April trip to the Sachsenring, Germany

[cake eater]

Hi,

I'm going to the Sachsenring with a couple friends in April. Rather hammer the autobahn in one day we're thinking of taking a couple days, stopping overnight in Cologne and taking the scenic route in between. Along with maybe just a little de-restricted sections where the autobahn is a little less congested with traffic

Looking for recommendations for:
1 - A place to stay in Cologne and somewhere to go in the evening.
2 - Fun scenic roads from Calais to Cologne to Sachsenring
3 - Quiet traffic free sections of de-restricted autobahn

Thanks
Cake

[Hoofty]

Can wade in on a bit of 1) - Cologne is a great place, although I've only visited without a car - and nice though Artotel is (down by the Chocolate Museum), it lacks parking. The best hotel may just be the one nearest the centre with parking.

What I'm a little more confident on is the evening. I can't be alone in delighting in the experience of German Brauhaus restaurants, and the Gaffel Koelsch restaurants are amongst the best in town. There's one in the old town (along with others, and the rest of the Altstadt is charming), but the huge one by the cathedral (Gaffel Am Dom) is worth the trek. It's never less than bustling but is always extremely well oiled, churning out enormous amounts of traditional food (the Schnitzels, goulash and Sauerbraten are fantastic, although the Schweinshaxe is spectacular) accompanied by as many of the diddy 20cl Koelsch beers as you can drink before you tell them to stop bringing them (by finally placing your beermat atop your glass).

God I miss that place.

[cake eater]

Hoofty,

Thank you, I will keep your suggestions at the top of the list.

Cake

[cake eater]

Okay, so far the plan is

Day 1: London to Cologne.

Day 2: Cologne to Paderborn and then follow this route - Dam buster ride
https://www.ride.co.uk/routes-content/north-west-g...
[url]

Day 3: Paderborn to Sachsenring via this route - Escape from Colditz ride
https://www.ride.co.uk/routes-content/eastern-cent...


Day 4: Sachsenring drift school and drive to Nurburgring

Day 5: Nurburgring training and trackday

Day 6 Nurburgring to London

I am just worried it is going to be a little too much millage, especially days 3 and 4.
Any recommendations?

[Hoofty]

cake eater said:

Hoofty,

Thank you, I will keep your suggestions at the top of the list.

Cake

NP Cake, should you and your friends prefer a more refined dining experience, I can also vouch for Wartesaal Am Dom, practically over the road from Gaffel Am Dom. It's a beautiful restaurant and a lot less bustling than the Brauhaus if that's preferable!

Ref the mileage (those plans look ace and I'd do them in a heartbeat) - are you and the others accustomed to longer trips? It's possible the sheer novelty of it all may mean you just don't notice. If not, an extra day could help you split some of the sections up a bit and permit hours out of the car to spend time absorbing some of the areas at a more leisurely pace. This is how we tackled an NC500+ route recently. Holiday allowance is definitely precious, but spending it wisely (as would be the case here) is never a waste.

Certainly jealous whatever options you choose!

[cake eater]

An excellent suggestion if the wives and girlfriends were on the trip. Bustling is perfect. Loud enough to cover the terrible Faulty Towers and "don't mention the war" jokes!

As for the group, it's three of us. Essex, Irish and Immigrant all go on a driving holiday to Germany is hopefully not the start of a bad joke!!

I try to keep driving to around 6 hours, max 8, two to 3 hour stints. That way if the night gets lairy we're not time pressured from a late start. Unfortunately dates are restricted so I hope we're not trying to cram in too much. I'm going to look carefully at the route and see what can be short cut if and when required.

No matter what, Paderborn to Sachsenring and Sachsenring to Nurburgring are going to be long days.

Thank You
Cake

[GroundZero]

Echo the reply above, 6hrs is plenty daily drive time on a holiday. Also 8hr max. if you are getting from Calais/Rotterdam in to Germany to get things started.

