Best of South Germany Tour
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ome discover Gemany’s most beautiful sights from behind the wheel of Germany’s most favorite sports car: the Porsche 911. We offer a unique vacation experience or corporate incentive by combining a passion for luxury sports cars with the love of the beautiful German countryside, rich history and legendary Autobahn. Our luxury tours are designed exclusively to the needs of affluent travelers. Our passion is to provide a one-in-a-lifetime experience. Travel along the high-speed Autobahn and cruise through amazing landscapes filled with historic sites. Experience the rich local culture and spend your evenings in first class luxury hotels. Wind your way through mountain ranges and valleys filled with wineries and vineyards. Our guided tours offer you the ultimate driving experience.
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he Best of South Germany Tour combines the most beautiful spots of our tour plus some extra adrenalin rush from driving on a Formula One Circuit. a
You will drive your super sports car to the northern end of the Roman Empire to where the first automobile was built and driven.
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Take some high speed drives to Neuschwanstein Castle via the Black Forrest.
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Feel the acceleration on the Autobahn heading up to Rothenburg and to Heidelberg to see Germany’s most famous castle from the Romantic period.
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Experience the ultimate driving experience to be driven by a professional driver on the Hockenheim Formula One Circuit.
No words can describe the emotions you will feel.
Photography by Arne Klempert
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njoy our exclusive Porsche pick up service at the Frankfurt Airport which will take you to the Schlosshotel in Kronberg.
Castle Friedrichshof (today the Schlosshotel Kronberg) was built in 1889 and is overflowing with hospitality and charm, reflecting the liberal attitude of its creators. This amazing spirit still exists today and gives the Schlosshotel Kronberg its unique atmosphere. After a delicious lunch, you will be introduced to your Porsche 911, where the adventure begins
The 5-star luxury hotel in the Taunus lies above the picturesque small Taunus town of Kronberg in the middle of an impressive park next to an 18-hole golf course. As a golf resort and luxurious country hotel, the Schlosshotel in the Taunus is loved in equal measure by golfers, gourmets and people who appreciate art and traditional values. The Schlosshotel Kronberg, that is also a Golf resort and castle hotel is owned by the Landgrave and Princes von Hessen, has since 1954 been a grand hotel of the first order. Built under commission from Empress Victoria Friedrich and completed 1893, Schloss Friedrichshof is today one of the most impressive German castles and offers its guests living history to touch and feel. Exclusive furnishings and an impressive collection of antiques and paintings from the private estate of the mother of the last Kaiser convey the authentic ambience of a castle from imperial times. www.schlosshotel-kronberg.de
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ee Roman castles from their northern borderline, push your sports car up to the highest point of the Taunus and enjoy a magnificent view of the sunset.
Conquer the Koenigstein's castle ruins before returning to the Schlosshotel to enjoy a dinner fit for kings.
Königstein Fortress, the “Saxon Bastille”, is a famous historic mountaintop fortress near Dresden, in Saxon Switzerland, Germany, near the town of Königstein. The fortress, which for centuries was used as a state prison and which is still intact, is one of Saxony’s foremost tourist attractions, with 700,000 visitors per year. The first reference to a castle at Königstein is from 1241. At that time the region was split between the Kingdom of Bohemia and the Bishopric of Meissen. To delimit the boundary running between the two states, King Wenceslaus I established the castle which controlled the Elbe valley above Pirna. A castle since the mid-13th century situated on a prominent isolated rock in the “Saxon Switzerland” region, it originally belonged to the Kings of Bohemia, passing in 1408 to the Dukes of Saxony. Between 1516 and 1524, it included a monastery (Celestines), but it always remained a stronghold and a fortress with its own garrison; the fortifications were always updated and enlarged to meet the latest requirements of arms technology.
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his day will be a special treat in which we take the Autobahn and head down to Stuttgart, where we’ll learn about the history of Porsche. In Stuttgart, we will tour the Porsche museum and enjoy a lunch within the presence of automobile splendor.
