# ED compiled list of one liners (LONG)



## FlashingBlade (Feb 28, 2005)

As promised here are my compiled list of one liners to plan a visit to Europe
organized around BMW's European Delivery. The assumption is that you'll
pick you car up in Munich, drive around and then drop it off somewhere for shipment to the US. 
This particular set of one liners are aimed at smaller families
with kids aged ~5-10. Due to their shorter attention spans, and interest levels,
each day needs to have something fun. There is SO much to see and do, this only
scratches the surface. It focusses mostly on Bavaria, and a few others.

My sources are Bimmerfest ED Forum, Liverman, 
my own research and past trips. Besides, what else am I to do on my 12 hour flight back?

About ED
========
o Depending on the car, you get a discount, a break on airline tickets,
temporary plates and insurance to drive in Europe (save on rental). Price includes
shipping. See BMW's European delivery web site for details.
o If you have the time and want to visit Europe, it's a great deal
o The main gotcha is that you may spend your savings in Bavaria's Beergartens
o BMW offers several factory tours. Do it. They last 2.5 hours. 
Kids are allowed, but no cameras. The one in Munchen is a 10 min drive from the delivery
center, right accross Olympia park. Others: Dingolfing and Regensburg. 
Call 1-866-868-7269 to set up a time several weeks before you leave. 
o When you order a car, you'll get a pick up date. BMW expects you to show up at that day.
o BMW expects the car to be payed 1 month before delivery
o Most financial institutions don't know how to deal with ED, and won't finance the car
o However, you are paying your local BMW dealer, and as soon as you have a VIN, 
the bank doesn't know need to more
o You may have to get local insurance before you actually drive the car in the US. Just be "slow"...
o The cab fare from the Airport to ED is around 45Euro
o There are two other alternatives: take the S bahn to the U bahn (see ED packet), or
take the Lufthansa bus to Munchen Nordfriedhow http://www.lufthansa-terminal2.com/en/airportbus.pdf
and then take the U Bahn to Freimann (faster) for about 11Euro
per person, but it takes longer and requires a 10 min walk. 
o The cafe at the ED is just sandwiches, kuchen & coffee, and drinks.
o They serve alcohol, an irony completely lost on them.
o Austria requires little reflective vests to be present in the car in case of an
emergency for each person planning to get out of the car. Fines for not having that are high.
o A BMW dealer near the ED has the vests and other BMW goodies. Great souvenir.
o We dropped the car off in Antwerp, and were somewhat underwhelmed. 
The shipper, AltaMira, which is what the Hartrod broker uses, was hard to find.
It's in the middle of a desolate stretch of industrial complexes in Luithagen 
with no street signs. No office staff. I had to chase down the guy driving the 
forklift truck who also handles the paper work. A green container serves as the office. 
We walked the 2 km to the stop of bus 31 on the Noorderlaan that gets you to 
downtown Antwerp. Another family called a cab. I think we beat the other family.

How to plan your trip
=====================
o If you have never been there, planning will take almost as long as the trip itself
(read guides, map routes, find hotels, see below). 
o www.viamichelin.com provides good route planning and maps for free
o Their city maps are however not always accurate
o Munchen is a very pleasant town, worth at least a couple days of stay.
o Staying a couple of days in Munchen is a good idea if your luggage gets lost
or if there are issues with your car.
o Mix your stuff accross different bags in case things get lost.
o Most shops close Sat afternoon, and remain closed on Sunday in most of Europe.
o Many restaurants are closed on Mondays.
o If you are traveling straight from the US, expect several days of jet lag.
o It's a bad idea to drive with jet lag. Park the car
at the hotel and then visit Munchen by foot and by public transport.
o Expect to take walks with your younglings at 1 am in the morning to wear them down
o Parking is typically very tight in Europe. Most cars will be smaller than what you bought.
A VW Jetta/Bora is considered a larger car. 
o Everything takes much longer than you think.
o A 2 hour lunch or a 3 hour dinner is not uncommon (especially in Italy)
o Plan one, at most two activities in a day.
o Despite unlimited autobahn speeds in D you will not be traveling as fast as you think
due to numerous construction sites, clogged roads and speed limits.
o Speed on local roads is often limited to 70 - 90 kph. Progress is more like 50 kph.
o If you get a ticket, they often require immediate payment or they impound your car
o Luckily they do accept Visa or Mastercard for traffic ticket payments.
o They also use lots of photo radar
o Always have enough cash to pay for the next meal and hotel. Even if an establishment
has the Visa/MC sign does not mean the machine actually works. 
o ATM machines work surprisingly well
o ATM cards unfortunately often do not unlock the doors to the vestibule of 
the ATM (wait for someone)
o Unlike the US highway signs (I5 North), you drive towards a distant city (Vancouver).
o Most city highway exits are not by street name (50 Str NW) but by city area (Redmond),
o Follow signs to the city center rather then trying to figure it out on a map
(too many twists and turns, one way streets).
o The reverse is also true, look for signs to the highway, the Ring, or another town,
to get out of town.

