Germany Road Trip and the Porsche/Mercedes/BMW Museums
Discussion
I'm currently planning a road trip for early next year.
The wife has always wanted to go to Neuschwanstein Castle, so that is the furthest point, we're also taking in some of the chocolate box towns and the Moselle valley as part of the tour, along with Epernay for the champagne tours and stops in some of my favourite places in Belgium for beer (big loop - out through Belgium, back through France)
I've already factored in a couple of days in Stuttgart for the Porsche and Mercedes museums (arriving lunch time for Porsche one day, doing Mercedes the following morning, seeing a bit of Stuttgart and taking a break from driving for a couple of nights) but looking at the map, I'll be passing fairly close to Munich on the way from Bamberg to Neuschwanstein Castle.
How does the BMW Museum stack up against Porsche and Mercedes? Is it worth trying to persuade the wife to do another car museum? Not sure we'll be out that way again any time soon, our next road trip is likely to be the wrong side of the alps.
Also has anyone for any hotel recommendations near the Mercedes museum, other than the obvious Hilton Garden one that's 800 yards away? Somewhere with ample parking?
The wife has always wanted to go to Neuschwanstein Castle, so that is the furthest point, we're also taking in some of the chocolate box towns and the Moselle valley as part of the tour, along with Epernay for the champagne tours and stops in some of my favourite places in Belgium for beer (big loop - out through Belgium, back through France)
I've already factored in a couple of days in Stuttgart for the Porsche and Mercedes museums (arriving lunch time for Porsche one day, doing Mercedes the following morning, seeing a bit of Stuttgart and taking a break from driving for a couple of nights) but looking at the map, I'll be passing fairly close to Munich on the way from Bamberg to Neuschwanstein Castle.
How does the BMW Museum stack up against Porsche and Mercedes? Is it worth trying to persuade the wife to do another car museum? Not sure we'll be out that way again any time soon, our next road trip is likely to be the wrong side of the alps.
Also has anyone for any hotel recommendations near the Mercedes museum, other than the obvious Hilton Garden one that's 800 yards away? Somewhere with ample parking?
DeejRC said:
Why don t you do the BMW museum and suggest she enjoys Munich instead? She will be much happier.
That's unlikely to swing it unfortunately - we aren't really "city" people, much prefer the countryside when it comes to sightseeing so she'd be even more bored looking around Munich! Yeah I think the Porsche museum is half a day at best, but depending on how nerdy you are the Mercedes museum is a full day. Not sure on what days they do it, but when I went on a Sunday there was a car meet out front, some really nice metal there, not just Mercedes.
Parking in Stuttgart is a bit meh, you can park underground at both museums but at the hotel it was basically in a shopping centre and it was near 30 euros' a day.
Also in Stuttgart its self there are a lot of speed camera's not sure how or if they catch uk plates but the speeds change a lot so be warned. Unless you know this already.
Parking in Stuttgart is a bit meh, you can park underground at both museums but at the hotel it was basically in a shopping centre and it was near 30 euros' a day.
Also in Stuttgart its self there are a lot of speed camera's not sure how or if they catch uk plates but the speeds change a lot so be warned. Unless you know this already.
Went to Munich a few weeks ago, and Stuttgart a couple of years ago. Did all the museums.
BMW Museum good but not exceptional. Coupled with not much to do in Munich, could give it a skip. Would recommend Stuttgart over Munich.
Alternatively you could visit Salzburg. Very nice and ~1.5 hour train or ~2 hour drive from Munich. Lots to do and see, nice roads around, and lots of villages nearby to visit too.
BMW Museum good but not exceptional. Coupled with not much to do in Munich, could give it a skip. Would recommend Stuttgart over Munich.
Alternatively you could visit Salzburg. Very nice and ~1.5 hour train or ~2 hour drive from Munich. Lots to do and see, nice roads around, and lots of villages nearby to visit too.
SP_ said:
Went to Munich a few weeks ago, and Stuttgart a couple of years ago. Did all the museums.
BMW Museum good but not exceptional. Coupled with not much to do in Munich, could give it a skip. Would recommend Stuttgart over Munich.
Alternatively you could visit Salzburg. Very nice and ~1.5 hour train or ~2 hour drive from Munich. Lots to do and see, nice roads around, and lots of villages nearby to visit too.
BMW Museum good but not exceptional. Coupled with not much to do in Munich, could give it a skip. Would recommend Stuttgart over Munich.
Alternatively you could visit Salzburg. Very nice and ~1.5 hour train or ~2 hour drive from Munich. Lots to do and see, nice roads around, and lots of villages nearby to visit too.
The0perator said:
Yeah I think the Porsche museum is half a day at best, but depending on how nerdy you are the Mercedes museum is a full day. Not sure on what days they do it, but when I went on a Sunday there was a car meet out front, some really nice metal there, not just Mercedes.
