Write up time. This won't be short, so grab a brew, I have highlighted our rough costs and included some links, for anyone interested in doing a roadtrip similar to ours.
Our trip started in Manchester, and after a few hours of boring motorways and a slight diversion past Coventry, we made it to Dover.
Our ferry was booked with DFDS Ferries, they were excellent value at
£80 return for the both of us:
http://www.dfdsseaways.co.uk/
We left Dover at 5am, which left us with a stunning sunrise over the English Channel:
Jon On Ferry by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferry Sunrise by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Once in France, we immediately headed (right, as you look at the map) for Belgium (thus avoiding any toll roads). Somewhere in mid Belgium, the toll from the overnight driving was too much, and we stopped for a sleep in a rest stop. It was 38 degrees, so we slept on some concrete benches in the shade! Also got the camera out, naturally:
Car In Belgium by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Our first proper destination, was the Nurburgring Nordshleife.
The DTM was on while we were there, so hotel prices were astronomical/had no vacancies for the Saturday night, so we stayed in a guesthouse called Sliders, that offered a great service, not far from the track, and run by a Brit called Brendan.
http://www.slidersguesthouse.com/
First point to note, is Brendan is an awesome guy, he knows why people stay there, and he caters to it very well. After venturing down to the track for a few hours, we sat with him and some other guests with a beer, watching Frankie Boyle, what more could you ask for!
He is also extremely knowledgeable on the 'ring, and offered us plenty of advice, and a stark warning when he told us that in the 9 years he has run his business, he has lost a total of 6 guests to the Nordschleife.
One room for both of us, was about
£80.
Few snaps from our first night down at the town of Nurburg:
Corvette Nurburg by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Nurburg Monument by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Nurburg Map by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
While we were down there on the first night, we went into the Ring Boulevard, which is basically an exhibition hall next to the F1 track. Few photos from in there:
Nurburgring Visitor Centre by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Audi Stand by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Audi A1 & RS4 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Audi RS4 Detail by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Audi RS4 Rear by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Audi RS4 Front by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Mercedes Stand by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
And the standard shot that everyone gets
Clio At The Nurburgring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Day two say us take on the Nurburgring itself and both do a lap. First thing I will say about the 'ring, is it's utterly terrifying, second thing I will say is, everyone should do it. I loved every corner, every straight, and everytime a 911 Turbo overtook me on full boost, sounding like a rocket!
One lap of the Nurburgring is
£20
We grabbed some photos from the entrance to the track, which is basically a who's who of all the best track cars out there!
F10 M5 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche GT3 & M3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari F430 Scuderia Macro by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari F430 Scuderia Rear by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari F430 Scuderia Front by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Corvette Nurburgring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche 911 Nurburgring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche 911 Nurburgring Front by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Save The Ring Clio by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
BMW M3 Wheels by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
A couple from Jons lap, that I took from the passenger seat:
Jons Lap by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Jons Lap 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
And my car earned its right to wear this:
'Ring Sticker by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Fwiends:
RS Clios Together by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
For our second night we stayed at the Blau Ecke in Adenau:
http://www.blaueecke.de/start/?PHPSESSID=600d5b074eb8dd137f13a5ae7c2ee231
This was much cheaper for the second night, due to the DTM being over with, so the room came to about
£90 for the both of us.
Decent view over the main road too
View From Blau Ecke by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
After our laps, we went back to the town of Nurburg, and had a wander around by day:
BMW 3 Series Touring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Nurburg by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari F430 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari 599 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
We also stumbled across a DTM support race, when we found a door that was left open!
Nurburgring GP Race by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
I M Fan by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Nurburgring GP Race 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
We also had a walk down to the Casino:
Nurburgring Casino Entrance by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Mercedes CLK Black by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
And then on our walk back through Nurburg, a few more cars worth remembering
Chevrolet Pickup by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Nurburg 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Honda FD2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
BMW M550D OTR by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
One of Adenau, just before we left:
Adenau by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
BMW 3 Series by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
The roads out of the area are pretty awesome as well as the 'Ring itself!