Your route looks great by the way. Always find driving in Germany to be an absolute pleasure, compared to the sorry state of roads we have in the UK.
And to finish at the Nürburgring, it will put the icing on the cake before heading home.

A good trick for road trips is to always try to add a bit more time to what you think you may need because there is nothing worse than having to rush around on a holiday and miss out on the relaxed enjoyment of the sights and sounds of your planned route. So whether this is planning to set off earlier in the day to start your daily drives, or whether it is to add another day to spread things out, both can work very effectively.

[pase18]

Hi Cake,

it´s Ingo from Germany and its my first post on PH after reading here for years...

First: it really is a cool thing that people driving all the way from GB to East-Germany to see our region and want to participate some events on the Sachsenring!

I live in Chemnitz, 10 km away from the Sachsenring here are my thoughts:

1) from Paderborn to the Sachsenring: take the route via Paderborn - Kassel - Eisennach - Erfurt - Chemnitz, because the A4 is a three-lane road mainly and you have a lot of unrestricted parts where can drive without much interruptions or traffic jams (at least from my experience).

2) Region Chemnitz - Zwickau - Zschopau is really famous for their history as birthplace of Audi, Trabant and some Motorcycle and bicycle manufacturers. The August Horch Museum in Zwickau is a place which you shouldn´t miss on your trip, if you are interested in older cars/ racing cars and history of car manufacturing in the GDR (german democatric republic).

3) Day 3: your route to Colditz is maybe not bad, but here are my experiences: the region north of the Autobhan A72 is populous, which means you drive from one village to another, which is fine if you want to see how normal villages look like in saxony. If you want to experience twisty roads and nature I highly recommend to explore the "Erzgebirge" ( eng. Ore mountains). From the Fichtelberg (hightes ountain) you have a really nice view to saxony and the Czech Rebublic. At least I enjoy the roads there with my Impreza Sti a lot nearly every week in the summer.

I think i can provide much more Informations if you need.

Best Regards
Ingo

[RizzoTheRat]

Quite a few German cities now have low emission zones so you'll need a green sticker do drive in. https://www.green-zones.eu/de/ is good for info.

[cake eater]

pase18 said:

Hi Cake,

it´s Ingo from Germany and its my first post on PH after reading here for years...

First: it really is a cool thing that people driving all the way from GB to East-Germany to see our region and want to participate some events on the Sachsenring!

I live in Chemnitz, 10 km away from the Sachsenring here are my thoughts:

1) from Paderborn to the Sachsenring: take the route via Paderborn - Kassel - Eisennach - Erfurt - Chemnitz, because the A4 is a three-lane road mainly and you have a lot of unrestricted parts where can drive without much interruptions or traffic jams (at least from my experience).

2) Region Chemnitz - Zwickau - Zschopau is really famous for their history as birthplace of Audi, Trabant and some Motorcycle and bicycle manufacturers. The August Horch Museum in Zwickau is a place which you shouldn´t miss on your trip, if you are interested in older cars/ racing cars and history of car manufacturing in the GDR (german democatric republic).

3) Day 3: your route to Colditz is maybe not bad, but here are my experiences: the region north of the Autobhan A72 is populous, which means you drive from one village to another, which is fine if you want to see how normal villages look like in saxony. If you want to experience twisty roads and nature I highly recommend to explore the "Erzgebirge" ( eng. Ore mountains). From the Fichtelberg (hightes ountain) you have a really nice view to saxony and the Czech Rebublic. At least I enjoy the roads there with my Impreza Sti a lot nearly every week in the summer.

I think i can provide much more Informations if you need.

Best Regards
Ingo

Hi Ingo,

Great first post and thank you very much for the detailed local knowledge!
I am definitely going to reassess the route given your insight.

Thank you!
Cake

[cake eater]

RizzoTheRat said:

Quite a few German cities now have low emission zones so you'll need a green sticker do drive in. https://www.green-zones.eu/de/ is good for info.

Perfect! Thank you

[cake eater]

GroundZero said:

Echo the reply above, 6hrs is plenty daily drive time on a holiday. Also 8hr max. if you are getting from Calais/Rotterdam in to Germany to get things started.