Parking in Stuttgart is a bit meh, you can park underground at both museums but at the hotel it was basically in a shopping centre and it was near 30 euros' a day.
Also in Stuttgart its self there are a lot of speed camera's not sure how or if they catch uk plates but the speeds change a lot so be warned. Unless you know this already.
Thanks for the feedback both - we're due to hit the museums Thursday/Friday so there is unlikely to be any of the car shows unfortunately.Parking in Stuttgart is a bit meh, you can park underground at both museums but at the hotel it was basically in a shopping centre and it was near 30 euros' a day.
Also in Stuttgart its self there are a lot of speed camera's not sure how or if they catch uk plates but the speeds change a lot so be warned. Unless you know this already.
I've done Neuschwanstein 5 times, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW 3 times each, plus a Porsche factory collection once.
My view is that Mercedes is by a long way the biggest and best museum, Porsche is very good but a fraction of the size. BMW is not as good as either and I actually found it disappointing. There are many good cars, but it doesn't have great theming or the selection that it could IMHO.
That said I love Munich as a city, so if in the region would go there, but more for the city (and the Deutsche Museum) than for BMW.
My view is that Mercedes is by a long way the biggest and best museum, Porsche is very good but a fraction of the size. BMW is not as good as either and I actually found it disappointing. There are many good cars, but it doesn't have great theming or the selection that it could IMHO.
That said I love Munich as a city, so if in the region would go there, but more for the city (and the Deutsche Museum) than for BMW.
Guyr said:
I've done Neuschwanstein 5 times, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW 3 times each, plus a Porsche factory collection once.
My view is that Mercedes is by a long way the biggest and best museum, Porsche is very good but a fraction of the size. BMW is not as good as either and I actually found it disappointing. There are many good cars, but it doesn't have great theming or the selection that it could IMHO.
That said I love Munich as a city, so if in the region would go there, but more for the city (and the Deutsche Museum) than for BMW.
Thanks for the feedback - maybe Munich is one for weekend away as I am aware it has lots going for it - but flying rather than taking the car. My view is that Mercedes is by a long way the biggest and best museum, Porsche is very good but a fraction of the size. BMW is not as good as either and I actually found it disappointing. There are many good cars, but it doesn't have great theming or the selection that it could IMHO.
That said I love Munich as a city, so if in the region would go there, but more for the city (and the Deutsche Museum) than for BMW.
I’ve yet to see the BMW museum, but will visit Munich later in the year.
I’d echo the comments on Mercedes and Porsche museums. Porsche seem to have many more cars than spaces and rotate the stock. It’s a shame the local Porsche dealer moved from across the road. Last stayed in the Scandic Stuttgart which is fairly new. Parking underneath is good, but €25 a day (about the norm for there).
I’m planning to see the Loh Collection on the way.
I’d echo the comments on Mercedes and Porsche museums. Porsche seem to have many more cars than spaces and rotate the stock. It’s a shame the local Porsche dealer moved from across the road. Last stayed in the Scandic Stuttgart which is fairly new. Parking underneath is good, but €25 a day (about the norm for there).
I’m planning to see the Loh Collection on the way.
I found the Audi museum in Ingolstadt really good and it might be on the way? It gives a great overview of the four car companies that came together to form Auto Union. I really loved the Horch in there, fascinating cars.
If you're staying in Bamburg (and you should!) make sure you do the walk up the hill for a well-earned beer in Spezial-Keller. It's one of my favourite beer gardens in the world: has great views over town and the U-beer (pronounced "ooh" and short for Ungespundetes, which is un-bunged or naturally carbonated and fresh like a cask ale) is freaking delicious.
If you're staying in Bamburg (and you should!) make sure you do the walk up the hill for a well-earned beer in Spezial-Keller. It's one of my favourite beer gardens in the world: has great views over town and the U-beer (pronounced "ooh" and short for Ungespundetes, which is un-bunged or naturally carbonated and fresh like a cask ale) is freaking delicious.
We stayed at the V8 Hotel in Stuttgart. Granted it’s a taxi ride away from the Porsche and MB Museums but it does have a McLaren dealership in the foyer plus a Porsche dealer next door and a classic MB dealer on site too.
There are also various restaurants on the site including a mighty fine Italian and ample parking underground amongst all the dealerships stock.
Get one of the themed rooms if you’re feeling flush.
There are also various restaurants on the site including a mighty fine Italian and ample parking underground amongst all the dealerships stock.
Get one of the themed rooms if you’re feeling flush.
Child B and I did the Porsche and Merc museums in June as part of a wider tour of the homeland. Stayed at the EmiLu Design Hotel in Stuttgart - would recommend, has its own secure private parking and is very well located for walking around Stuttgart centre. We took public transport to the Porsche museum - faster than driving - but drove to Mercedes.