The successful record of Stuttgart’s sports-car manufacturer – Porsche is both the smallest independent German automaker and the world’s most profitable automaker – is based on decades of experience in automotive manufacturing and in motorsports. The history of Porsche sports cars begins in 1948 with the legendary Type 356 “No. 1,” but the conceptual basis of the brand is the result of the lifelong work of Professor Ferdinand Porsche (1875–1951), which was continued by his son Ferry (1909–1998). About 80 vehicles and many small exhibits will be on display at the new Porsche Museum in a unique ambience. In addition to world-famous, iconic vehicles such as the 356, 550, 911, and 917, the exhibits include some of the outstanding technical achievements of Professor Ferdinand Porsche from the early 20th century. Even then, the name of Porsche stood for the commitment never to be satisfied with a technical solution that fails to fully meet or exceed all of its requirements, including opportunities for further improvement. www.porsche.com
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e will then head over to the Mercedes Museum, where you will see the first automobile ever built.
The Mercedes-Benz Museum is the only museum in the world that can document in a single continuous timeline over 120 years of auto industry history from its very beginnings to the present day. On nine levels and covering a floor space of 16,500 square meters, the museum presents 160 vehicles and over 1,500 exhibits. As a place of innovation, it also demonstrates that history can point the way ahead. The exhibition not only presents the fascinating history of the Mercedes-Benz brand, it also affords illuminating insights into the future. This dual function is also reflected in the architecture of the Mercedes-Benz Museum, designed by the UNStudio of Dutch architects van Berkel and Bos, Amsterdam. The building’s interior is inspired by the double helix structure of the DNA spiral that carries the human genome. This in turn illustrates the Mercedes-Benz brand’s philosophy of originality – to continuously create radically new products to advance the cause of human mobility. During a two-hour tour of the exhibition, visitors experience a unique journey through automotive history. Transported by lift to the uppermost level of the museum, the visitor arrives back in the year 1886, where two museum tours gradually spiral their way down through the extensive collection and back to the museum exit. The first of the tours consists of seven Legend rooms which narrate the chronological history of the brand. The second tour groups the wealth of vehicles on display into five separate Collection rooms, which thematically document the breadth and diversity of the brand portfolio and collection. The visitor can switch from one tour to the other at any time. Both tours finish at the banked curve entitled Silver Arrows – Races & Records. The exhibition is rounded off by the Fascination of Technology display, which offers a glimpse into day-to-day work at Mercedes-Benz and also presents topics concerning the future of the automobile. www.mercedes-benz-classic.com
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rom the Mercedes Museum, we’ll take a short drive to Tuebingen, a city with Germany’s youngest population. We’ll enjoy a lovely swabian dinner in the historic town center.
The university town of Tübingen has witnessed almost a millennium of history, with the castle, the historic Old Town and the medieval buildings of the different institutes. In 1078 Tübingen was mentioned in writing for the first time, and in the middle of the 13th century Tübingen achieved town status and civil liberty under the Palatine Counts of Tübingen. The city arms show the tripartite banner of the Palatine Counts; around 1514 the deer antlers of Württemberg were added. Towards the end of the 15th century Count Eberhard im Barte founded the university with the slogan “attempto” (I will attempt it) To date, the city is energized by the complementary connection between history, civic community and university. ---from www.tuebingen.de
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e’ll be hitting the Autobahn again to take a drive to the Black Forest, where we’ll enjoy the beautiful landscape and its curvy roads. Feel the traverse acceleration when pushing your car up and down the mountain roads.
