Germany (Lonely Planet, 6th Edition) - Andrea Schulte-Peevers [427]
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Getting There & Away
Trains go to Ahrweiler (€3.90, 19 minutes) and Bad Neuenahr (€4.85, 22 minutes).
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NÜRBURGRING
This historic Formula One race car track ( 02691-302 630; www.nuerburgring.de), 60km west of Koblenz, has hosted many spectacular races with legendary drivers since its completion in 1927. The 20.8km, 73-curve Nordschleife (North Loop) was not only the longest circuit ever built but also one of the most difficult, earning the respectful moniker ‘Green Hell’ from racing legend Jackie Stewart. After Niki Lauda’s near-fatal crash in 1976, the German Grand Prix moved to the Hockenheimring near Mannheim, but in 1995 Formula One returned (in odd-numbered years) to the 5148m Grand-Prix-Strecke (South Loop), built in 1984. The complex hosts 100 races a year.
You can get a glimpse behind the scenes with a one-hour Backstage Tour (€6; 11am, 1pm & 3pm daily), usually in German with printed material in English.
The new Ring-Werk (www.ring-werk.com; adult/5-11yr/family €19.50/11/49; 10am-6pm, till later weekends & school holidays), opened in mid-2009, is a motor-racing theme park featuring the latest interactive, 3-D and tunnel-projection technologies and the Ring-Racer, which takes less than 2.5 seconds to accelerate from 0km/h to an incredible 217km/h.
If you have your own car or motorcycle, you can discover your inner Michael (Schumacher, that is) by taking a spin around the Nordschleife for €22 per circuit. The Grand-Prix-Strecke costs €30 per 20 minutes (motorcycles verboten). Check the website for Open Nordschleife times and dates.
Prefer to let someone else do the driving? Options include the BMW Ring-Taxi ( 932 020, staffed 10am-noon Mon-Fri; http://bmw-motorsport.com/ms/ringtaxi.html; Mar-Nov, call for exact days). For €195, up to three people (children must be at least 150cm tall) pile into a 507HP BMW M5, which goes from 0km/h to 100km/h in under five seconds, and are ‘chauffeured’ around the Nordschleife by a professional driver at speeds of up to 320km/h. It’s hugely popular so make reservations early.
The Nürburgring is off the B258, reached via the B257 from Altenahr.
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MARIA LAACH
About 25km northwest of Koblenz, Abteikirche Maria Laach (Maria Laach Abbey Church; 02652-590; www.maria-laach.de, in German; admission free) is one of the finest examples of a Romanesque church in Germany. Part of a nine-century-old Benedictine abbey, it is next to a volcanic lake, the Laacher See, surrounded by a 21-sq-km nature reserve.
You enter the church ( 8.30-11.30am & 12.15-5pm Mon-Sat, 12.30-5pm Sun) via a large Vorhalle (portico; restored in 2009), a feature not usually found north of the Alps. Note the quirky carvings on and above the capitals and the Löwenbrunnen (Lion Fountain), reminiscent of Moorish architecture. The interior is surprisingly modest, in part because the original furnishings were lost during the 1800s. In the west apse lies the late-13th-century, recumbent statue-adorned tomb of abbey founder Heinrich II of Palatine (laminated information sheets in six languages are available nearby). The east apse shelters the high altar with its wooden canopy; overhead is an early-20th-century Byzantine-style mosaic of Christ donated by Kaiser Wilhelm II. The entrance to the 11th-century crypt ( 9-11am & 12.30-5pm Mon-Sat, 12.30-2pm & 3.30-5pm Sun & holidays) is to the left of the choir.
Across the path from the Klostergaststätte (restaurant), a free 20-minute film ( begins 10-11.30am & 1.30-4.30pm Mon-Sat, 1.30-4.30pm Sun & holiday) – available in German, English, French and Dutch – looks at the life of the 46 monks, who take the motto Ora et labora (pray and work) very seriously indeed. They earn a living from economic activities such as growing organic apples and raising house plants, available for purchase in the Klostergärtnerei (nursery); and they pray five times a day. Attending Gottesdienst