European Hotels/Restaurants
===========================
o The hotel star rating has nothing to do with the quality of the hotel
o The star rating mainly indicates what facilities the hotel has. For example,
a hair dryer is worth an additional star, even if the place is a dump.
o Price is also not a good indicator of the quality of the hotel.
o wwww.tripadvisor.com, www.frommers.com, the red Michelin guides all provide a better
guide on where to stay. With tripadvisor, read the worst gripes first and judge for yourself.
o Some liked www.venere.com, www.hrs.com, and priceline.com (hotel auctioning)
o If you are willing to put up with creative plumbing, lack of shower curtains, 
no shampoo or soap, odd shaped rooms, don't need a weight room, pool or sauna, 
then there are lots of wonderfull B&B like hotels for a reasonable price. 
o Lack of internet reservation is also not a good indication of the quality of the hotel.
o One of the best hotels we stayed in had no web presence, no reservation system,
and provided no "confirmation" number (which may leave some of us with an uneasy feeling,
especially if the person answering sounded like he was on his second beer already).
I made most reservations by calling directly.
o When traveling with kids, make sure you mention how many and
where you think they'll be staying. Often a pull up bed for one additional child can
be provided for a small fee.
o It's a good idea to get breakfast included in the price of the hotel
o Breakfast can be expensive as an add on (25Euro/person at the Kempinski, which is a lot
if all you want is a cup of coffee and a croisant).
o Don't count on A/C in many hotels.
o A/C is often not required except during heat waves. Then you will be misarable.
o A hotel claiming to have A/C is different from actually having a functionining A/C in your
room (cold water floor cooling does not work, near does an A/C in the lobby).
o Choose a restaurant that is filled with locals, and not tourists, and you will have a good meal. 
o In Munchen it is not uncommon to join a table where people are already sitting.
o I have had some wonderful conversation as a result, but have a waitress help you out for best results
o It's a good idea to start any conversation in the local language, if you can.

Munchen
=======
o Do the downtown walking tour (the ED package has it layed out). Lots of musea,
churches, shops, plazas, Glockenspiel, fountains to discover.
o Deutches museum: great for kids. It's mostly technology focussed.
o Englishes Garten. Great for a walk, have the kids run, play some ball or throw frisbies
(take a foldable one along). Watch for the naked people (great chuckle for kids).
o BMW tour
o Pinacotec (museum, not that great for impatient kids)
o Don't eat at the Hofbrauhaus. It's all tourists.
o Eat near the Frauenkirche instead, or elsewhere.
o There were painted lions all over downtown Munchen. Kids will want to sit on every one.
o Hotel Uhland is a nice B&B like place. Small bathrooms, nice old building, good
location, cheerfull and helpfull staff. Parking on the premesis is tight.
o Kempinski at the airport is very nice (and expensive), but too far for daily 
exploration of Munchen.
o The area around the Hauptbahnhoff is not the greatest, dirty, a bit seedy, though
I never felt threatened. 
o In the areas we walked, we felt safe at night. We stayed away from the Hauptbahnhof though.
o Other things suggested by Liverman (http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=102376)
Churches
Frauenkirche (Munich)
Asamskirche (Munich)
Alte Peter (Munich) - if it is a clear day - climb the tower!
Wiesenkirche in Wies
the main church in any town - they are each different all all interesting
Beer & Schnapps
Englischer Garten
Ettal Monastary
Benedicktbeuren Monastary
Andechs Monastary
Weihenstephan Brewery in Freising
Local beer gardens wherever you go
Castles
Nymphenburg (Munich)
Residenz (Munich)
Neuschwanstein (outside of Füssen)
Linderhof (outside of Oberammergau)
Chiemsee
o I would add Konigssee to the list.