The Black Forest region (‘Schwarzwald’) is essentially known for three distinctive features: its highlands, scenery and woods, the typical Black Forest Gateau (‘Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte’) whose success is based on tasty cherry schnapps and the traditional cuckoo-clock. The name black forest was quite accurate in earlier times, when the forest was impenetrable though profitable wood, silver and ore were the foundations of the Black Forest’s inhabitants comparable wealth. When the wood trade began to falter clock-making stepped in and has been a successful industry for the Black Forest ever since the 17th century. Another famous feature of the Black Forest region are the traditional hats with their enormous pompoms called ‘Bollenhut’. They are particularly distinctive among Germany’s traditional costumes. The hat is famous all over the world even though it was originally worn in only three parishes of the Black Forest region and on special occasions only. The Black Forest region is blessed with a particularly rich mythological landscape. It is said to be haunted by werewolves, sorcerers, witches and the devil in differing guises. Helpful dwarves try to balance the scales. ---from about-germany.org
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rom there we will be heading towards the magical Neuschwanstein Castle, built in 1884 and the blueprint for the Disney castle.
Neuschwanstein Castle is Mad King Ludwig’s magnificent and most famous castle. This is also the castle that Walt Disney patterned his theme park after. With its turrets and mock-medievalism, and its interior styles ranging from Byzantine through Romanesque to Gothic, Germany’s number one tourist spot is a real fairy-tale fantasy come true. Neuschwanstein is perched high on a hill overlooking both the border town of Schwangau and its sister castle, Hohenschwangau. --from letsgo-europe.commany.org
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e will then be heading north to stay in Ulm for the night. Here you will have the opportunity to climb up the world’s tallest steeple.
Ulm is the home of the largest cathedral in Southern Germany. This magnificent work of engineering and architecture holds the world’s tallest church spire at a height of 161m. Many people mistake Cologne’s Dom as the highest church in Germany (and in Europe) and indeed that church is massive, but Ulm is actually taller (see the list of churches at the bottom of this page for comparison). Work began on this cathedral in 1377, and was carried on in intervals until 1545. It took another 300 years to get finished, when work began once again in 1844 and the cathedral was finally completed in 1890. Today this giant Gothic church measures an astounding 464 ft long and is 159 feet wide. The massive interior has the capacity to hold 30,000 people. - from letsgo-europe.com
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e will continue our drive up north to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a town of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It’s known for its well-preserved medieval old town and as a destination for travelers from all around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City.
After a walk through the historic center and a typical regional lunch, we’ll be hitting the road again heading to Heidelberg.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany, well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City. Traffic-reducing measures are in place in a significant fraction of Rothenburg. Rothenburg has appeared in several films, notably fantasies. It was the inspiration for the village in the 1940 Walt Disney movie Pinocchio. Also this place become a popular tourist destination of Japanese because of the animated film “Sugar a little snow fairy” where the main character lives in Rothenburg. It was also the location for the Vulgarian village scenes in the 1968 family movie, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
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he Heidelberg Palace is Germany’s most famous castle ruin. The ruins of Heidelberg Palace rise up on a terrace of the Königsstuhl protruding toward the Neckar river valley, offering magnificent views. Dinner will be served in one of the palace’s magnificent dining rooms.
Heidelberg is the very image of romantic Germany. This beautiful German city is the home of one of Germany’s most visited castles. This red sandstone castle is perched high atop a hill overlooking the cobbled streets of downtown Heidelberg. From the castle, you can see the city below spread out in a panorama of red tiled roofs, cathedrals, and plazas. The city is perfectly situated on the banks of the Neckar River with an accompanying pedestrian bridge over the waters below the castle. There are several ways to ascend the hill to reach the castle. The most popular of which is to climb up the 315 stairs from the base of the hill up to the lower castle entrance. You may explore the garden outside the castle walls. The castle garden wraps around the castle and provides a spectacular view of Heidelberg castle hanging on the edge of the hill above downtown Heidelberg. From the inner courtyard of the castle you can see most of the remains of the old castle halls. Each wall is dotted with equisitely carved statues and stone facades. In addition, a grandiose balcony overlooking the city below is a short walk away. Heidelberg castle also houses the world’s largest wine vat. This monstrosity takes up an entire room in the castle cellar and has a capacity of 55,000 gallons. -from letsgo-europe.com
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ou will spend the night at the Heidelberg Suites, your home in the heart of the most romantic city in Germany. Overlooking the Neckar and situated next to the “Old Bridge”, every room is provided with a magnificent view of the castle and the altstadt, or “Old Town”.
