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European Delivery and or Porsche Experience CenterThis forum to ask questions and get answers about collecting your Porsche in Europe or the outstanding Porsche Experience Center.
The previous days were the driving highlights. Today is more of a traveling day.
Woke up to a beautiful morning at Gloria.
Beautiful day
Beautiful sky
I checked the passes and saw that Klausenpass was open! Wife wanted to actually cross a pass and this one is on the way to the Deutsche Alpenstraße where we are headed.
We consulted Bernhard for directions and showed him the car. He was really impressed with the looks. We started the car to show him the exhaust and bid farewell.
Being a Saturday there were LOTS of convertibles, sports cars, Porsches etc on the way to the pass for the first open day of the season and a perfectly clear day at that. We saw several 911s of various model years and even some GT3s. People in Switzerland sure know when to hit the road for a fun drive.
The first half of Klausenpass from Altdorf going east ward is quite harrowing. You drive along the cliff with lots of blind corners and sometimes the road narrows to a single lane. The road is rough and gravelly at times. I got gas and a sandwich in Altdorf before heading up.
There is a cafe at the summit of the pass. I drove past the cafe to a parking area and stopped to eat lunch. It was snowy at the peak and there were even skiers.
The eastern half of Klausenpass looks like your typical fast mountain drive with great visibility. Lots of motorcycles and sports cars zooming up and down this side. There are turnoffs with great views.
Moving on we crossed Austria on the way to Germany. We stopped at the first gas station for a break and to buy a 10 day toll vignette which is essential for being in the German alps since sometimes roads are closed and the best way forward is to use the Austrian roads. We also found gas in Austria to cost 10-15% less than in Germany.
It was 80°F during this time and most of our chocolate melted =( and the liquor in the chocolate probably evaporated even though we kept the chocolate in a bag in the frunk. Only a side was melted so maybe some surfaces of the frunk are warm. Next time I'll need to keep chocolate insulated with clothes in luggage in the frunk. I tried a Durig cognac truffle today and it still tastes amazing though =)
We made it to Füssen and Neuschwanstein by 6:30pm. We took some photos by the “official Bimmerfest” Neuschwanstein photo spot. A couple was taking professional wedding photos there so we drove past and got an off-angle photo but the plus side is that we also got the Hohenschwangau in the picture as well. We didn't like the looks of Neuschwanstein’s huge parking lots and heavy traffic so we decided to skip it for a future non-car trip. We also wanted to make it our hotel in Ettal for dinner and we were projected to be there before 8:30pm.
Along the way they unexpectedly closed B17 which is part of the Alpenstraße. Lots of confused tourists including us had to turn back and figure out an alternate route. Google said it would now take 1:30 to get to our destination. The fastest route going south through Austria. The Navigon GPS took a route in Austria cutting through the mountains and projected it would only take 1:15 so we decided to go that route and headed toward Austria. When we turned off to cut through the mountains we saw an ominous sign in German saying Straßesperre. The Navigon had failed us again. This time we had no choice but to follow the Google directions. Thank goodness for free international roaming.
We travelled the rest of the way around Garmisch-Partenkirchen as the sky was getting dark. It was actually a nice drive with views of the Austrian side of Zugspitze. Traffic was light in our direction and the roads were twisty and smooth through the forest.
We arrived around 9pm at our hotel Kloisterhotel which is actually across the street from the Kloster. Unfortunately all garage spaces were taken and we had to squeeze into a spot in the lot. The entry to the rear parking lot with the garage is very uneven with a dip. Going across I thought, this is probably going to scrape. Sure enough it did. The way to get across is diagonally to the right across the metal grate. Oh well, the plastic lip is sacrificial right?
We were somehow upgraded to an apartment room in the rear building which was a huge unit with dining room, kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. It turned out there was parking right next to the apartment with smooth access but we had already parked and parking was tight anyway. In retrospect I would probably insist on reserving a garage space even though that is not their policy, given that my car is probably worth 4 times as much as any other vehicle in the lot.
We made it just in time for final orders at the Kloister restaurant. The Bavarian pork roast dish was very nice. The pork had a crispy strip of skin and the meat was moist and tender. It was served in some dark beer sauce with sauerkraut and a ball of potato flour “dumpling.” The prices were very comfortable as well, around 13-15€ per person. Such a relief after Switzerland.
I picked up my GT4 almost a month ago in Leipzig... just now finding my way into Italy from Slovenia, Croatia before that.
It sounds like you know the roads... but driving down to Split was about as far as I wanted to go, due to traffic... I'd rather have the time for Istria and Slovenia.
On that note... I also drove across Hungary and Romania, so my viewpoint might be skewed. ;-)
Slovenia is small, but gorgeous... after Ljubljana definitely hit Lake Bled and Vršič Pass... then down the Soca River Valley.
I'm now cutting across Italy, then France, Spain... and into the UK for Ireland & Scotland... not sure from there.
Safe travels!
Vršič Pass, Slovenia
Yes I plan Lake Bled also. Thanks for the recommendation of Vršić pass. I plan on also driving through Istria quite a bit.
Did you pick up a SIM in Europe for your iPhone? Does it work across different countries? How's the data allowance?
Company phone with international data plan & Personal phone with T-mobile simple choice which comes with unlimited international data in certain countries. It's limited to 2g speeds supposedly but good enough for Skype and maps usually.
Another beautiful sunny day. We decided to finally see a mountaintop in Europe having skipped the expensive ones in Switzerland. Zugspitze fits the bill. We had breakfast at the hotel and drove to the Eibsee parking lot. Some of the lots looked a bit rough so I picked one that had smooth entry/exit.
