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Well, I'm off to Germany at the end of next month. Here's where I'm going.

I'm flying into Frankfurt, so Nürburg isn't too far. I'll spend a few days there, then head to München by car. I'll have a couple, 3 days there then off to Berlin by rail.
I've never been to Europe before and the trip is really loosely planned.
So I'm looking for some suggestions as to what to do an where to go.

I know I want a BMW Plant tour and"The Ring" is a definite must do; though the end of Feb. might be a bit slippery.

Anyone have experience, suggestions, words of wisdom about doing this in a rental. Is credit card insurance (AMEX or VISA) all I need?

TIA,
Keith

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2003 F-250
2004 MINI Cooper S
1993 Bovine Beater
1988 325is

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Keith, this was ten years ago, but when I went to Germany, you couldn't do a plant tour at either BMW or Porsche. That was reserved for people who were having their new cars delivered at the factory. At both places, though, you could tour the on-site museums. The Porsche museum was cool, but small. The BMW museum in Munich was HUGE.

One neat thing I saw at Porsche was an early test mule of the water-cooled 911 pulling into the site, painted flat black and covered in camouflage. Somewhere, I've got a picture of it. I felt like Hans Lehman.

Even more years ago, as a kid, I went to Germany with the family. At that time, you could do a tour of the Mercedes factory, which was neat. You could eat off the floor in that place.

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Karl S.
2014 Baby, 2014 House, 2013 Ford Focus ST, 2013 BMW 328i, 1994 Mercedes E320
(Insert passive aggressive signature line here)

See the 2 link below about the ring. Don't used a generic rental car to go on track.
I suggest renting from http://www.rent-racecar.de/gb/
The last 2 times I went to the Ring I stay there: http://www.pension-hilberath.de/english/index.htm

Have cash with you, not all restaurants take credit card. The Pension above, I pay them cash.
ATM are no problem, some time they are mark International on them . I usually used the one from the Sparkasse
never had problem with them, they don't charge fee and don't give receipt. Check with your bank here they might
charge fee for international transaction.

From the ring if you go to Munich you can pass by Stuttgart, Porsche and Mercedes are there.
A place to see is Rothenburg. In Munich you are close to the Alps maybe a day trip to Innsbruck or Salzburg........

Berlin..... I need to go back there. Me and Kathy went there in 89, 2 months before the wall came down.
We visited east Berlin at that time, what a different world it was.

Have fun, drink beer and eat Schnitzel and Bratwurst.

http://www.thscc.com/phpBB/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

http://www.thscc.com/phpBB/viewtopic.ph ... highlight=

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Patrice
1973 911 former track and AX car.
2016 VW GTI
2002 Nissan Sentra (Olivier car)
2012 Nissan Juke (Kathy car)
2010 Suzuki Kizashi (Audrey car)

What Patrice said. DO NOT TAKE GENERIC RENTAL CAR TO RING Most of their contracts forbid it. Here is a good info website about the ring. http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/

They have plenty of ATMs there so don't invest in Traveler's checks. You can get cash in local currency from the ATMs. (They even speak english). There is a cool beer garden and brewery in Schweitzen which is south of Frankfurt near Heidelberg. It is difficult to find good bier in Germany

You also should call your credit card issuer to let them know you will be in Germany as they sometimes will block charges if they are unusual.

Also if you have GSM cell phones you may be able to get them opened to work in Germany if you wanted.

Have fun

Supposedly the new (larger) Porsche museum is opening up on 1/31...

http://www.stuttgart-tourist.de/ENG/lei ... museum.htm

Have a good trip!

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Richard Casto
1972 Porsche 914
2013 Honda Fit Sport
2015 Honda Fit EX
http://motorsport.zyyz.com
Money can't buy happiness, but somehow it's more comfortable to cry in a Porsche than a Kia.

Thanks for the Links!
That Rent a race car place has some nice cars. I sure hope that the weather will be kind to me while I am there so I can justify doing this doing this.

I'm on it with the ATMs and I've already called the bank. I need to get a phone worked out now.(I didn;t think of that)

I am hoping to make it to Stuttgart and it looks like BMW in now offering plant tours... it looks like the front end of this trip is going to be a driver's holiday... I hope my girlfriend will forgive me

_________________
2003 F-250
2004 MINI Cooper S
1993 Bovine Beater
1988 325is

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

http://www.nuerburgring.de/index.php?id=361

This gives opening dates and times, directions, etc. If you can afford the Ring taxi with Sabine do it. Anyone who can drive a Transit around there fast is a good driver. If you do the ring taxi it is in a BMW

personally. I really have learned to like german cars.
Deutschebahn has a train station in berlin. that is supposed to be huge.
Also. the bmw 535d or 635d should be fun on the autobahnen.. diesel is not that pricy in europe compared to petrol, also.. the ring in the snow may be entertaining.. think rallycross on a bigger scale.I rather like the old auto union racers.. they are cool. My father really likes teh BMW factory.. it was on tv one time.. he rather liked the machinery. must do the autobahnen!

the classic porsche snow nurburgring video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV9SAYvG ... re=related

and now the new skyline gtr in snow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfXkJMDWDMU

have fun man. i dont know much about germany. never been outside the usa really. ever.

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hey yall,watch this...

