If you only had one week in Europe.....

[gt350mike]

We're planning on our first trip to Europe after my son graduates from high school and the family has a few ideas of where they might want to go (southern Germany, Switzerland, and Italy) but nothing concrete. To give you an idea of what we're thinking, everyone is a gear head (the wife is a semi-gear head) so doing a factory tour is on the list (BMW, Mercedes, Ferrari?), maybe going to the Brandenburg Gate, throw in a castle or two, checking out the southern German mountains and/or Switzerland, and if we can, go to Italy. Personally I'd like to travel at least one day or two days on the autobahn, one day in the mountains, and travel on the train for the remainder of the trip. Since this is a very diverse board, I wanted to ping everyone to see what y'all recommend for the trip.

[Dottore]

Oh man. Where to start?

Autobahns can be crowded and a PITA. The one from Basel to Stuttgart though is one of my favourites—and sounds like it is where you will be in any event. It will fulfill any "need for speed" that you have nicely. "SIXT" is far and away the best German car rental company for fast cars. Outlets at all airports etc.

Ferrari is difficult to get a factory tour w/o Ferrari ownership credentials. Porsche has tours. As do Mercedes and BMW. Porsche and Mercedes are close enough together that you can do both in a day if you organize well—but try to do this in advance.

There are some huge and very cool classic car dealers in the area as well:

1. ******** Singen - Singen (D)

2. Classic Garage - Toffen (CH)

3. Luzzago - Brescia (I)

etc etc. All very cool to visit.

I love the huge Bugatti museum in Mulhouse (France). If you do the Basel/Stuttgart autobahn its just a short detour. Giftshop has the best gifts for gear-heads you will ever find.

Please pm me with specific questions. We live in the middle of this area part time and know it well.

Dinner's on...

[Embraer]

fly to munich, drive to stuttgart (and complete required actions), head over to innsbruck, austria...then onto salzburg, and finish up in vienna. from vienna, you can check out budapest if you want, too...then fly back from vienna.

or....june 13th and 14th...see the 24 hours of le mans with a tour of germany on the side

[rouxroux]

Pfaffenhausen - visit RUF (stay in Mindelheim @ the Alte Post)...Drive to Stuttgart, go to Porsche museum/factory, Mercedes. Head up for a lap of Nurburgring if time permits... Munich-BMW....Head through southern Bavaria, do the touristy castles, then maybe Alpinestrasse into Switzerland, maybe down into Italy, then back up through Austria and make a stop @ "Eagle's Nest"...

[widgeon13]

I would go to Berlin, great city, then down to Austria around the Garmisch area. Lots of small towns to visit, beautiful scenery. Drive up to Stuttgart and hit the Porsche factory or hit Mercedes and BMW in Munich. Take the train and rent a car somewhere along the route to drive the autobahn for a couple of days. Lots to see almost anywhere you go in southern Germany (Bavaria/Bayern). Travel on the weekends is more time consuming due to traffic, during the week, not as much of a problem. Trains are very good as well.

I'm not big on France and Italy although Paris is fun if you have the time.

[Don Plumley]

Rent car from Sixt.
Nordschleife.
Drive across the Alps/Dolomites
+1 on Munich, Stuttgart (new museum, get advance reservation for factory tour), Austria.

If you follow this link you'll see some pictures of Munich and Austria:

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I'm not big on France and Italy

Oh my dear god! Seek help at once...

[HardDrive]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

I'm not big on France and Italy

???

Yeah, you wouldn't want to see Rome or Florence or anything....

[HardDrive]

Not sure if you have time, but Belgium is beautiful and relaxing. Love Antwerp.

[Stanley]

Never been there, but if I was planning on going to Europe I would definitely try and make to the Porsche Museum. It looks incredible.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by widgeon13

Travel on the weekends is more time consuming due to traffic, during the week, not as much of a problem.

This is incorrect. The best day for traveling is Sunday, as virtually all truck traffic is prohibited then. Sunday is absolutely the best day for long autobahn trips.

[Rick Lee]

Fly to Frankfurt, drive to Stuggart and then to Pfaffenhausen. That's one day there. I did it. Spend the night in Munich and drive to Gmuend the next morning. That's three huge Porsche shrines in two days. After that backtrack and take your time. Tons of stuff to see along the way - Berchtesgaden, Salzburg, Munich (could last you months by itself).

[futuresoptions]

Go do all your stuff and then go rest in Capri for a few days...

[Dottore]

The really low-stress alternative would be to go to Amsterdam.

Head straight to Mellow Yellow and buy yourself a bag of Katsu's Black Widow.

Then sit back and enjoy the best seven days of your life.

[Rick Lee]

Man, I got hit by a bicycle in Amsterdam once. Not low-stress navigating those streets.

[svandamme]

Originally Posted by Dottore

This is incorrect. The best day for traveling is Sunday, as virtually all truck traffic is prohibited then. Sunday is absolutely the best day for long autobahn trips.

depends, if you think about driving on a black weekend, don't
Those are the holiday weekends, and EVERYBODY is migrating from north to south, and get stuck in places with Tjams 50+ miles long, with annoying caravan towing dutch people next to you...

[Bill Douglas]

No one has mentioned Spain yet so I will. Great weather, great food, great beaches, and exellent people.

Next on the list would be Italy in my recommendation.

(Greece is fabulous too )

[widgeon13]

I enjoy traveling around Europe. Personally I don't enjoy France and Italy as much as I do Germany. The thread is titled "If you only had one week in Europe". I gave my opinion on what I would do if I only had one week.

Dottore, you said yourself the autobahn is a PITA, I'll stick to my position that the autobahn is not the place to be on a weekend if it can be avoided.

Sorry, If I offended the French and Italians. I go back to visit friends in Germany every year or so and we have such a great time I don't need to go anywhere else.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

1. London
2. Paris
3. Stuttgart
4. Florence
5. Rome
6. Prague
7. Barcelona

That'd be me though.

[RPKESQ]

Since I don't know how well you speak and read German, my advice for the first time visitors to Europe with just one week would be England. Numerous automotive venues (Goodwood, Beaulieu, etc.), no language problem, easy transportation abounds, castles, history, fantastic museums, good food and not crowded since the Pound took a dump.

One week is a very short time, but the 8 countries in 6 days type of trip is not worth the effort or the money. Spending your time running to the next place means you loose all the context and nuances.