2011 Round 11 German Grand Prix Nürburgring attending Spectators' Guide

[hyphen]

I searched a bit here and maybe it's because F1 hasn't been to Nürburgring since VSC gor the Euro F1 GP, there's no thread on getting to the track. Is car the only option?

I've looked at the Nürburgring site ( http://www.nuerburgring.de/events/mo...fos-tipps.html ) and they have shuttle buses from Koblenz ( http://www.nuerburgring.de/fileadmin...201%202011.pdf )

These buses go 60Km from Koblenz with the last at 09h30 departing, not the greatest for after a Saturday night out in Germany.

Is there any resource here pointing to transit to Nürburgring for F1 and any possible hotel tipps?

_h

(this is a repost as my original from 36hrs ago went poof!)

[bella]

i did the gp at the nurburgring 2 years ago, so hopefully this should help a bit...

firstly, traffic around the nurburgring is a nightmare. the shuttle will take i reckon about 90-120 mins at the least, so a latest departure on sunday morning of 8.30 is definitely the latest you'll want to be at the circuit.

hotel tips: first stop should be booking.com, koblenz has a good selection. i can recommend any of the accor chain hotel brands though they tend to get booked up first. personally i camped at the circuit which if you're into that sort of thing is pretty wild and entertaining. people bring artic truck trailers and put a living room inside them, sound systems suitable for small festivals, etc. bogs are pretty grim, but you get what you pay for in that respect.

weather: take everything to the circuit. there's almost always a fairly cold wind, so take a good coat. it will rain. that's non-negotiable i was there 2 weeks ago and it rained on and off for 2 days straight, and struggled to go above 10-12'c.

if you're planning to stay in the middle of koblenz or somewhere with easy access to nightlife then having a car may be a pain for parking. but it is the best way to get to and from the circuit to be honest.

[hyphen]

hi Bella, many thanks for your post. I only needed a bit of push to make some decisions on my side for hotel and transport. Nürburgring has so little infrastructure, it reminds me of Mosport (cannot arrive unless by car). What they don't say for arrival is that the highway exit is jammed, the next 20Km on the regional road is a snail's crawl. Lucky we had enough in the car to manage alternate routes via gps.
Sunday our group had an alternate route and things were smoother. Also I rode the moto Sunday so I could bypass all the traffic and cruise 60Km/hr from the autobahn ramp to the circuit parking.

Take the car was definitely the way to go, we spoke with people about a 2hr bus ride from Koblenz...

We took a smaller hotel east of Koblenz for two nights (90EUR/night for 3persons in room). After Qualifying, the only F1 events were at the circuit complexe. Koblenz, Koln or Bonn appartently did not have any F1 showcases or street party. This can be a disappointment for F1 tourists.

& the weather: end of July and it was freezing, the merch stands were doing great business selling winter coats!

The Senna movie was playing a the Nürburgring cinema but a german dubbed version.

The Nürburgring complexe was a surprise - such a modern mall building, I wonder why there's controversy to stop funding it?

I would like to visit again next season for F1. Our seats were at pit exit just after the startline.

If future readers have first time spectators guide questions, just PM me.

_h