SOUTHERN GERMANY
CAR FACTORIES & BAVARIA

Join Steve Austin on this auto-related adventure through the factories and museums of Southern Germany, with a healthy dose of touring. A busy nine-day program that journeys from Heidelberg to Stuttgart, Munich, and Salzburg. Along the way, visits to important car manufacturers, museums, and festivals. Luxury hotels, motor coach transportation, private visits, and the best restaurants bring you a superbly rounded trip. If that’s a bit serious? Well, this is also Fruhlingsfest, Germany’s raucous nod to the end of winter. We’ve thrown in two visits to the famous beer festivals in Munich and Salzburg. So pack your ‘lederhosen’, and your ‘dirndls’, and be ready to party (regular clothes are OK too).

April 27-30 Noon welcome at Frankfurt Mainz International Airport. A short coach transfer from Frankfurt to Heidelberg. Following a visit to the castle, our first get-together for cocktails and dinner at our hotel. We continue to Stuttgart with our highlight visit to Sinsheim, the World’s largest Technic Museum. Two full days of Porsche and Mercedes include factory and museum visits, plus a privileged visit to the Mercedes test track and their Specialty Preparation Shop. Also included is our evening visit to the spring festival ‘Fruhlingsfest,’ with a private bench in the popular Pauliner tent. Great food and beer with non-stop bands from ‘oompah’ to modern rock. For those requiring some peace and quiet and relaxation, the hotel also offers great choices.

May 1–3 Next three days in Munich and surrounds. Included is the BMW Museum and a tour of the BMW Dingolfing factory, the largest in Europe. In Ingolstadt, a visit to both the Audi Museum and the neighboring factory. Between these, we include visits to the Andechs Monastery, whose main financial support is, not surprisingly, sales of their famous ‘Weissbiere’ brewed on the premises. If you’re up for a second party evening, the Munich Beer Garden celebrates its ‘Fruhlingfest’ on the same spot, just on a smaller scale, of the World famous Octoberfest. For a more peaceful interlude, we tour one of the famous brewers of ‘hefeweizen’, the Erdinger Brauhaus’, always an extremely popular visit. In between our scheduling, we have allowed plenty of time to enjoy the center of Munich, its parks, and its shops.

Beer Garden

Mercedes Benz Museum

Erdinger Private Brew Tasting

May 4-5 Our final night’s stay will be in the magical locale of Salzburg. This small but vibrant city has established itself as one of the music and cultural centers of the world. While we have plenty of time to enjoy this, our main schedule is to visit Hanger 7, famously known as the Red Bull Museum. The contents are astounding from boats, planes, racecars, bikes, and a man jumping out of a balloon, well doesn’t everyone! Our final evening will be at a classic restaurant overlooking the city. On the morning of the 5th we depart for Munich, with our tour ending at its International airport by Noon.