Scott
07-08-2007, 01:22 PM
Some of you may remember my threads from my Germany trip, if you don’t you can see them here (http://www.opentrackaction.com/acmeforum/showthread.php?t=471) and here (http://www.opentrackaction.com/acmeforum/showthread.php?t=483). Well, some of you were discussing a possible trip to Lemans to see the race, but I would like to make this suggestion.
How about a carguy’s trip to Germany and France? I haven’t priced it out in detail as I don’t know if there would be any interest, but I estimate it could be done for $1700 to $2000 a person + food and gas. I call it a carguy’s trip, but I’ve included information on sights and points of interest in the various locations to make sure any wives or significant others will enjoy themselves too.
My idea is for a seven day trip, leaving Atlanta on Saturday and leaving Frankfurt the next Saturday. The flights from ATL to Frankfurt generally leave in the late afternoon and arrive early morning German time the next day. Last time I went, my flight left around 4:30pm and arrived at 7:30 the next morning. Since most shops are closed on Sunday, we would have the day to get used to the time change and get familiar with our surroundings before diving in to the full schedule on Monday.
Any of these suggestions are open to modification and your input is welcome. I make them only because I did it this way and it worked OK for me. The daily itineraries are for example only and can be shuffled to accommodate the groups desires.
If some would like to extend their visit, we could time it close to Lemans and either meet you in Germany at he beginning of the trip or take you to the train for Paris to get a car and drive to Lemans at the end. In 1984 we left Lemans and drove to Heidelberg in one day and it worked out well. It was a long day, but we left and arrived in daylight, so it’s doable if you want to continue your stay.
Day One- Sunday
Arrive Frankfurt, clear customs, get rental cars (number of cars undecided, four people to a car) and drive 1.25 hrs to Heidelberg. Heidelberg (http://www.e-heidelberg.com/) is located in the German state of Baden Wurttemberg in the Southwestern part of the country. It is in close proximity to France, Switzerland and the Black Forrest. Heidelberg makes a great starting point for our day trips.
There are many hotels in the area, but I’ve stayed at the Residenz Royal (http://www.rr-hotel.de/) in Sandhausen for five weeks one year and three another year. It is a German businessman’s hotel with nice rooms, cable TV, free parking and free highspeed wireless internet. We won’t spend much time in the rooms, so a luxury hotel is a needless expense. I like this hotel and the free breakfast is great. Since it’s not an American chain hotel, you will get a taste of Germany here.
Check into the hotel and then explore Heidelberg and eat dinner. Here is a website detailing everything Heidelberg has to offer. It’s a beautiful old German town with many castles and thing to see. I did a boat trip (http://www.crystalinks.com/neckarcruise.html) up the Neckar River and had a great time.
Optional, drive to the Hockenheimring (http://www.hockenheimring.com/DEFAULT.aspx?tabID=453) and visit the museum there.
Day Two- Monday
Drive approximately two hours to Mulhouse France and visit the unbelievable Schlumpf collection (http://www.collection-schlumpf.com/en/schlumpf/). The huge collection of Bugatti and other antique and modern cars is one of the largest in the world and the story of the Schlumpf brothers is amazing. This is a must see.
Optional, stop in Strasbourg France (http://strasbourgfr.ags.myareaguide.com/) for dinner, sightseeing, shopping and dinner.
Day Three- Tuesday
Drive about 1 hour to Stuttgart and visit the Porsche Museum (http://www.porsche.com/international/faq/museum/) and the wonderful Mercedes Museum (http://www.mercedes-benz.com/content/mbcom/international/international_website/en/com/Brandworld_Museum.html). Hopefully the new Porsche Museum (http://www.carpages.co.uk/porsche/porsche-museum-09-02-05.asp) will be open then and the Mercedes Museum is amazing. The City of Stuttgart (http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/index_ENG.htm) is beautiful and has many other, no car related, things to see and do.
Optional, visit the tuner shops surrounding Stuttgart such as Techart, Gemballa, ABT and AMG.
Day Four- Wednesday
The Big Day! Get up early and drive about 2.5 hours to the Nurburgring (http://www.nuerburgring.de/). This is carguy Mecca! The highlight of the trip is a lap around the circuit in the BMW Ring Taxi (http://nurburgring.org.uk/taxi.html). For those not familiar with the Ring Taxi, check this (http://nurburgring.org.uk/taxi.html) out. Also, here is a video (http://www.opentrackaction.com/videos/2005-ring-taxi-soete.mpg) done by an American enthusiast of his trip in the Taxi. (Rightclick and "Save As") This is expensive at 185 Euros, but the car holds three so the cost is split and it’s a must do if you traveled al the way there. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to get Sabine Schmitz as our driver. She is somewhat of a celebrity and has tens of thousands of laps on the ‘Ring. Here is a Youtube video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7246265604269069329&q=Sabine+Schmitz&total=47&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6) of Sabine on the UK show Top Gear attempting to break a 10min lap of the ‘Ring in a Diesel Transit van. She even passes sportbikes!
Optional, Travel 1.5 hours to Spa Francorchamps, visit the track and eat at the quaint F1 Hotel in the village of Francorchamps.
Day Five- Thursday
Sightseeing and dinner in Heidelberg and/or Mannheim. Frankenstein’s Castle (http://www.darmstadt.de/en/sights/frankenstein/index.html) is a short trip away.
Optional, split up day three and do the second half today.
Day Six- Friday
Free Day, relax and recuperate, or split off for personal interests. We can revisit earlier sights that we didn’t get enough time at or see things we discovered while we were there.
