Green Hell, Nordschleife, Nürburgring the names are many but this story is about how three Indians got to the Mecca of road racing tracks using only public transportation. The Nordschleife is one of the most dangerous tracks in the world and we wanted to experience it first hand. What better way to experience it than in a BMW M3 from Apex racing.How freaking cool was that!!!!!!!!!! But we had to reach the track first and sometimes life can easily throw a curve ball at you. This is the story of our hellish ordeal to the Green Hell.
First up, Nürburgring is situated in the middle of nowhere. We were travelling from Paris to Nürburgring and we had to reach our destination by sun down( I always prefer to reach my place of stay before sunset). We had booked an apartment via booking.com. When we were planning this trip, I tried finding a bus or a train to get to the track. Strangely, nothing showed up on the apps. Then, I started searching for buses to nearby towns and found that Kelberg, a town around 8 km from the track had bus services(yaay). The last 8 km can be hiked easily. So how to get to Kelberg was the next question. So I started searching for cities close to Kelberg and found that Koblenz was the largest and closest city. I found this out by combing through online posts, asking questions and looking up at the maps. Nobody knew how to get to Nürburgring via public transport. It was either drive your own vehicle or rent your own vehicle. I wasn’t going to give up so easily. I spent days tracking down the routes from Koblenz, Bonn or even Koln to Kelberg(even though we narrowed it down to Koblenz, it is good to have a backup plan). Luckily, I found there were trains and buses connecting Koblenz to Kelberg. We decided to get a local train to Wittlich(an hour’s journey) and then a bus to Daun(another hour’s journey) and then another bus to Kelberg(another hour’s journey) and then hike the rest of the way( approximately another 2 hours of hiking). I discussed it with Krishna and Naveen in the whatsapp group and it was fine with them too. So everything is nice and dandy up to this point.
We started our journey from Paris, the city of love. We got the TGV( specifically booked the TGV and not the German ICE. 200 kmph is simply not fast enough) from Paris to Mannheim and then get a slower DB train to Koblenz. I was searching for car pooling to the track or Kelberg at least and found one ride that offered 3 seats. Thanking our lucky stars, I booked the ride. The car pooling option was attractive because it was definitely cheaper, faster(1 hour journey in total compared to 5 hours of buses, trains and hiking) and also we would get to experience the autobahn. The shorter travel time was the most lucrative aspect.
We started our journey at around 5:45 am ( I love waking up in the morning and starting a trip) from our Hotel to the Paris train station. We bought some snacks and boarded the train. The train journey was amazing as it passed through the beautiful french countryside. One thing about the TGV was it showed the current speed at regular intervals and we were awed to see the speedometer north of 300 kmph. Inside the train, you don’t feel the speed as it mostly passes through the countryside and it is difficult to gauge the speed with respect to the hills in the distance. An exception to this is when another train passes by and you feel the reverberations through the train. When that happens, it makes your hair stand on end. I was starting to feel sleepy and slept most of the journey while Naveen was up looking outside the window taking photos and videos.
We arrived at the Mannheim station without a hitch and waited for our train to Koblenz. The DB app had said that the train would be crowded. Come on, all of us were from India and in India a crowded train means a whole another thing. But when the train arrived, we were surprised to see that the train was actually crowded and there were a lot of people waiting to get in too. This might be a small inconvenience but nothing major. We quickly boarded the train and tried to find a place that we could stand comfortably. So, we are moving from coach to coach searching for a place that would accommodate all three of us. After searching for five minutes, we gave up. We also did not have reservations on the train. That is when we noticed that the train hadn’t moved. Strange. Soon, an announcement came over the PA system telling us that the train is over crowded and some people should disembark. Since we had no reservations and our blablacar was in the evening, we disembarked from the train. For this, we were rewarded with 30€ coupons to be used when we book in Deutsche Bahn the next time. We waited for the next train and the next train came after two hours. Still, more than enough time to get to Koblenz and our ride to the track.
Travelling to Koblenz via the train showed us the beauty of the mountains and the valleys. The river winding along, beautiful mountains on either side, lush green valleys. It was a sight to behold( I do recommend everyone to take this trip if possible). This was mid September and the weather was simply too good to be true. We enjoyed the train ride to Koblenz a lot. While on the train, I received a message from blablacar. The guy had cancelled our ride without any intimation. Horror of horrors. Now, we were in dire straits. We had to do a 5 hour journey and starting from Koblenz at 2:00 pm would put us at Nürburgring only at 7 pm. This was not good but there was no other way. Krishna put forward an idea of getting a rented car and I was dead against it. Driving a car in Germany would be a totally different ball game. I did not want to take that risk and we settled on getting the train. I got a Rhineland-Pfalz ticket for all three of us, confirmed with the information counter whether the ticket was valid for the buses to Daun and Kelberg( they had their doubts and it took a while to get the confirmation). We started out to Wittlich, a small town somewhere in Germany. An hour of train travel, and we got down and waited for the bus to Daun. Krishna and Naveen were hungry and exhausted. I was so giddy with excitement that I did not care about the hunger nor the exhaustion. Krishna was like “Man this guy is so excited that it is beginning to get irritating” ( 😛 ). I don’t blame either of them. I am like it is just 12 kilometres, come on guys let us walk with our full backpacks and not take the bus. They are like, whyyyyy? This is a vacation and not a iron man competition. Let us take the taxi and I am like, but you will miss the beautiful country side and the sights. Thankfully, I did not suffer any broken bones.