The Heidelberg Suites are not just a hotel. They are your home in Heidelberg with timeless elegance and spacious rooms within a fantastic setting. The view of the castle and the quiet murmur of the Neckar in front of the door are part of this setting as well as a personal all-round service, a wellness area complete with a sauna and a steam bath, a fireplace and breakfast lounge with the cosiness of a living room and a spectacular rooftop terrace. Also included are rooms for business meetings and private events. A wonderful garden with nice quiet spots underneath old trees and in between grapevines emphasize the exclusiveness of this hotel. www.heidelbergsuites.com
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n the morning, you will have some time to discover the historic town of Heidelberg and all its charms. We will then take a short drive to Hockenheim, a small town famous for its magnificent Formula 1 Grand Prix Circuit. You will experience the ultimate thrill of driving within the RaceTaxi on the circuit. Here you can take the car to its limits and hit the corners with a speed impossible elsewhere.
The Hockenheimring is one of the most modern racetracks in the world – but also one of the most steeped in history. Take a virtual journey into the past and discover, era by era, the exciting history of the Hockenheimring. www.hockenheimring.net
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fter the adrenalin settles, we’ll have lunch and head back to Frankfurt.
Our stop in Frankfurt will be Villa Kennedy, a luxury hotel in the city center, nestled just off the south bank of the Main River in a beautiful setting on Kennedyallee. Villa Kennedy offers a wonderful combination of tradition and innovation.
The Villa Kennedy is a luxury five-star hotel in the centre of Frankfurt nestled just off the south bank of the Main River in a wonderful villa landscape on Kennedyallee. A wonderful combination of tradition and innovation, the hotel’s three newly constructed buildings are built around the traditional 1904 Villa Speyer, setting the stage for this luxurious downtown retreat. Guests feel instantly at home in the Villa Kennedy’s minimalist deluxe 163 bedrooms and suites where the furniture and lighting have been explicitly chosen to make guests feel truly comfortable. The picturesque central inner courtyard makes Villa Kennedy an escape and meeting place in one. With its elegant and refined atmosphere the hotel’s restaurant, GUSTO, leads onto the courtyard garden which provides a wonderful setting to meet and dine during the summer months. The Villa Spa comprising an indoor pool, gymnasium, sauna, steambath as well as eight treatment rooms offering a range of health and beauty treatments is a tranquil haven with relaxing views onto the attractive spa garden. Close to the hotel is Frankfurt’s residential area, Sachsenhausen, with its bustling bars and restaurants. Furthermore Frankfurt´s many museums are easily accessible. www.villakennedy.com
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inner will be held in the historic town center of Frankfurt.
Before heading back to the Villa, we will stop at Sachsenhausen. With its bustling bars and restaurants , it’s the place to celebrate our tour with an Aeppler. This regional specialty is must, and simply impossible to describe. Our American friends loved it when we served it in New York.
Sachsenhausen was founded as Frankfurt’s bridgehead in the 12th century. Unlike Frankfurt’s own historic city center, which burned to the ground after British bombing in 1944, Sachsenhausen’s old town is partly preserved. The River Main embankment hosts the city’s largest flea market and some of Germany’s best-known museums; it is also called the Museum Embankment (or Museumsufer). Sachsenhausen is known for its vibrant nightlife sporting over two dozen bars, taverns and restaurants in the southern part’s old town. The main street of Sachsenhausen is Schweizer Straße, a cosmopolitan boulevard with bars and two of Frankfurt’s most traditional cider houses, Zum gemalten Haus and Wagner.
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fter a delicious breakfast, you can use your time for some shopping before our personal service will take you to the Airport.
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For enquiries about Get Your Way Tours or to become a registered reseller of our tours, please contact: The Lilian Raji Agency (646) 224-1144 getyourway@lmrpr.com http://getyourway.lmrpr.com