Bought a parking ticket for the day and a round trip Zugspitze ticket. We decided to take the cable car up. It goes right up the face of Zugspitze and you get views of Eibsee lake. It's much faster than the train but you're packed like sardines and have to stand the whole way up.
At the top you can find your way to the platform. The view is impressive on a clear day. You can see München on the horizon to the north. Closer in you see Garmish Partenkirchen and hills and valleys of the Bavarian alps. To the south you see peak after peak of snow capped Austrian Alps. The view up here is as good as any other. The resort is pretty much at the summit of the mountain. I'm surprised they built such a huge complex there. The German side has several ritzy looking restaurants and a cafe outdoors. It was freezing cold up there with strong winds even though it was t-shirt weather at the base. We took in the views and walked across to the Austrian side. There was only one cafeteria there and it was quiet so we decided to get lunch. My wife felt sick so we spent the rest of the afternoon there.
We took the Glacier cable car down to catch the Cogwheel train back to Eibsee and while the train is nice with seats, it takes forever and spends most of the time in tunnels or forest so you don't see much of anything.
My wife still wanted to see the Highline 179 suspension footbridge so we crossed into Austria, got gas at the border gas station which happens to be the cheapest of our trip at 1.18 for 98 octane. We parked at the base for the Ehrenberg runes and walked up. It takes 30 minutes to get to the bridge. You can buy tickets to cross at the bridge for 8€ per person. It takes about 7 minutes to cross. It does wobble a bit and the floor is a grate so don't look down at the valley and highway beneath you!
The bridge affords great views of the Ehrenberg castle ruins. The castle is right next to the bridge so we explored the ruins. There were two other couples there having fun. The castle has great views of two different valleys but apparently it suffered from some serious strategic weaknesses, which is why it is a ruin today. By the time we got down it was 8:30 and we had to rush to the Fussen area where we found a casual Italian restaurant Taverne beim Olivenbauer by the lake that was open until 10pm for dinner. Thank goodness for tourist oriented restaurants in touristy areas.
We then found our way around the closure back to the hotel. The wind was picking up so I insisted on getting the garage for the car and the reception staff relented and gave me the key.
Wife now has a full blown cold =(. The good weather has come to an end and now it's raining quite hard.
We visited the Ettal abbey and bought some gifts. Tried to look at the distillery but wasn't sure how to get in.
Since it was rainy we decided to visit the famous churches.
Wieskirche is touristy. There's even a kiosk with pay toilets. It's famous as a great example of rococo style with florid design and pastel colors. Series of paintings on the walls. Famous for main altar with statue of scourged Christ. Outside it is set in a farmyard with cows and horses grazing nearby.
Welfenmunster in Steingaden has free parking and free wc. It is surrounded by a church graveyard. Only one other visitor inside church. Outside is a cobblestoned square with a statue fountain of Welf, the sponsor of the church in 1100. It's sort of a hidden gem with its solitude.
Drove to the Seestüberl cafe by Walchensee so I could drive by the area on B11, gps coordinates 47.632521 11.353701 with 11-12 hairpin turns up and down the hill. It was very wet but I could imagine it'd be very fun in be dry.
Took the main route to Berchtesgaden because it was pouring rain. The rain was washing the bugs off the car.
We stayed at the Alpenhof. It is a super nice hotel with amazing food, service and sauna at a reasonable price. I reserved a carport which was nice. The lot can get crowded as it is a popular hotel. Reception is super courteous and offered to bring our luggage to the room for us while we went to get dinner because it was nearing closing time. The pool is heated to a nice temperature. And the sauna includes outdoor cooldown area, a steam room, a Uv tanning room, a foot bath, and resting rooms.
Any one toured the original Porsche location in Austria. Private Porsche museum located on the site where the first cars were made. Hope to stop there next month.
We went there around 4/26. Nice museum. There is only one small remaining building from the original Porche factory, but it gives you the idea of how entrepreneurial the company was in the beginning. I love 908s and the museum had a good example.
Sorry for the wife feeling ill, hope she feels better soon.
You've been performing a bucketlist high energy trip and I'm seriously envious but since I've never done this before I must ask:
- Were you the least bit worried about other driver's in a foreign country?
- Did you put any wrap on the paint before taking delivery?
Sorry for the wife feeling ill, hope she feels better soon.
You've been performing a bucketlist high energy trip and I'm seriously envious but since I've never done this before I must ask:
- Were you the least bit worried about other driver's in a foreign country?
- Did you put any wrap on the paint before taking delivery?
Thank you and happy travels!
I was worried about driving on the autobahn but you get used to it pretty quickly. Most drivers are pretty good. The Germans, Swiss, and Austrians are pretty good although the Swiss drive fast on their tiny little roads and slow on their autobahn. People tend to cut into the opposing lane during turns as well.
What scares me the most are traffic circles but you get used to feeling out whether someone is heading your way or exiting earlier. Downshift to second, prepare to stop if someone is in the circle or preparing to enter. If no one is there, just slow down to make the turn and go for it. Two lane traffic circles are also confusing. The lane is sometimes labeled where you need to go. For example the through highway may be the left lane / inner circle.
I did curb both rear wheels. =(. One in a parking lot and the other exiting a traffic circle. Sometimes the lane narrows really fast in the middle of a turn. European road planners love their curbs. I drove over a curb exiting a roundabout with a curve at the end into a narrowing road. The center divider wasn't a good indication of the curve of the right curb. Things like that may be why Europeans often drive over the center line. Although some Europeans take traffic circles pretty fast, I don't think it hurts to take it slow and make sure you clear all unexpected curbs.
We did the full front xpel kit with Schwabenfolia and also rocker panel kit.
05-24-2016, 08:39 AM
Day 9: Klausenpass on the way to Ettal, Germany