Optional, send of our Lemans bound travelers.
Say Seven- Saturday
Early morning departure from Frankfurt for Atlanta.
How about a carguy’s trip to Germany and France? I haven’t priced it out in detail as I don’t know if there would be any interest, but I estimate it could be done for $1700 to $2000 a person + food and gas. I call it a carguy’s trip, but I’ve included information on sights and points of interest in the various locations to make sure any wives or significant others will enjoy themselves too.
My idea is for a seven day trip, leaving Atlanta on Saturday and leaving Frankfurt the next Saturday. The flights from ATL to Frankfurt generally leave in the late afternoon and arrive early morning German time the next day. Last time I went, my flight left around 4:30pm and arrived at 7:30 the next morning. Since most shops are closed on Sunday, we would have the day to get used to the time change and get familiar with our surroundings before diving in to the full schedule on Monday.
Any of these suggestions are open to modification and your input is welcome. I make them only because I did it this way and it worked OK for me. The daily itineraries are for example only and can be shuffled to accommodate the groups desires.
If some would like to extend their visit, we could time it close to Lemans and either meet you in Germany at he beginning of the trip or take you to the train for Paris to get a car and drive to Lemans at the end. In 1984 we left Lemans and drove to Heidelberg in one day and it worked out well. It was a long day, but we left and arrived in daylight, so it’s doable if you want to continue your stay.
Day One- Sunday
Arrive Frankfurt, clear customs, get rental cars (number of cars undecided, four people to a car) and drive 1.25 hrs to Heidelberg. Heidelberg (http://www.e-heidelberg.com/) is located in the German state of Baden Wurttemberg in the Southwestern part of the country. It is in close proximity to France, Switzerland and the Black Forrest. Heidelberg makes a great starting point for our day trips.
There are many hotels in the area, but I’ve stayed at the Residenz Royal (http://www.rr-hotel.de/) in Sandhausen for five weeks one year and three another year. It is a German businessman’s hotel with nice rooms, cable TV, free parking and free highspeed wireless internet. We won’t spend much time in the rooms, so a luxury hotel is a needless expense. I like this hotel and the free breakfast is great. Since it’s not an American chain hotel, you will get a taste of Germany here.
Check into the hotel and then explore Heidelberg and eat dinner. Here is a website detailing everything Heidelberg has to offer. It’s a beautiful old German town with many castles and thing to see. I did a boat trip (http://www.crystalinks.com/neckarcruise.html) up the Neckar River and had a great time.
Optional, drive to the Hockenheimring (http://www.hockenheimring.com/DEFAULT.aspx?tabID=453) and visit the museum there.
Day Two- Monday
Drive approximately two hours to Mulhouse France and visit the unbelievable Schlumpf collection (http://www.collection-schlumpf.com/en/schlumpf/). The huge collection of Bugatti and other antique and modern cars is one of the largest in the world and the story of the Schlumpf brothers is amazing. This is a must see.
Optional, stop in Strasbourg France (http://strasbourgfr.ags.myareaguide.com/) for dinner, sightseeing, shopping and dinner.
Day Three- Tuesday
Drive about 1 hour to Stuttgart and visit the Porsche Museum (http://www.porsche.com/international/faq/museum/) and the wonderful Mercedes Museum (http://www.mercedes-benz.com/content/mbcom/international/international_website/en/com/Brandworld_Museum.html). Hopefully the new Porsche Museum (http://www.carpages.co.uk/porsche/porsche-museum-09-02-05.asp) will be open then and the Mercedes Museum is amazing. The City of Stuttgart (http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/index_ENG.htm) is beautiful and has many other, no car related, things to see and do.
Optional, visit the tuner shops surrounding Stuttgart such as Techart, Gemballa, ABT and AMG.
Day Four- Wednesday
The Big Day! Get up early and drive about 2.5 hours to the Nurburgring (http://www.nuerburgring.de/). This is carguy Mecca! The highlight of the trip is a lap around the circuit in the BMW Ring Taxi (http://nurburgring.org.uk/taxi.html). For those not familiar with the Ring Taxi, check this (http://nurburgring.org.uk/taxi.html) out. Also, here is a video (http://www.opentrackaction.com/videos/2005-ring-taxi-soete.mpg) done by an American enthusiast of his trip in the Taxi. (Rightclick and "Save As") This is expensive at 185 Euros, but the car holds three so the cost is split and it’s a must do if you traveled al the way there. Hopefully we will be lucky enough to get Sabine Schmitz as our driver. She is somewhat of a celebrity and has tens of thousands of laps on the ‘Ring. Here is a Youtube video (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7246265604269069329&q=Sabine+Schmitz&total=47&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=6) of Sabine on the UK show Top Gear attempting to break a 10min lap of the ‘Ring in a Diesel Transit van. She even passes sportbikes!
Optional, Travel 1.5 hours to Spa Francorchamps, visit the track and eat at the quaint F1 Hotel in the village of Francorchamps.
Day Five- Thursday
Sightseeing and dinner in Heidelberg and/or Mannheim. Frankenstein’s Castle (http://www.darmstadt.de/en/sights/frankenstein/index.html) is a short trip away.
Optional, split up day three and do the second half today.
Day Six- Friday
Free Day, relax and recuperate, or split off for personal interests. We can revisit earlier sights that we didn’t get enough time at or see things we discovered while we were there.
Optional, send of our Lemans bound travelers.
Say Seven- Saturday
Early morning departure from Frankfurt for Atlanta.