If you want the girl friend to forgive you, you need to go to the Neuschwanstein.

http://www.castles.org/castles/Europe/C ... rmany7.htm

I think I went there like 5 times. Last year in February I went with the family, we arrive at lunch time, had lunch
in a restaurant at the bottom, visited the castle in the afternoon ( buy your ticket early ) and the walk up to the castle
take sometime also. We decided to stay there for the night, we stay at: http://www.alpenstuben.de/en it was nice
and the restaurant was very good also. The next day after breakfast, you can easily be in Munich for lunch and you will be forgiven.

If I may suggest after the Ring you should go to Stuttgart, visit either Porsche or Mercedes, with the new Porsche museum that seem to be open
it should be good. From Stuttgart go to the Neuschwanstein and from there to Munich. There is quite a lots of thing to see also around the Neuschwanstein
that's all depend of the time you have available.

Here some links for route between the mention city.

From the Nurburgring to Stuttgart

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 921875&z=8


From Stuttgart to the Neuschwanstein

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 460937&z=9


From the Neuschwanstein to Munich

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 30469&z=10


Also if you have some time left you can go to Salzburg, the city of Mozart. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salzburg You might be forgiven another time.....

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source= ... 460937&z=9

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Patrice
1973 911 former track and AX car.
2016 VW GTI
2002 Nissan Sentra (Olivier car)
2012 Nissan Juke (Kathy car)
2010 Suzuki Kizashi (Audrey car)

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone!!
This is making trip planning very easy for me.

Patrice, the castle will definitely get me out of the doghouse. The lodging looks great, and reasonably priced, too! Very helpful.

_________________
2003 F-250
2004 MINI Cooper S
1993 Bovine Beater
1988 325is

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Keith, I'm happy to help if I can. Here some more. Like I said there is a lot to see around the Neuschwanstein you can maybe stay 2 night there and visit around.
There is a nice church in Wies: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wieskirche there is also Oberammergau: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oberammergau
The Ettal Abbey: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ettal_Abbey Garmish-Partenkirchen : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garmisch-Partenkirchen
and the Linderhof, another Castle used by King Ludwig: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linderhof

Link to a Google map of that area: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... iwloc=addr

As for car related thing, there is RUF : http://www.ruf-automobile.de/ They are in Pfaffenhausen not that far.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source= ... 30469&z=10

You said you will be going from Munich to Berlin. On your way to Berlin there is Nuremberg : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuremberg
When I go to Germany for the company I'm going in the neighbor city of Erlangen. Not much to see in Erlangen beside some good restaurant and pub.
If you end up stopping in Nuremberg you need to try the Nuremberg bratwurst, the place I like to go is: http://www.bratwurst-roeslein.de/
Looking at those thing for you make me remember all the places I went over there and make me wanting to go over there again, but looking at the schedule it look like it will not be before September.

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Patrice
1973 911 former track and AX car.
2016 VW GTI
2002 Nissan Sentra (Olivier car)
2012 Nissan Juke (Kathy car)
2010 Suzuki Kizashi (Audrey car)

Keith, what are your interests besides the cars and beer?

I lived in Berlin for 13+ years and can give you a few pointers if you care, just don't know where to start besides the obvious few things like:

1. Take the Bus 100 from the Zoo station all the way to the end of the line. AFAIK all 100 buses are double-deckers, so make sure you sit on the top level. Driver will point out sights of interest along the way.

2. Go to the Berlin Zoo and Aquarium. It is one of the largest in Europe.

3. Climb to the top of the Reichstag Dome. It's a bit of a wait, but the view is worth it. I would take all my visiting friends there and never get tired of seeing it.

4. Berlin wall museum at Check Point Charlie.

5. Museumsinsel (Museum island) and a bunch of other museums. If you're into industrial design, Bauhaus Archive is worth noting.

So yeah, if you want more info, just let me know what you and your girlfriend are interested to see/do while in Berlin, and I will try to help :)

Thanks Alex.
Cars and beer about covers it

I do like architecture and I know that Berlin has many interesting buildings.

You've got some great suggestions. Bus tour sounds good. The dome is a definite, as well as Bauhaus.

Can you recommend some areas to stay with convenient transportation?
Berlin is our last stop before going back to Frankfurt and we will be without a car. (I wanted to take the rail from Munich to Berlin to Frankfurt)

Thanks for your help.

_________________
2003 F-250
2004 MINI Cooper S
1993 Bovine Beater
1988 325is

The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Yeah, and the best part is, it's "free" as in, it's a regular city bus, so you can use it if you bought a 3-day unlimited BVG (Berlin public transport authority) pass.

You'll be fine without a car in Berlin. I might even go as far as to say you'll be better off without it. Parking is tough or expensive or both, hardly any dedicated parking garages, plus the dense city traffic--you'd be worrying more about the car than enjoying the city.

As about accessible hotels, public transport is everywhere. BVG used to have an ad that said you needed to walk a maximum of 500 meters (0.3 mi) to any of the numerous bus, tram, subway, and city train stops. Each stop has a schedule and a route plan, also listing transfer points to other lines.

To minimize the time you'd spend getting to the places you want to visit, try and pick a hotel in either one of these districts: Charlottenburg, Tiergarten, Mitte. Schoeneberg, Prenzlauerberg, and Wedding are also close enough. Hotels in these less posh districts might be more affordable. Here's a map to give you a better idea of what's where.

Berlin is a safe city, and no matter where you are, you can walk at any time of day and night, and not worry.

Try the official city of Berlin web site for more info. The link is to the English version. You will find that many public signs and terminals (ATM, ticket vending) will be in a minimum of two (DE, EN) and sometimes many more languages.