Visiting Germany/Europe

[spiff]

Hi all,

It'll be my first visit to Germany in July/August (and some of the other countries nearby - unconfirmed yet).
I've been a huge fan of VW (2 sciroccos's, 1 golf and 1 jetta so far) and always maintained that if I ever visited, I would try to incorporate a visit to the VW plant - Wolfsburg.

I'm researching at the moment and am looking at autostadt.de (and the post from NiekSavio), but would also like some opinions and thoughts on other nice places to visit (VW or driving related). I've heard renting a car to drive on the autobahn might be an idea, and also a visit to Nürburgring. I still haven't reached that stage of the research yet.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas, please post and let me know. My main aim at the moment is to visit and see as much of VW's history (and the culture of the town), so planning as much to try and make sure any factory tours/prices/dates/times don't get messed up cos it's a once in a lifetime thing for me.

Spiff

[balkanac]

bmw museum in Munich and nurbergring are good things to see

[geoff_gti]

To drive the Nurburgring is one of my life goals!

I'm jealous already, Europe & in particular Germany, is my next big holiday.

I would also agree the BMW & Porsche museums.

[morgs]

Hi there,

I just got back from a Euro trip last week.
The master plan was to finish off Germany with a 4 lap ring session with an RSR track car. Unfortunately the track was closed for 3 days for maintenance when I arrived in Adenau. (should have checked my dates!!)
We stayed at the Ringvilla which has a live webcam of the Ring gate in the breaky room. Hotel owner completed more than 5000 laps!
Make sure your German road rental car has more hp than our 1.5 diesel for the Autobahn. It managed 200kmph, but it needed run ups to gain access to the far hand left lane!
Heading west from Nuremberg to the ring we encountered constant fluctuating road speeds due to road works and trucks. 30kmph-200kmph-30kmph etc. Still had fun though.

Cheers Morgan

[THE_EGG]

From what I've seen when I went to europe 2 years ago is that if you plan to drive in Europe for more than two weeks, it is cheaper to lease a vehicle than to hire it. I think you contact your local dealership of the brand of car you want to drive in Europe and if you already own that brand you get a discount (at least this is with Citroen anyway). If you have time to go to South Germany I would highly recommend a visit to Stuttgart and visit the Porsche and Mercedes-Benz museums. Very interesting stuff.

[MIRSAD]

From what I've seen when I went to europe 2 years ago is that if you plan to drive in Europe for more than two weeks, it is cheaper to lease a vehicle than to hire it. I think you contact your local dealership of the brand of car you want to drive in Europe and if you already own that brand you get a discount (at least this is with Citroen anyway). If you have time to go to South Germany I would highly recommend a visit to Stuttgart and visit the Porsche and Mercedes-Benz museums. Very interesting stuff.

You can lease only French car - this is link to one of Australian based leasing companies:

Europe Car Leasing - a Cheap Alternative to Car Hire in Europe - globalCARS

Much better than hire: you have full insurance - no access, brand new car, road assistant ...


Jul and Aug last year I leased Peugeot 207 (or 34 days) - picking up in Milan.

Unfortunately you can't lease VW.

and yes you should visit Stuttgart and Munich Auto(land)marks

[nutttr]

We hired from ttcar I think it was in France. Got an Opel 1.7L TDi Meriva thingy (was in 2008??) and it cost about 880eu for ~30 days. Drove 5,500km, was brilliant!

I recommend seeing if the Porsche factory tour of their 911 assembly like still exists (it's in Stuttgart). You can ring them to chat about it but from memory you have to email to book. It is free and was awesome to see, 99.9% is put together by hand. Was by far one of my top things to do.

If you get appendicitis, visit berlin, their hospital was really good!

That said, I highly recommend Berne in Switzerland. It's, so far, my favorite place ever. Been there 4-5 times in while I was living in the UK.

Good interesting drives, the famous (by top gear) drive down the mountain to Davos from Italy, or the other way around, I forget. In Germany the black forest region is pretty cool and so is the 'romantic road' area.

One thing to remember is a lot of autobahns are not unlimited speed . But there are plenty of areas where you can still go free! Got our hire car up to ~190. Wouldn't go any faster .

Another hint if you drive to Austria or Switzerland (from memory), you need to buy a "toll pass" which allows you to use their motorways. If you don't have one, they'll bend you over a barrel

Can't think of anything else right now...

[Blitzen]

And another thing, can anyone suggest the better ways of getting a group of 4 people from Vienna -> Innsbruck -> Wolfsburg -> Prague -> Vienna, over a period of 10 days? Would driving (particularly Innsbruck to Wolfsburg) be too much? 766km according to Google maps. Would flying or trains make more sense?

Take the train. It's really easy, clean, and inexpensive, especially if you book a bit earlier too.

[PassatB6]

1. Use the train whenever you can. Book a seat as well, don't just buy a train ticket otherwise you may not have anywhere to sit.

Re the Autostadt
2. Do the LONG factory tour in Wolfsburg. I went on the short one and it was only about 20-30 mins, nowhere near long enough. Book a seat.
3. You can get an ICE train to Wolfsburg station. Went there from Berlin in 1 hour.
4. Do the visit inside the Car towers.
5. Plenty food at the Autostadt (7 restaurants)

Berlin is a relatively cheap place to stay and awesome to visit.

Have a great trip!

[spiff]

Thanks! This is timely. I'm looking at this section of my trip.. I have been since last night. Haha. I'll send an email to Autostadt later or tomorrow.

May I ask:

1. Where are some decent places to stay when visiting the Autostadt (~3/4 star or b&b type places)? I looked at the Ritz-Carlton that's at the Autostadt. That's luxury! I'd rather spend the $ on merch..laugh. If only I could sleep in the factory.

2. Is 1 day enough or should I get the 2 day pass? I've read that the Autostadt and factory tours (will look at the longer one) are worth it, but some of the 'other pavillions' (??) aren't. There's also a separate VW museum or something nearby?

I may head to Berlin on a separate leg of the trip. Insufficient time, unless I skip Prague and do Berlin instead.

thanks!

1. Use the train whenever you can. Book a seat as well, don't just buy a train ticket otherwise you may not have anywhere to sit.

Re the Autostadt
2. Do the LONG factory tour in Wolfsburg. I went on the short one and it was only about 20-30 mins, nowhere near long enough. Book a seat.
3. You can get an ICE train to Wolfsburg station. Went there from Berlin in 1 hour.
4. Do the visit inside the Car towers.
5. Plenty food at the Autostadt (7 restaurants)

Berlin is a relatively cheap place to stay and awesome to visit.

Have a great trip!