OK
- here's the plan:
Getting there
Probably the best way to do this is work back from arriving at Nurburg at say 4pm on Friday.
I'm already going to be in France/Germany then, so I won't be in the convoy travelling over to the
'ring.
Autoroute says its about 5 hours of driving from Calais
- so given that you'll need to stop for fuel and coffee/food, plus there may be a little slow traffic en-route near Brussels you're looking at about 7 hours from when you set off from Calais.
I'll post details of a suggested route later with maps.
Realistically, to get to the
'ring for 4pm means you need to take a
~7am boat from Dover which gets you into France just after 9am.
7 hours of travelling should get you through France, Belgium and into Germany an on to Nurburg for 4pm comfortably, allowing for a little slow traffic around the Brussels ring road.
Ferry Crossings
Out
: I'd suggest a 7am Seacat crossing, aiming to get you over into France for 9am.
When I last checked you could still book this for
£99.
Back
: I'd suggest going for a 6pm or 7pm ferry home, providing you don't have too far to drive back in the uk.
This allows you to stop for a couple of hours in Calais to head to the supermarkets or Wine/Beer places to stock up
To book, try:
http://www.ferrysavers.com
http://www.speedferries.com
I've booked in the past with Ferrysavers and haven't had any problems.
Speederries is a new outfit offering very cheap crossings
- worth considering, but you've got an extra 30 miles to drive back up from Boulogne to Calais.
If people are on different crossings, I'd suggest the best place to meet up is the first services you come to after you've crossed over into Belgium
- its a relatively new services, just after Junction 3 on the Belgian side of the road.
You should aim to be there for 10am
- its about 40 minutes drive from Calais.
Friday on Track
The Track is shown as opening at 5.15pm on Friday and should be quiet as it is a weekeday evening, allowing you to do some steady laps to re-familiarise yourself with the circuit and anything that may have changed since you were last there.
I realise there are a few of you are travelling a good distance in the UK to get to Dover.
If this is the case you could stay overnight on Thursday at the Travel Lodge at Maidstone Services on the M20
- that is only about 30 minutes from the ferries or Tunnel.
Alternatively, if you crossed Hull
- Zebrugge you could meetup on the E40 at the first services after Brussels at between 12 and 1pm.
Accommodation
Accommodation-wise, Koblenz is currently looking to be the only option.
I've checked hotel prices, and if you book online it works out at around
£35-37
(after a small discount) a night for bed, breakfast and parking in a hotel that apparently is in the town centre.
Its the same one as the folks used for the TOC trip at Easter.
Its about a 30-35 minute drive from there to Nurburg and back.
I'd certainly recommend getting to the
'ring first thing in the morning when the track opens as it is quiet
- this would mean an early start of about 7.30 from Koblenz to get to Nurburg.
I'll post up the details of how to book up the hotel later, and let you all book yourselves in there
- I appreciate others may want to stay at the campsite in Nurburg as it is closer/cheaper
- there's no problem with that.
