Summer 2015 European Grand Tour

[Miglia 888]

Hi from our Summer 2015 European Grand Tour, taking in some of France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, and Hungary.

We're in our huge W251 R320L CDI Sport, which is absolutely perfect for crossing continents in supreme comfort & quietness, at speed.
First class luxury & space with even more legroom & luggage capacity than E-class estates, so loads of room for four of us flying first class with heaps of suitcases in the back for more than 2 weeks away.
Not a sports car, but rides & handles better than most big MPV's or big SUV's, while totally rock solid & stable at twice the UK limit on the autobahn.

Weather is superb, and I'll post updates on our progress in the R below, as we make our way around our Summer 2015 European Grand Tour.

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 1 - Home / Bruges / Cologne

No delays at all at the Eurotunnel thanks to a cunning approach route, and trains departing every 12 minutes
Delicious Flemish Stew for lunch in Bruges market square, then relaxed cruising at 100mph once on the autobahn to Cologne.
Arrived early for dinner in Cologne...

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 2 - Cologne / Hamburg

Superb free classic car show over by the Rhine on Sunday morning.
120mph autobahn-ing to Hamburg - the natural cruising speed for the R - 3000 rpm in 7th gear, with further reserves of oomph available whenever required.
Averaged 21mpg for this leg - not bad imho, given the huge rate of progress and approx. 2.6 tonnes all-in weight fully laden with the family & heaps of luggage repeatedly being accelerated up to 120 after passing slower traffic.
147mph briefly seen on the sat nav - feels like a genuine 155 is on with an empty autobahn.
Arrived early again for dinner, in Hamburg...

 

[Miglia 888]

SL & 3 series ancestors

 

[Miglia 888]

Sunday morning classics in Cologne - NSU 1000 with SL190 behind, and an Alfa Romeo Montreal in the far background

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 3 - Hamburg / Berlin

110mph autobahn-ing over to Berlin. Easier to maintain a slightly lower cruising speed in the traffic, with 24mpg overall for this leg as a result, despite sevral miles tagging along with a single occupant 320hp A6 Bi-tdi quattro estate making good progress through the traffic - those bi-turbo diesels really can shift quickly thanks to their 8 gears, 650Nm, & 700kg less weight than we're currently hauling...

Arrived early for dinner, again...

 

[Miglia 888]

Covering big distances without drama in a fraction of the time on the autobahn, is a true pleasure in a suitable car such as the R.
Shame that our UK motorway speed limit was imposed when most cars couldn't manage much more than 70mph, and their brakes were equally poor.

 

[Miglia 888]

Loving being in Berlin for a few days again - a great city with so much history, and a unique vibe like no other.

 

[Miglia 888]

Berlin sightseeing, then returned to find a tiny Danish Mondeo parked next to us

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 6 - Berlin / Dresden / Nuremburg

120mph autobahn-ing down to Nuremburg, via Dresden for lunch, averaging 23 mpg over this leg, despite tagging along with a white 997 C4S (with green wheels...) which was pressing on nicely averaging 130-ish and helpfully parting the Red Seas of Audis ahead of us, until it turned off.

Arrived early for dinner, again...

Quite warm down here in Germany atm - 38 degrees this afternoon, with 40 degrees on the way over the next few days...

 

[Miglia 888]

CLS in Berlin

 

[Miglia 888]

Lunch in Dresden - delicious goulash!

 

[Miglia 888]

Nuremburg sausages - in Nuremburg

 

[Miglia 888]

SL500 with an unusual colour & mods in Nuremburg

 

[st13phil]

Nuremburg sausages - in Nuremburg

If you have time, I recommend a visit to the Documentation Centre at the old Nazi Rally Grounds.

 

[Simon_M]

Curry wurst, that is the future!

 

[Miglia 888]

If you have time, I recommend a visit to the Documentation Centre at the old Nazi Rally Grounds.

Not enough time to go inside the Documentation Centre this time, but another amazing structure which we will definitely revisit in future.

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 7 - Nuremberg / Auffach
120mph autobahn-ing down towards the east of Munich initially, until the increasing Friday afternoon traffic density and associated 80mph variable limits brought an end to the high speed cruising, so we averaged 25 mpg over this leg overall.
Thanks to the great Euro exchange rate and much lower euro-diesel price, that's equivalent to getting 33mpg back in the UK
And we still arrived early again...
Cooler up here in the Austrian Tirol beneath the 2,200m Schatzberg - only 30 degrees this afternoon at 870m, however 37 degrees awaits again in Vienna tomorrow...

 

[Miglia 888]

Did have enough time to visit the one and only Norisring motor racing circuit in Nuremberg this morning though, and its Zeppelinhaupttribüne looking over the rally grounds at the start/finish line
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norisring

 

[Miglia 888]

Day 8 - Auffach / Vienna
Lunch up on the Schatzberg mountain where it was 5 degrees cooler than below in Auffach village, then back down into Germany for some gentle 90mph autobahn-cruising and then through Austria to Vienna, averaging 30 mpg over this leg overall.
Arrived to 37 degrees in Vienna...
Delicious, real, Weiner Schnitzel, in Wein!