KEZ06

So I am taking my son who is graduating from college in May and my FIL to LeMans to watch the 24 hours then going to the Nurburgring to rent cars to drive it. I was thinking of renting from APEX there near the track based on Lou's recommendation from his prep runs at the ring. After, then going to the 3 German auto factory tours and then on to Italy for the 2 auto factory tours there. So, I am looking for any tips on how to maximize the experience. Any advice is appreciated.

edge04

take me!

GoatHead

WOW, what a graduation gift. Be careful on the Nurburgring and buy all the insurance you can.

360Lemans

PM sent

KEZ06

Replied

synner

You've got the Porsche and Mercedes Benz museums in Stuttgart that are also interesting. There's far more to do than just auto factories/museums in Germany and Italy so it depends on what maximizing your trip means to you, your son, and duration of the trip.

KEZ06

Yes we are going to do the Porsche, MB and BMW miseums:tour. As far as so much else to see that is what I am interested in getting input on even though this is going to be a gearhead centric trip. What would you suggest as a must see item?

synner

Cologne and Munich are both great cities. Cologne and Ulm have awesome cathedrals. Heidelberg is a cool town with a really nice castle, riverboat lunches and tours, lots of shops. Esslingen has great markets if it overlaps with any sort of fest. Lichtenstein and Hohenzollern castles are both famous. Burg Trifels is a nice out of the way castle with great roads in a national park surrounding it. Nuremburg has a good amount to do. I really don't like Stuttgart, more of a working city than a fun city with historic stuff to see and do. It was also bombed a crap ton due to the industrial base so that may have something to do with it. Most of the American war memorials are in the Belgium/France region but there are a number of concentration camp museums/tours within Germany. Eagles Nest is a cool historic item. Neuschwanstein Castle is probably the most famous. I don't like Paris, dirty and very expensive. If you really branch out then Prague is awesome.

Sorry I'm not familiar with Italy.

'Shifter

Stelvio Pass in Italy...

ponycar

I would recommend considering starting the LeMans trip using Angers as a base of operation. Angers is amazing and did not get destroyed during the war. The castle is mind boggling.That will have you entering the track from the Southern entrance via shuttle. Get grandstand seats to use to relax and if is hot or raining, and to provide comfortable seating. get seats NOW. Seats are very inexpensive relative to any USA concert. Anyone who says to not waste money on seats because you'll be walking around or that you can sneak in once the race starts is an idiot. Use the actual LeMans site not a 3rd party vendor. I recommend seating with a view of the Dunlop bridge, across from a big screen. Choose seats that are far enough away from edge of cover to provide shade/ rain shelter. Seats in Tribune 12 Benoist for example are reasonable. The virtual views once signed up on the web site will allow you to choose wisely. Use high speed train to get to LeMans not local train. I have PMed you. email me. ponycar

MR Turco

I did the Ring, Stuttgart (Porsche, Mercedes, Ruf, and Novitech), and Monaco GP a few years ago. Drove from Frankfurt airport and then dropped the car off in Nice and flew back out of Milan. Happy to help with any advice, feel free to PM me.

Mrsideways

I did an Overseas Delivery on a car 5 years ago and drove the ring. My advice... if you go on a day when its a tourist day all day, get there at the crack of dawn when it's opening. I got 3 laps with next to no traffic before 9:30 am. Let my wife do a lap, then I did a 4th at like 11am and it was just constant yellow flags and cars everywhere.

RichieRichZ06

Definitely rent from Apex and take some Taxi rides with them. Robert, the owner is a good friend of mine and will take really good care of you. As you mentioned, Lou was really glad that he took my recommendation to go visit the guys at Apex.

rlogan

My son and I will be at LeMans as well. I need to hurry up and get our tickets.

KEZ06

I did get my seats already. Come to find out we will be going in the weekend before lemans b/c Nurburgring is closed for its race the week after lemans. It screws up our route some. I will text/email/call sometime this weekend.

tw78911sc

Lemans is one of the very best auto events you can ever attend. I've been to almost every track/race on the east coast, Sebring is closest in nature to Lemans, but the variety of people, food, sites and level of fan knowledge is next to none, The only bummer, there is no fan interaction with garages like USA, but then they do have scrutineering in the middle of town for all to watch. You can have mid 90's in the day and about freeze at night. The cathedral in Lemans is next to none