The bus to Daun came and we showed the bus driver our ticket and embarked. This bus takes the autobahn but is quite slow. We were told that we could not stand and had to find seats. The people on the bus directed us to the available seats. The bus then stopped outside the town of Daun. I asked whether it would go to the Central Bus Station and was answered that it wouldn’t. Strange. We had no other option but to walk to the Central Bus Station. That was about a km. Not a big deal. I walked ahead looking at the timing of the next bus and the Google maps. In Germany, especially in rural areas Saturdays are slow days. Buses are infrequent and most shops close early. Krishna was burned out at this point and I guess Naveen wasn’t far from it. We haven’t had proper food and hadn’t had a proper break. Combine this with a guide who has no qualms about walking for kilometres, and will do anything to walk and not take transportation, it is a recipe for turning a vacation into a arduous exercise routine. We decided to get a taxi to Nürburgring because it was getting dark and also it was slowly getting colder. But unfortunately for us, there was no taxi to be seen and no numbers to call too. There were only two other people at the bus stop. We described our dilemma in broken German to the two ladies at the bus stop and they called a local taxi for us. We got in to the taxi and the guy asked us about our destination. We answered Nürburgring and his countenance changed. Normally, I have seen all German drivers follow the road rules to the T but this wasn’t one of those times. He was doing racing lines and flooring the pedals like we were in a Need For Speed game. That was one exciting taxi ride and we finally reached our destination in one piece.
The place was awesome and the owner had furnished the place with objects related to motor sports. The table top was held by a Pirelli P Zero tire on a racing wheel. By far, this was the best furnished place for us. Now, we had a roof over our heads so the next thing is to get some food in our bellies. We decided to go to the Devil’s diner by the Nürburgring and followed the directions on Google Maps and we had to hurry because it would close in an hour. While we were walking, we saw so many amazing cars like a parking lot full of Aston Martins, some track spec cars, corvettes etc.( The list is simply too long to write everything here but you get the idea).
After walking for about 25 minutes, google maps showed us a road that was non existent. We had to walk along the landstraße without any marked foot path. We were not comfortable with walking along the landstraße and back tracked losing valuable time. There was no other marked path that we could use to get to the Diner. Hunger was growing in our bellies and it looked like we might have to go to bed hungy. We walked back to our room and while walking back we saw some people by the side of the road. I asked them the directions to get to another restaurant( the diner would be closed by then) and they helped us get on the right track. We walked and walked and walked, in the darkness along a path that can be at best described as a trail. Another thing that we noticed was that it is quite hard to spot a normal car around there. All the cars were modified and most even had roll cages installed, even city cars like the jetta or golf. Finally, after walking for the best part of an hour we reached a restaurant. The parking lot was filled with Corvettes. It was impressive. But sadly the place was full and we did not have a reservation, so we were turned down(Next time I am reserving places wherever I go). So, next stop would be to find a pizzeria or some fast food joint. At this point, I applaud the patience of Krishna and Naveen for keeping calm when they were actually dizzy with hunger. We hadn’t had anything since noon and it was almost 8 p.m. I wouldn’t last this long without swearing or pounding my fist into the ground. Google maps directed us to this pizza place. I went in and literally begged the owner. I think even my belly gave a loud rumble that made our case. The guy might have felt sorry for me and told that they could seat us but it would take a while. We said okay, no problem( as though we had another option if we had any problems).
The restaurant was filled with racing memorabilia. The first thing you saw when entering the restaurant was a giant wing which had this written “If you don’t lose some parts at the Nürburgring, you are not driving fast enough- ringrunners of Sweden“. I stood there taking in all the posters on the walls trying to push anything to do with hunger out of my wind. But that was a bit problematic with the delicious aromas wafting through the air. Fortunately, we were seated within twenty minutes and the hosts were really good. I ordered a hot stone pork steak as it sounded good. The food arrived quite fast too. The food was delicious and the beer was good too( German beer is always awesome). After all this, we all calmed down enough and slowly started walking back. We walked back to our apartment filled with excitement of the next day.
Next morning, we got up and packed our bags( I am getting packing cubes), and walked for around 3 kilometers to the track. We had booked ourselves a lap in the BMW M3 with Apex. I definitely recommend Apex for whoever goes to the Nürburgring. The whole process was very smooth and efficient. They gave us all the information and even replied to our queries on a Sunday( Awesome customer service). Walking towards the track, we saw a myriad of motorcycles and cars. Arriving at the track, we came to know that the track has been closed due to some issue. And our lap was delayed because of this. Okay, it isn’t a problem we decided to walk around. There was a gift store and we bought some ring memorabilia. We saw Lamborghinis, a whole lot of Porsches, BMWs, and the Porsche Carrera GT( my all time favourite super car, back from the days of NFS Most Wanted). That Carrera GT sounds awesome. I also caught sight of the KTM X-Bow which is still one of my favourite vehicles.
