AMGsound

I'll try to make a long story short.

Ordered Macan GTS last December well ahead of time for EU delivery next summer (sometime in July) with my wife and the 2 boys!
Always been Zuffenhausen! After pickup, the plan was to drive down to Italy/Tuscany via Swiss passes, and enjoy a week there!
We got the date today. All good, it's in July!
But it's in Lipzeig........not exactly close by, or is it?

I'm told Lipzeig is a good delivery centre as it's always first booked, but wife and kids won't enjoy it at all if my understanding is good of the process there on track, etc? I don't track my GT3, so I'm not that much into tracking a Macan! Can't visit factory either I guess with kids under 12? Any other tourists highlights in the area, or it's "collect the vehicle and find a destination"?

It's putting a wrench in our plans (no, nothing booked yet, but lots was planned in my head!!)

What do you guys think? JUST DO IT? Or take delivery on this side of the pond?

24Chromium

i wouldn't sweat it! It's European Delivery and you'll still be able to do all that you wanted. You can always drive west to Stuttgart to do the museum and factory tour. Just get Jamie to set it up for you.

mb1

Maybe you've done the Google maps thing already, but here's what I came up with. Leipzig is about a 5 hour drive north of Stuttgart, not insignificant. The time difference in driving (via a direct route, not through Switzerland) to Florence from Leipzig vs. Stuttgart is about 3 hours difference (8 vs 11 hours). I'm sure that you know that you don't have to drop your car back off in Leipzig.
Your plan of driving with your children to Florence and back seems overly ambitious in such a short time. Doesn't seem like you'd have enough time to take a leisurely ride to Florence and then have enough time to enjoy Tuscany itself. We've traveled extensively (probably 10+ times each) with our two sons (now 16 and 21) to Europe. I know that my kids would not have enjoyed spending so much time in the car. My wife certainly would not have liked it. Have you considered Berlin? Prague? I don't want to bore you with details, but if you want more detailed travel advice, PM me. If you're an experienced traveler and know all of this already, I apologize for overstepping.

EDIT: Maybe I misread your timetable originally. Do you plan to drive down slowly and then spend a week in Tuscany?

917k

Leipzig is a very hip city, some have dubbed it the 'New Berlin'; and it's also close to Dresden which has some great history/architecture, which was re-built after the war's terrible fire bombing - seat of the Saxon monarchy - and a very interesting, and beautifully designed (anti)-war museum.
Not sure if you have heard of Meissen China, or if your wife would be interested, but that's also nearby.

You can do it. And can always drop off at Zuffenhausen.

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/20...the-new-berlin

http://www.mhmbundeswehr.de/facts

skuplist

Picking up my Spyder in Stuttgart and returning to Leipzig. Headed south thought the alps of Switzerland and Italy and into north east Croatia. Mideavil City of Motovun sits on the Top of the hill. Excellent hotel and B&B's. Anthony Bourdain did a show in a small restaurant in town. Big truffles area. Also it's Mario Andretti's birth place. He was born in Croatia. It was part of Italy back than. Than driving down the coast to the city of Dubrovnik. They just started filming the new Star Wars there last week. The drive down the coast is some of the best driving in Europe. Great hotels and food. English is spoken by most everyone.

AMGsound

Thanks guys, we're DOING it! 4 hours extra on the schedule is not the end of the world...
And the silver lining is that it'll be 500km extra on the clock when we get to Toscan hills where I'll be able to open it up since the break in will be pretty much done, according to my book!!
Yes, according to my research, Leipzig is indeed an interesting town. What do you guys think/know? Leipzig > Berlin, or the other way around? Keep in mind we're there with 2 boys 8 and 9 who know a little about history and will know more when we travel obviously!!

@mb1: the plan is to take a few days to drive down to Fizenre region, not straight.
It makes no sense. Spend a week in the region to be able to enjoy the car on those magnificent roads and enjoy life and than another leg up to Stuttgart to drop off the car but driving up via Switzerland to enjoy a few mountain passes!! We MAY look at dropping off the car in Rome but I'm really not sure about extra cost and all unknowns regarding drop off outside Stuttgart or Leipzig.

We did a nice road trip with every P car purchase. 1st 911: NYC, Philly, DC, Preakness, and back to Canada. GT3: Smokies 1st edition. Macan: EU delivery. Always one upping ourselves! Not sure what the next one will bring us! Love these cars! Very grateful to be one of the lucky few to be able to enjoy, like most on this forum!

24Chromium

Awesome!

Very interested to see if you can/will top this. I'll be in the same boat soon enough.

mb1

Berlin is a fascinating place to visit, but I'm not sure that it will appeal to 8 and 9 year old boys. Much of the tourism is based on WWII history and much of it is not very palatable. (Tower of Terror, Holocaust Museum etc). There are interesting Fat Tire bike tours that kids might like, but the themes are sophisticated. (Cold War- Berlin Wall, Checkpoint Charlie).

AMGsound

They saw the movie Bridge of Spies with Tom Hanks and really had a million questions about it and Cold War and, you know, 9 year old questions about crazy stuff they've never imagined the Human race could do.
We'll take some time to visit these museums and open air museum!

mb1

Great restaurants and architecture in Berlin also.

Need4S

Any concerns taking a Porsche into Prague?

mb1

If I decided to drive the car to any big city, I would find a nice hotel in a safe area, park the car there and not use it primarily to drive around the city itself. Despite living and driving extensively downtown in a big city (Chicago) I find driving in European big cities difficult.

AMGsound

The plan is now to "stay" in counties where the car was designed to be driven, Germany and Austria!!!
Early plan, not in order, but Berlin, Leipzig, Stuttgart, Black Forest, perhaps a bit of Alsace, Munich, some parts of Austria. Perhaps life will allow a drive in Italy with a car designed for those roads.... Ahahaha! even if I'm not sure I'd want an F car given the truely amazing performance machine Porsche builds!

^it is true that I can handle NorthAmerican big cities, but European cities are much more challenging from a driving standpoint. Anyone who's driven in Paris or Rome can understand that. I think our mind is just not used to seeing all these different circle, angles, tight streets, poor parking, bumping to get out of street parking, etc! I think Europeans are better drivers ON AVERAGE, just because of speed and discipline on highways, but in cities, it's a circus!!

user 83838290

Prague is nice and no issues there, but as recommended, park the car in a hotel garage and get around in taxis, uber or whatever.
I would hapilly ditch austrian cops and stupid looong freeway construction zones with 6ft lanes @ 80kph and try czech freeways. They can't put you in jail, can't and won't take your drivers license away no matter how much you speed, they can only forbid you to drive for the next 12 months. Max fine for doing 50kph over speed limit (or more) on a freeway is around $300. Unless you are really stupid towards the officer, you get off with less (maybe even just a warning) and in 5 minutes.
Now austrian cops are a different story and you can easily end up in jail and your car can be confiscated if you speed too much. They don't even have to provide a measurment from radar, the police can measure your speed "estimate" that is purely subjective.
Just my .02.