Your route looks great by the way. Always find driving in Germany to be an absolute pleasure, compared to the sorry state of roads we have in the UK.
And to finish at the Nürburgring, it will put the icing on the cake before heading home.

A good trick for road trips is to always try to add a bit more time to what you think you may need because there is nothing worse than having to rush around on a holiday and miss out on the relaxed enjoyment of the sights and sounds of your planned route. So whether this is planning to set off earlier in the day to start your daily drives, or whether it is to add another day to spread things out, both can work very effectively.

The more I look at it the more I think we need one more day just to enjoy the sights a little more

[cake eater]

pase18 said:

Hi Cake,

it´s Ingo from Germany and its my first post on PH after reading here for years...

First: it really is a cool thing that people driving all the way from GB to East-Germany to see our region and want to participate some events on the Sachsenring!

I live in Chemnitz, 10 km away from the Sachsenring here are my thoughts:

3) Day 3: your route to Colditz is maybe not bad, but here are my experiences: the region north of the Autobhan A72 is populous, which means you drive from one village to another, which is fine if you want to see how normal villages look like in saxony. If you want to experience twisty roads and nature I highly recommend to explore the "Erzgebirge" ( eng. Ore mountains). From the Fichtelberg (hightes ountain) you have a really nice view to saxony and the Czech Rebublic. At least I enjoy the roads there with my Impreza Sti a lot nearly every week in the summer.

I think i can provide much more Informations if you need.

Best Regards
Ingo

Ingo,

I would really appreciate some more detailed insight to routes you would recommend. Based on what you mentioned I have have added one day to spend in Saxony.
There is a road numbered the 283 that from google maps looks good



But I would rather have a route of your suggestion for this extra day. We'll be starting from Sachsenring and have to return there for the evening as there is a pre-event meeting for all drivers

[cake eater]

pase18 said:

Hi Cake,

it´s Ingo from Germany and its my first post on PH after reading here for years...

First: it really is a cool thing that people driving all the way from GB to East-Germany to see our region and want to participate some events on the Sachsenring!

I live in Chemnitz, 10 km away from the Sachsenring here are my thoughts:


I think i can provide much more Informations if you need.

Best Regards
Ingo

So I have been looking at https://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/g...

They have a couple recommendations

B95 south of your home town Chemnitz
https://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/g...

B101
https://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/g...

S216 following the border
https://www.bestbikingroads.com/motorcycle-roads/g...

I have made a loop to catch these roads and then return us to Sachsenring




Please let me know your thoughts and recommendations. Are the S marked roads too narrow for a couple of cars to pass each other with ease?
Cake

PS I did not make graffiti

[pase18]

Hi Cake,

that looks not bad.

In general S-routes are not to narrow for two cars. But overtaking can be challenging sometimes, especially with RHD cars. And you should be very careful regarding other bikers, cyclers etc. because visibility can be tricky due to the forest.

In my opinion, the B-routes are sometime too big and busy to have fun, because most of them are the only connection between bigger villages, but on those roads you can drive up to 60 mph.

Here you will find my suggestion:

From Chemnitz to the Fichtelberg (you can drive up to the top of the mountain, there is a parking space and a restaurant):


And then from Fichtelberg to the Sachsenring:


Btw: what are your cars? Small and sporty or more comfortable for long distances?

Best regards
Ingo

[Krikkit]

Hoofty said:

Can wade in on a bit of 1) - Cologne is a great place, although I've only visited without a car - and nice though Artotel is (down by the Chocolate Museum), it lacks parking. The best hotel may just be the one nearest the centre with parking.

