqTurboSeize > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires
05/23/2014 at 17:52

Thanks again, I might hire a car for that, sounds like it'll be worth it