The Porsche museum is excellent, especially if you are a Porsche nerd as most of the exhibits are prototypes, concepts and racecars. It's much smaller than the Mercedes museum, but IMO more PH. Mercedes is a combination of company history and actual (German) history; almost all of the cars exhibited are production models and the racing history is weirdly limited compared to road cars. Part of the challenge is that they've been around longer and made far more distinct models than Porsche, so they really can't exhibit everything. The history aspect (the visit runs as a spiral from top to bottom with the cars on the inside and vitrines with historic documents on the outside) is fascinating; I think I spent more time looking at the vitrines than the cars.
Do have lunch at Chrisophorus when at Porsche - well worth it.
Also, when in Stuttgart, don't miss the Landesmuseum in the old Wurttemberg palace - although you'll likely reach saturation point before the end as there is a lot to see, and a fair bit of repetition, and fit in a visit to the Kunstmuseum for a fabulously concentrated tour of C20 modern art - like other very well-funded second city museums they have one really good example of work by many of the major artists (one Pollock, one Mondrian, one Rauschenberg etc).
The Porsche museum is excellent, especially if you are a Porsche nerd as most of the exhibits are prototypes, concepts and racecars. It's much smaller than the Mercedes museum, but IMO more PH. Mercedes is a combination of company history and actual (German) history; almost all of the cars exhibited are production models and the racing history is weirdly limited compared to road cars. Part of the challenge is that they've been around longer and made far more distinct models than Porsche, so they really can't exhibit everything. The history aspect (the visit runs as a spiral from top to bottom with the cars on the inside and vitrines with historic documents on the outside) is fascinating; I think I spent more time looking at the vitrines than the cars.
Do have lunch at Chrisophorus when at Porsche - well worth it.
Also, when in Stuttgart, don't miss the Landesmuseum in the old Wurttemberg palace - although you'll likely reach saturation point before the end as there is a lot to see, and a fair bit of repetition, and fit in a visit to the Kunstmuseum for a fabulously concentrated tour of C20 modern art - like other very well-funded second city museums they have one really good example of work by many of the major artists (one Pollock, one Mondrian, one Rauschenberg etc).
RDMcG said:
I would say that the MB museum is head and shoulders above any of the others(no 1933-45 vehicles understandably). The Porsche museum is very comprehensive but I find it cold and clinical. Still worth a look but you will get through it much quicker than M-B
Neither has tanks, sure, but Mercedes has 30s road cars, Silver Arrows race cars and wartime aero engines:Porsche is definitely much more coy about their role in the war. Some acknowledgement of the KdF Wagen is about as far as it goes.
Here is my take, went a while ago now, think it was 2019:
Merc museum - by far the best of the ones listed - its a mixture of history and cars, and they are not shy about saying what they did during the war - which I found refreshing compared to BMW who had a small corner about the war, and on a few plaques "this engine could of been built by a prisoner of war" they were very hush hush about it generally - similar to Porsche. For a part of history that wasn't nice, but it is a incredibly important part of modern life (just my view) I came away saying good for Mercedes in not hiding what they did.
BMW museum - tbh its 2 to 3 hours tops. Similar for Porsche. Not sure if they still have the 1 day ticket to see porsche and merc on the same day at a discount.
We liked munich - only stayed one night and did the tourist beer hall - 2 steins each - well worth it - stayed in a premier inn with underground parking it was a bit tight but had a golf r estate so not too bad.
Your trip sound great - we went from munich along the german alpine route - which is quite nice - stopped at a few stop points - and had a lovely run on the autobahn to the border. The german alpine route finishes near the castle you are interested in (I think) well we stopped the route there and then went up the autobahn to start our journey home. We stopped off as British GT were racing at Spa at the weekend.
Have a great trip - sounds like you will have a good one.
Merc museum - by far the best of the ones listed - its a mixture of history and cars, and they are not shy about saying what they did during the war - which I found refreshing compared to BMW who had a small corner about the war, and on a few plaques "this engine could of been built by a prisoner of war" they were very hush hush about it generally - similar to Porsche. For a part of history that wasn't nice, but it is a incredibly important part of modern life (just my view) I came away saying good for Mercedes in not hiding what they did.
BMW museum - tbh its 2 to 3 hours tops. Similar for Porsche. Not sure if they still have the 1 day ticket to see porsche and merc on the same day at a discount.
We liked munich - only stayed one night and did the tourist beer hall - 2 steins each - well worth it - stayed in a premier inn with underground parking it was a bit tight but had a golf r estate so not too bad.
Your trip sound great - we went from munich along the german alpine route - which is quite nice - stopped at a few stop points - and had a lovely run on the autobahn to the border. The german alpine route finishes near the castle you are interested in (I think) well we stopped the route there and then went up the autobahn to start our journey home. We stopped off as British GT were racing at Spa at the weekend.
Have a great trip - sounds like you will have a good one.
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