UK to Hockenheim travel tips?

[firewalker]

Getting Funny Car fever and after a bit of KBs patois at the weekend I'm thinking of going to the Nitrolympx for the first time in August.
http://www.nitrolympx.com/ looks a very informative site - if you can read German, which I can't.

Anyone done the trip from North Blighty before to offer some traveler advice?

I'm fine with driving on the wrong side of the road as long as the steering wheel is on the right side of the dash.
I'm fine with using an airline if I know where to land - and know what to do when I get there!
I'm even fine taking the train right through (but train ticket prices scare me way more than flying!).

Driving:
It seems there is a campsite available on the website, so far so good.
Haven't been on a ferry for years, any good deals from Hull or Newcastle for a van?

Flying:
Best airport, presumably nearest? Thinking of onward travel by train to hotel...
Nearest hotels? Again travel to the venue is then to be considered.

Train:
Long shot, but I'm all ears if it's an option.

[Tet]

I flew to Frankfurt Hahn (because it's where Ryanair went) and hired a car to drive from the airport to the track. But to be honest, you're probably better off going BA to Stuttgart. I booked a hotel in the town (from memory, the Ramada, but I could be wrong about that), which was fairly convenient for the track.

[topfuelgb]

Hi
Tet is about spot on.
The camping at the track is VERY rowdy so if you like being kept awake its fine
As for places to stay there are MANY great campsites close by, cheap quiet and a lot of them by a lake too!
Be sure to check out the technical museum in Speyer which has a space shuttle, 747, jet car and rico's 2 seater tf in it!
http://speyer.technik-museum.de/en
Flying if you can from Stansted the closest airport there is Baden Baden with Ryanair, about 45 mins away or Hahn as Tet said.
Car hire can be/is very cheap in Germany too.
No gen admission, just grandstand seats but that's easy to figure out.
Any specifics by all means pm.

Darryl

[Tet]

topfuelgb said:

Be sure to check out the technical museum in Speyer which has a space shuttle, 747, jet car and rico's 2 seater tf in it!

Also the related Auto & Technik Museum in Sinsheim, which is fantastic.

[Jon C]

If hiring a car, dont forget the Alamo deal :-)

[WJM]

I did it Ryanair to Frankfurt Hann { which is nowhere near Frankfurt incidentally} and stayed at the Holiday Inn Hieldberg which was fine , about 10 miles from the track and easy to find. I agree about the campsite, it's full of bikers and looked "very lively ". Car parking is easy and there are lots of grandstand seats though the good ones near the start get full especially as you get to the "night show" on Saturday. I hired a BMW 1 series which was great but had lots of funny features to do with starting which took some getting used to !

There is a ferry from Hull to Zeeebrugge {and another to Rotterdam} every night if you prefer to drive. In the summer it will be over £300 return for a car including a cabin but I've done the journey several times on the Euroclassic and quite like it. It's more or less motorway all the way so driving on the wrong side is less of an issue. The ferry is overnight and leaves at 7pm so you need to be on at 5.30.

The facilities at Hockenhiem are good and the drag race only uses maybe 10% of the whole complex

[firewalker]

Thanks very much for all the valuable tips folks, it's helping me get a plan together.
I've done a fair bit of ferry/drives in that part of the world from just about every port, weighing up diesel & ferry costs against a flight gives the airlines the edge though, not to mention driving time.
Rough and ready campsite crack is fine by me but maybe not with long haul drives thrown in and I don't want to make a long break of it!
Thinking of talking some mates in the NL into it with the added bonus of blagging a lift!
Any more suggestions feel free in case that plan falls down!!!

[WJM]

If you are getting a lift from NL you can catch the ferry as a foot passenger which is a lot cheaper though how it compares with a flight from Leeds/Bradford or Hull to Amsterdam I don't know.

[firewalker]

WJM said:

If you are getting a lift from NL you can catch the ferry as a foot passenger which is a lot cheaper though how it compares with a flight from Leeds/Bradford or Hull to Amsterdam I don't know.

Very good point, will weigh it up. The overnight ferry lark eats into work time a bit though.
Local airport is either Durham or Newcastle, both do flights to Amsterdam though no cheapies.
As long as the destination is en route or 'near enough' though it won't really matter where it lands so maybe there's other options.
Hoping to get a nice easy plan together first time and hopefully stick with it for future trips.

Hotels anyone ??? Prices and stuff. Rooms must have bed, walls, floor and roof.

[WJM]

There is actually a hotel built into the grandstands at the track though I imagine thats always booked up on a race weekend. I only knew I was going a few days in advance and by that time all the hotels in Hockenhiem itself were booked up as well, nearby is Speyer {with the mega transport museum} and Hieldelberg { which is where the Student Prince was set and is a bit of a tourist place]. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Hielelberg which was fine, right on the motorway and was reasonably smart, from memory it cost about £60 a night for the room. It's a fair way out of Hiedelberg itself though I found that after a day at the strip all I wanted was something to eat and a few beers ! The olympics was on anyway which gave plenty to watch at night !

My tickets were free last year but I was stuck in A at the wrong end of the strip miles from the paddock, try to get C/D which are reserved. You can stand behind the start on the route to the paddock which is a great view { like the SPR barn} but it's not very comfortable over a long period. The place gets very full on Saturday as the night show approaches, it was less busy on Sunday , mind you hardly anybody was running then when I went !

[AutoManics]

What do they charge for spectator entry to the track?

[firewalker]

For anyone elses benefit,

Stuttgart is the nearest airport & shortest train journey at just over an hour. Flights from Manc are cheap enough on Jet2 at about £120-£140.

Ryanair go to Frankfurt Hahn on the cheap.

Dusseldorf may be an option with a 3-4 hour train ride (2 changes) for about 60 Euros return, cheap flights there from Leeds/Bradford I think.

Maybe this will help somebody out.
Still investigating watch this space...

[Burndown]

I would add that the camping is not just lively, it is complete carnage.

If you plan to sleep don't camp there, it's a game competitive sound systems for the entire weekend.

[Jon C]

Bump.
Any advance on this? Mid-life crisis tugging away. Tempted to sling stuff in the car and drive out.

[MotorPsycho]

The three times I've been to Hockenheim we've driven

Ferry from Dover to Calais then through France, Luxembourg, Belgium into Germany. If you like a drive you can do it in one hit! We stopped near the border in Germany the last time though.

Definitely worth going!

[firewalker]

Must admit let this one slip, but if this summer continues I'm not writing the idea off.

Ideally looking for:

Cheap flight from a Northern airport with an easy enough connection to the accommodation.
Nearby accommodation, again nothing flash but with easy access to the track (taxi, walk, cadge a lift).

Last resort:

Drive/sleep in my van Pod-style. Heck of a run though, and likely to be on my Jack Jones in that case.

Any tips welcome.

[NitroWars]

PM JonC and share the driving and expenses... No spooning in the van at night though!

[Jon C]

Wow. Well worth it guys.