We then went to the Devil’s diner to have something but decided against it because of the lap and that we might throw up. I had a headache and wanted my morning coffee. I told Krishna and Naveen to wait next to the Apex office at the track and went to get a coffee. Halfway through my coffee, Krishna called me saying that we were bumped up and our lap was next. My heart started pounding in my ears and I downed most of the hot coffee down my throat and rushed back to the office.
We had done our homework about the lap by Apex. The lap will not be a hot lap and they would take is “easy”. They will not go over the curbs and all. Okay, fine with it. We got ourselves helmets and balaclavas, signed the waiver, took some customary selfies and soon the car came to pick us up. The car was bare with a roll cage and racing seats and harnesses. Krishna called dibs on the front seat( I will not forgive him for that. Yeah, that’s right KP.) They strapped us in tight( and I mean real tight). The driver slowly started towards the track and put us at ease with some light banter. We got on to the track and OHHHHHHH MYYYY GOOOODDDDD. The acceleration was terrifying. My eyeballs were pushed to the back of my skull and all the air just went out of my lungs. And the braking was, to put it mildly, left harness shaped marks over my torso. After some curves, my brain remembered that my stomach was not empty and the coffee didn’t like being sloshed about( Can’t blame the coffee though). So, the coffee started coming up my throat. The only thing keeping me from throwing up was that we had requested the on board video, and the video would contain footage of me throwing up inside a very expensive track car. And I would never live that down and my friends will make sure that I never forget it too. Oh No. You are not getting that happy at my expense even if I have to bite down and keep my mouth closed for the rest of the day. Halfway through the lap, I was probably greener than the Amazonian rain forest. All this while, our pilot was like yeah this isn’t a hot lap, this is taking it nice and easy. Man, that was some flex.
Another thing that most people don’t realize about track cars are that they are pretty uncomfortable. Like really uncomfortable. A tractor going over boulders would have been more comfortable. Every pebble and gradient in the track could be felt by my butt and then my spine and brain. The inside of the car was steaming, I swear that there might have been saunas that were cooler. Thank God, I wasn’t wearing a race suit(New found respect for all those racing drivers). My stomach did nothing to help me out in this dire circumstance. Add all these feelings to the insane acceleration and braking, and you got a wonderful combination that assaults your whole body in ways that you could never dream. Will I ever undergo this torture again? Of course, in a heartbeat.
Once we were out of the car(took us around 8 minutes), my legs almost gave way beneath me. I spent the next ten minutes sitting inside the office checking whether all my body parts were still attached to my torso. Next up on the agenda was to get information about how to get to Aachen which is our next stop. We needed a means of transportation. I asked the coordinator at Apex on our options. She looked at us incredulously and asked how did you get here? I answered that we got there by public transport and a taxi. She looked astonished and started laughing. She then said two words that sent chills down my spine “Good luck”. So, we came to the terms that there was no means of transportation out of the track on a Sunday. The nearest train station was Ahrbrück and we had to get a taxi till Ahrbrück. There was no other way and we decided to walk towards the main entrance to get a taxi. We reached the main entrance, and to our surprise there were so many shops open with food and merchandise and so on. We spoke to the kind lady at the desk who was very helpful and told us that they could get us a cab and just inform them 20 minutes in prior. We felt relieved and wandered around the shops. We got ourselves a lunch from Subway and did some car spotting from a bridge right next to it. It was awesome.
After food and seeing a lot of exotics and super cars, we decided to proceed with our onward journey. We got a taxi to Ahrbrück and got to the train station. This taxi ride was nothing compared to the taxi ride we took the previous day. But the driver was jovial and kept giving us information about the track and the places surrounding it. And after half an hour or so we reached the train station. This train station was special as it was literally where the tracks ended. We got our tickets and started our wait for the train. After waiting for sometime, we got on a train to Bonn, and the to Köln. And then finally to Aachen where I had booked a hotel for us. Aachen was a city of surprises and grand disappointments. But that is another story.
Note: If you are going to the Green Hell, drive your own car or badger some of your friends who has a car. It is NOT, I repeat, it is NOT worth the hassle going by public transport.
Musings of an uncouth 
Great post 🙂
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Thank you
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Congratulations! We wanted to drive there with our family car, it was closed all the day! Sigh. We could not wait for next day. Any way it was a great joy to drive nearly fast on German Autobahnen. We spent two weeks in Germany making a road trip. I tried to get 250km/h with my family car, but always some slower car came in front of our car. The third attempt was nearly successful with 242km/h. It was anyway quite good, when thinking we had two weeks goods in the trunk.
Happy 2020!
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