Hairpin by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
As we were leaving we saw that the track was open for a pre-booked trackday, so we stopped and had a quick look around. Few more from the entrance to the track:
Porsche 911 Nurburgring 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Evo Nurburgring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini Gallardo by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini Gallardo Interior by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche 911 GT3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Callaway by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
BMW M3 GTS by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
After the Nurburgring, we left for Stuttgart, we decided to go through a town called Cochem, which had been reccomended to us by one of the guys at Sliders, well worth the trip:
Cochem by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Cochem 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Cochem 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Would have been nice to have stayed longer, but we needed to get moving to be in Stuttgart in time.
Got switchbacks?
Got Switchbacks by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
On the Autobahn, we saw signs for Hockenheim, and we couldn't resist, so off we went:
Hockenheimring by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Things didn't quite go to plan, and we got lost and ended up on a very dusty forest road that encircled the track, but we did find this memorial to Jim Clark, it was in the middle of nowhere, with nothing but a forest track leading past it!
Jim Clark Memorial by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Dusty Clio by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
On the way into Stuttgart we stopped in Sinsheim, at the Autotechnik centre:
http://www.technik-museum.de/
Cost for the museum was
£10, but we got it a little cheaper because we were only there for the last hour and a half, and it apparently takes 6 hours to go round everything.
Autotechnik Museum by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Autotechnik Museum 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Concorde by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Concorde 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Concorde 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Formula One by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
McLaren Mercedes SLR 722 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Speedster by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari F40 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini 4X4 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
F40 & Countach by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Countach by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Once in Stuttgart, we stayed at a hotel called the Golden Leaf, laughably cheap at
£30 for both of us, and it's about half a mile to the Porsche factory!
http://www.golden-leaf-hotel.de/en/stuttgart/hotel-hsz/uebersicht.html
The next day we went to the Porsche museum, entry is about
£5:
Porsche Museum by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 4 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 5 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 6 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 7 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 8 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 9 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 10 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 11 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 12 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 13 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 14 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 15 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 16 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 17 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 18 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 19 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 20 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 21 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 22 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 23 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 24 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum 25 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Next door to the museum, there is a Porsche showroom, which we had a wander around. Glad we did, as we saw a (probably) priceless Porsche tractor being driven through the showroom by one of the staff!
Porsche Showroom by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Showroom 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum Exterior by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Porsche Museum Exterior 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
We also went to the Mercedes museum, but due to time constraints, we decided to just have a look around the showroom, and as it turned out, the carpark too!
Mercedes Carpark by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Mercedes C63 AMG Estate by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Mercedes Showroom by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Transformers 3 E500 AMG by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Transformers 3 E500 AMG 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Our final destination, and the end of our south headed driving, was Zurich. We stayed in the Swissotel, in Oerlikin, about a 5 min train ride (
£5 for a 24 hour pass) from central Zurich.
http://www.swissotel.com/
Our rooom was on the 18th floor and had amazing views. The hotel was also a very very nice place to be, 14th best in Zurich certainly can't be bad
Cost of the room was around
£180, for both of us, for 2 nights.
First night, we had a walk around the city centre for a bit.
Zurich River Night by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
The next day we spent some time soaking in the heat, and the atmosphere of Zurich, which is a truly lovely city.
Zurich River Day by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich City Centre by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich City Centre 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich City Centre 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini Aventador by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini Aventador 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Lamborghini Aventador 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
We then stumbled across a classic car rally, this was one of the highlights of the holiday for me, some of the rarest cars on the road, all arrived just before we got there. We had a very good look around!
Classic Car Show by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Fisker by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 3 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 4 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 5 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 6 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 7 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 8 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show9 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show 10 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Classic Car Show11 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
We then headed out of the main centre and down the banks of the lake, where the real money of Zurich started to show itself!
Zurich Lake by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Aston Martin DBS by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich Mansion by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich Lake 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari California by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari In Zurich by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
View from our room:
View From Swissotel Room by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Ferrari California 2 by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Bikes At The Train Station by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
Zurich Lake Sunset by
Eddie the Kid, on Flickr
All in all, a fantastic trip, and I wouldn't think twice about doing it again. The Clio was perfect and didn't miss a single beat. 1900 miles, and it did 39.8mpg the whole way
Other costs:
Fuel was about
£160 each
Spending money about
£450 ish (for me, no idea what Jon spent)
Anybody thinking of doing something like this, just do it. I can't reccomend it enough, and if anyone wants to know anything, please feel free to drop me a PM or something.
Cheers for reading