S2kRally

I decided to put this in "car talk" since most of S2Ki's most avid car enthusiasts go here, and because it is in fact about cars...

Has anyone ever planned a trip to Germany from the US? Specifically to the Nurburgring to take advantage of their tourist track days which you can take your own, or a rental car onto the track and drive the 'ring.

I was originally planning a trip to Hawaii, until I read on another forum someone took a vacation to Nurburgring ( from another country not USA) which got me thinking, why cant I? Im just looking for peoples experience on the track,dealing with booking a day on the track, in the area, or just in germany in general, or anything that has to do with booking, planning, cost, or being in Germany on vacation in general.

highwaystardoritos

I was going to do it this summer to visit my bother being stationed at in Germany.

Also the last week of June, the F1 races start at the Ring so it be two cool things to experience while over there.

S2kRally

Did you do any research on costs or anything else?

highwaystardoritos

only thing i researched was the International Driver License, which is about $15 bucks to get. Car rental and hotel was something my brother was going to take care of, military perks lol

S2kRally

Alright well I guess ill have to add 15 bucks to my budget! lol

Im already in contact with a company who deals in Nurburgring vacations, ill post my findings.

anyone else?

RickIsYoDaddy

what company are you looking at? I would love to do this also

nearwater4me

That's probably like the car enthusiasts' dream vacation.
Is it even legal to drive a rental on the 'ring? I doubt the rental agencies cover that type of insurance.

Dan

highwaystardoritos

why not? it's a public highway road that so happens be a race track lol

Driven

except most rental car companies specifically say you cannot drive their rental on the ring... they generally have GPS on the cars to confirm/validate.


I've done it about three years ago, and will be doing it again this year... but going with three friends. You can Renault Clio Cup cars if you're under 30 that they allow you to drive on the ring, but since two of us are old enough (over 30) to rent Porsches, we're doing that. The Porsches was around $500 for like an hour.

You don't need an international license... your state issued license is fine and will get you by, although an international license is more of a guarantee. It's really up to you though.

We booked our flights thru condor, it was about $890/ea, direct flight from Vegas to Frankfurt, however we're going mid August. Any later and you're running into Oktoberfest prices. If your brother is stationed in Rammstein, it's probably best to fly into frankfurt since it's not too far of a drive.

Have fun!

Edit:
Also, if you've never driven on a track before or have limited experience, don't try to be a superhero and drive the 'ring like you're a pro, just cause you done it on Gran Turismo. The track is very challenging and the videogame doesn't give you a true sense of the elevation changes, as well as the actual width of the track. You can easily find yourself in trouble if you're overdriving.

highwaystardoritos

oh wow, I didn't know that, but not surprised. Sadly I won't be going, my brother's deployment is soon and he can't get a solid vacation date due to it. So I'm going to try for next year when he returns back.