Rheinland Road Trip 2017

I’m writing this evening from back home in Cirencester, having completed my first German Road Trip.

Before leaving Germany, I drove for an hour (further away from the border) back to Brühl, to visit the bits I missed there on Sunday.

Drove up to the Dreiländereck – the point where the…

After checking out of my hotel in Aachen, I drove back to Brühl to visit the Augustusburg Palace, which I missed on Sunday. Did a guided tour of the palace and walked around the gardens.

There was quite a mixture of languages there – aside from German there was a lot of French, and also the local language Luxembourgish which has influences from both French and German and is quite weird to listen to!

Bernkastel was a great place to visit. It has lots of interesting buildings and narrow cobbled pedestrianised streets in the centre.

Germany’s oldest city!

Drove from Mainz in to the town on the banks of the Mosel – great place to visit!

I drove from the outskirts of Wiesbaden, over the bridge in to the centre of Mainz and then on to the small town of Bernkastel on the banks of the Mosel.

It wasn’t until after I’d crossed in to Bavaria that things started moving more freely and I was able to get up towards 90mph on an unrestricted section.It wasn’t until after I’d crossed in to Bavaria that things started moving more freely and I was able to get up towards 90mph on an unrestricted section.

Another video which partly includes Bavaria’s fantastic B roads. Driving through the rush-hour along the A3 from Lohr a.Main, past Frankfurt and its Airport, to Weisbaden the State Capital of Hessen.

Travelling on some of Germany’s busiest Autobahns, passing within just a few km of Frankfurt – of the largest cities (the 5th largest) in Germany – I spent a lot of time sitting behind numerous HGVs but the drive was worth it as the B roads in Bavaria once I left the motorway were amazing, and Lohr itself was an interesting place to visit.

Driving from Wiesbaden in Hessen to Hockenheim in neighbouring Baden-Württemberg. I was going to visit the Formula 1 race track – the Hockenheimring. This was on Germany’s hottest day of the year so far and temperatures peaked at over 30ºc!

Mainz is the capital city of Rheinland-Pfalz, while Wiesbaden is the capital city of Hessen. The two are almost right next to each other – with my accommodation for the next 2 nights being in Mainz-Kastell: A district of Wiesbaden just over the river from Mainz City Centre.

The fact that I am so close in to Mainz City Centre means I’ve driven further in to Mainz than I have ever done to London!

After driving up to the Loreley viewpoint, I drive back…

Drove up to the Loreley viewpoint. Many twists and turns in the road but I made it!

Driving from Rüdesheim to the Loreley viewpoint.

Crossed the border from Rheinland-Pfalz in to Hessen and spend a couple of hours in the town of Rüdesheim.

Driving for the first time in to Hessen, this drive takes me along the Rhine to the picturesque town of Rüdesheim.

There are 5 ferry crossings on the stretch of the Rhine between Koblenz and Rüdesheim. This short clip shows me taking the crossing to Kaub.

Taking the scenic route, not going on the Autobahn, would take longer – but more rewarding in terms of what I would be able to see from the car as the route followed the river valley the entire way.

Driving back along the Moselle and over the mountains to Boppard.

Spent some time in Cochem, on the river Mosel. Had lunch, a walk, and went up to the castle.

A lovely drive along the Moselle river valley, from Koblenz to Cochem via the B49.

I took the cable car up to the fortress – Festung Ehrenbreitstein.

I used the Seilbahn (Cable Car) to get across from the centre of Koblenz to the fortress.

The Deutsche Eck is the point at which the Rhine meets the Mosel.

Driving along the river Rhine from Boppard to Koblenz. The first day using only the local roads instead of the motorways.

A view along the Rhine looking towards the centre of…

Reaching my destination in Germany: the Rheinland-Pfalz region (hooray!)

Schloss Falkenlust, in Brühl, Nordrhein-Westfalen What I didn’t do –…

This leg of the trip took me through the Netherlands to the closest part of Germany to the UK: The start of the Autobahn A4 near Aachen. I stopped at the Schloss Falkenlust, just outside Brühl in NRW.

It took a while before it finally clicked that I was on the Autobahn, in an unrestricted section. What on earth was I doing trundling along at 120km/h – the speed limit of the Dutch A76!? I put my foot down and slowly increased the speed.

To put things in to perspective, I was doing at least 90mph at the start of the clip – and in the region of 100mph by the end.

Day 2: Bruges to Genk After last night’s late arrival…

After a visit to the Meise Botanical Garden, I drove to my second overnight stop near Genk, on the Dutch/Belgian border.

I stopped half way between Bruges and Genk at the Meise Botanical Garden, which is just a few kilometers North of Brussels’ version of the M25 – the R0.

My Rheinland Road Trip continues with a drive from the Belgan city of Bruges, West-Vlaanderen to the Botanical Garden in Meise, Vlaams-Brabant (just 4km outside the R0 “Ring Brussel”).

I checked out of the hotel this morning and went in to the City Centre of Brugge by bus. Wandered around the city and its narrow streets, over lots of bridges (thats what its name means).

After a 7 hour drive from Fairford on Friday night, I arrived savely in Bruges a few minutes before midnight local time (23:00 UK time).

Night time drive from the Eurotunnel terminal at Calais to Bruges – Velotel Hotel. Friday 12 May 2017.

I’ve now decided that I will not stop in Sevenoaks on Friday night before crossing the Channel on Saturday morning. My new plan is to continue straight through the tunnel on Friday night, making Bruges my first overnight stop.

The green sticker which is displayed in my windscreen is an emmisions sticker which shows that my car complies with European emissions regulations. It is valid for the life of the car and means that I can drive in to Germany’s “Umwelt Zones” – many larger German cities have them, as well as an increasing number of smaller ones.

2 weeks from now I'll be in Le Tunnel @LeShuttle to Calais at the start of my German road trip. #Boppard #Mainz #Trier #Aachen — Fred Hart (@FredOnTheRadio) April 29, 2017  

After several test runs – driving to Belgium and to the Netherlands – I really am going long distance now and I hope this will be the start of many years of motoring around Germany, trying to visit as many areas as possible.