Born and raised in Stuttgart.

What to do in the winter?

Try to stay warm otherwise not much else.

Garmish is fine, worth the ride.

Munich as well.

St Anton is great but Innsbruck is a better choice if it's your first time.

You could head SW from Stuttgart, drive around Lake Constance and hit Neuschwanstein in Schwangau then head NE to Munich, hit Dachau on the loop back to Stuttgart.

Head northwest and visit the Nurburgring...hands down the #1 stop for a car guy. When I return to Germany if even for a day...no way I would not try to get there.

Yeah it is!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349647999.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349648041.jpg

How many laps do you get for 95 euros??

4 laps. Here's the price list as of Sept.

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The track was supposed to open at 2pm the day we were there. We got there about 2.5 hours before, to try and get in before the hoards came out. The track opened at 1pm for some reason (not complaining). I was the 3rd car on the track. I basically had the track to myself for the first two laps.

Porsche factory tour is great. It's easy to get a reservation from the US, but I got one directly from the factory.

Be sure to drink Fuerstenberg wherever you see it.

Sweet! Is that you driving the Z4? I am trying to sell my Z4 M-Roadster right now. I love watching videos of cars going around the Nurburgring. We probably won't make it there on this trip as it will be a fairly short one (1-week only) and it looks like a long way away... Excuse for a return visit? I think so. :D

Mmmm.... Fuerstenberg.

I'd love to get to do a little skiing while we are there. For whatever reason (keep in mind I am a born and bred native Floridian), I can't water ski to save myself. But snow ski? I am right at home. Innsbruck sounds really nice. Will have to spend some time looking at what ski resorts are where to see if we can plan something. My wife has something like a 3-day conference right in the middle of the week, so we'll have free time before and after.

So, again thanks for the great suggestions and tips. How about a follow up question:

How to get around? I've been to different parts of Europe several times but never to Germany. In all of my trips, I have never rented a car... always used the rail systems wherever I was. Aside from experiencing the Autobahn and possibly driving something really cool that we don't normally see here stateside, do we really need a car? A cursory search looked like it wasn't necessary for getting around Stuttgart and traveling down to Munich... But if we head to the Alps?

Thanks!
Jeremy

You can easily spend more money and a lot more time dealing with public transp., especially for two people, than a rental car will cost per day. If you don't speak and read German, good luck. Sure, you can get anywhere on a train in Germany. But it's not cheap and you work on their schedule, not your own. Munich is very easy to get around by S-Bahn IF you know what you're doing and how it all works. Parking in Munich is pretty bad.

That's me driving. :)

Most assume that it's the Autobahn that has no speed limit, but actually, the rule is that there is no speed limit on any road, except when dangerous or construction, etc. On the way to my mother's home town, we were on a "two" lane country road and I spotted the famous grey circle with the lines through it. It would have been nuts to drive 250kph on that road and a number of others that had no restrictions.

Northern Germany will give the best opportunity to having long stretches of Autobahn that are unrestricted. Most everywhere else, it's hit or miss. My first day driving this past trip, I was restricted to 130kph for my entire time behind the wheel.

I finally got to do this, until I came flying up on a slower car, ending my bid to hit the speed limiter on the 330D at 250kph. :cool:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...95050469_n.jpg

LOL, excellent.

That is fantastic! Glad to see someone else took the picture for you :)

Shopping
 

I will be in Stuttgart in Oct, and saw your note re: the toy store near the MB Museum. Do you know the name of that store, or the shopping center that it is in?

The toy store I shopped at that had all of the miniatures is Kurtz, located downtown in the central Marktplatz. IIRC, the cars were on the 2nd or 3rd floor. Both the Porsche & M/B museums have nice gift shops as well.

Oh man bringing back memories.

When Racyrocks mentioned toy store the only thing that came to mind was Kurtz.

Spent way too much time in there as a kid.

Yes it's located in the Markplatz, 3 streets straight south of the statue in the Schlossplatz

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1349719813.jpg

I spent HOURS in that place....felt like a kid again. Can't remember how many Schucos I bought, there were so many Porsches, VW Beetles and VW trucks that it took me at least that long to go through them all. I have NEVER seen a toy store so packed with cool stuff!

I turned 48 last week.

Gives you an idea of how long Kurtz has been there.

One hint while in Kurtz: Use the stairs in the corner rather than waiting for the elevators!

THAN YOU, y'all! Now I'm really looking forward to Kurtz!! one last question: Is Kurtz in downtown Stuttgart, or closer to where ever the MB museum is located?