What I'm a little more confident on is the evening. I can't be alone in delighting in the experience of German Brauhaus restaurants, and the Gaffel Koelsch restaurants are amongst the best in town. There's one in the old town (along with others, and the rest of the Altstadt is charming), but the huge one by the cathedral (Gaffel Am Dom) is worth the trek. It's never less than bustling but is always extremely well oiled, churning out enormous amounts of traditional food (the Schnitzels, goulash and Sauerbraten are fantastic, although the Schweinshaxe is spectacular) accompanied by as many of the diddy 20cl Koelsch beers as you can drink before you tell them to stop bringing them (by finally placing your beermat atop your glass).

God I miss that place.

I'm in Cologne for a couple of days in April, anywhere else you'd recommend? This has hit the top of the list as it looks fabulous.

[generationx]

Krikkit said:

Hoofty said:

Can wade in on a bit of 1) - Cologne is a great place, although I've only visited without a car - and nice though Artotel is (down by the Chocolate Museum), it lacks parking. The best hotel may just be the one nearest the centre with parking.

What I'm a little more confident on is the evening. I can't be alone in delighting in the experience of German Brauhaus restaurants, and the Gaffel Koelsch restaurants are amongst the best in town. There's one in the old town (along with others, and the rest of the Altstadt is charming), but the huge one by the cathedral (Gaffel Am Dom) is worth the trek. It's never less than bustling but is always extremely well oiled, churning out enormous amounts of traditional food (the Schnitzels, goulash and Sauerbraten are fantastic, although the Schweinshaxe is spectacular) accompanied by as many of the diddy 20cl Koelsch beers as you can drink before you tell them to stop bringing them (by finally placing your beermat atop your glass).

God I miss that place.

I'm in Cologne for a couple of days in April, anywhere else you'd recommend? This has hit the top of the list as it looks fabulous.

Cologne dweller here.

Do not miss a visit to the Dom (huge cathedral next to the river), it's spectacular.

Then after a walk over the adjacent bridge it's worth taking the €5 lift up to the top of the Köln Triangle (tall building on the east side of the river) for spectacular open-air views.

Trips on the river are a good way to see the city.

Food and drink? Well there's everything here of course, it's a city of a million people. The big brauhauses are worth visiting (I prefer Früh, Päffgen or Zims but they all have their charms) and we famously have thousands of bars, although unless you ask otherwise you will be served Kölsch (lager) until you beg for mercy. There's always plenty of other choices though. It's always good to eat in the brauhaus environment too, but whatever you want there'll be a restaurant to satisfy. There's plenty of places with outside areas too, so fingers crossed for some nice spring weather.

Drop me a PM if you want any details.

[Hoofty]

generationx said:

Cologne dweller here.

Do not miss a visit to the Dom (huge cathedral next to the river), it's spectacular.

Then after a walk over the adjacent bridge it's worth taking the €5 lift up to the top of the Köln Triangle (tall building on the east side of the river) for spectacular open-air views.

Trips on the river are a good way to see the city.

Food and drink? Well there's everything here of course, it's a city of a million people. The big brauhauses are worth visiting (I prefer Früh, Päffgen or Zims but they all have their charms) and we famously have thousands of bars, although unless you ask otherwise you will be served Kölsch (lager) until you beg for mercy. There's always plenty of other choices though. It's always good to eat in the brauhaus environment too, but whatever you want there'll be a restaurant to satisfy. There's plenty of places with outside areas too, so fingers crossed for some nice spring weather.

Drop me a PM if you want any details.

I defer to a knowledge much more rounded than mine! On reflection, I’ve only frequented the Gaffel brauhauses in Cologne, and managed to fill in the gaps with those from other cities - so do try them all if you’ve time!

[Krikkit]

Fantastic info thanks!

We're doing a train-based beer tour for my dad's 60th, we've got Brussels, Koln and Berlin in 5 days, lots of brewpubs etc to visit amongst the usual tourist stuff.

Apologies for derailing the thread!

[cake eater]

Krikkit said:

Fantastic info thanks!

We're doing a train-based beer tour for my dad's 60th, we've got Brussels, Koln and Berlin in 5 days, lots of brewpubs etc to visit amongst the usual tourist stuff.

Apologies for derailing the thread!

Hijack welcome! All good info