Nearby Munchen
==============
o Andechs Monastary & brewery. Monastary, beer & great view as well. 
o Berchtesgaden: Cute little town, Adolph's former hang out, very scenic. 
The nearby saltmine (www.salzbergwerk-berchtesgaden.de) is well worth the visit, and a great hit with kids.
It includes a little train ride, slides, and a boat ride.See also Konigssee
South of Salzburg near Hallein (http://www.salzwelten.at/cont/salzwelten/en_salzwelten_home.aspx) 
are other saltmines to visit (hence the name...)
o Near Salzburg are ice caves: http://www.eisriesenwelt.at/
o Legoland between Augsburg and Ulm (west of Munich)
o The whole southern part of Germany is magnificant: mountains, lakes, cute little
villages and a road called the Alpenstrasse (it's actually indicated on maps).
Don't expect to go too fast on the Alpenstrasse (30-90 kph), but there are lots
of twisty windy roads. Perfect to get used to the car and wear in the engine.
o Fussen, near Neuschwanstein castle, is a lovely little town. We loved Hotel Christine & of course Rupert.
o Despite its fame, the best part of Neuschwanstein is on the outside.
o There are huge crowds that want to go inside Neuschwanstein.
o You can however walk to the castle w/o paying an entry fee.
o The best view is from the Marienbrucke, which is a 10 minute walk from the castle.
o The view on the postcards must be taken from a helicopter or after hiking a nearby hill
o There are also busses and horse carriages that can take you to the castle. 
o We took the 30 minute hike, to work off all the good food and beer.
o There is a pristine lake nearby (Schwansee?) that should provide a fantastic hike and swim
o Take your passport on that hike because you may inadvertently cross into Austria 
o You are supposed to have your passport with you at all times in most of Europe
o There are other castles nearby that we did not visit that are nicer inside.
o The Romantsiche Strasse goes through Fussen and then heads North. Also very pretty. www.romantischestrasse.de
Boat ride:
Chiemsee has a boat that takes you out to a small island where you can tour a very pretty church
Koenigsee has a boat that takes you out to a little church and trail head for a short hike to a glacier - this is near Berchtesgaden
There are several large boats that ply the larger lakes such as Lake Constance (Bodensee) or the lakes in Switzerland (e.g., Zuerichsee) - these are either sightseeing tours or regular public transportation (water bus). The latter may not have a tour guide, but they are usually less expensive. ;-)
Close to Munich there are the Starnbergersee (take a tour to where Koenig Ludwig drowned) or Ammersee - both can be reached by S-bahn from Munich (but wait, you'll have a car...you can drive their, too!)

Other destinations/Great Drives
===============================
o Deutsche Alpenstrasse from Füssen on the west to Salzburg on the east through the heart of 
the Bavarian Alps - anything and everything along this road is well worth it, but you could 
spend your entire trip on this drive through the Alps!!! Garmisch, Bad Toelz, Bayrischzell, 
Reit im Winkel, Berchtesgaden, Salzburg http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-49814.html
http://www.deutsche-alpenstrasse.de/
o Romantische Strasse (http://www.romanticroad.com/default.htm): takes about 10 hours to complete
o East out of Inssbruck you must make a choice at Landeck: west over the Arlbergpass into the 
Principality of Liechtenstein and down into Switzerland OR south over the Engpass into Unterengadin, 
the most remote part of the Graubünden kanton of Switzerland where the local language is Raeto-Romanisch.
It is a beautiful valley (the people also speak German, Italian and many speak English)
o Start from Trier (D's oldest city) and head down the Mosel towards the Rhine, visit the castles, the wineries.
Definitely stop at Bernkastel-Kues, visit the town and walk up the old castle.
A really nice place to stay is the nearby is Richtershof http://www.weinromantikhotel.com/
o The A60 from Witlich to Liege/Luik/Luttig is new, empty and straight, if you catch my drift.
o Drive down the Rhine. I did not think it was as picturesque as the Mosel, but there
are bigger castles to visit. You can start as far North as Bonn and head down to 
Karlsruhe. It's more touristic and more expensive.
o Gross Glockner pass in Austria: http://www.grossglockner.at/
o Jungfraujoch (http://www.wengen.com/topof.html and http://www.jungfraubahnen.ch) is worth doing on a clear day. 
A train takes you almost all the way up. It's however very expensive. 
Both Interlaken (http://www.interlakentourism.ch/) and Thun are very nice.
o Switzerland is very expensive. They require you to pay the yearly road tax.

It's Tuesday, it must be Belgium
================================
o Belgium consists of 3 parts: Flemmish (west), French (east), and German (Eupen), and its orphan: Brussels
o Signs to towns may have three different names depending on direction of travel, e.g.,
Luik, Luttig and Liege. It gets worse for Aix en Chappelle which is Aachen.
o If there is one thing to see, it is Brugge (pronounced more like Bruhhe, no hard G). 
http://www.brugge.be/toerisme/en/index.htm
For those of you misguided folks, it's also known by its French name Bruges.
Start at the Minnewater (after you find a place to park), visit the Begijnhof, then
follow the crowds downtown to the central square. Visit the churches, musea, 
the canals, whatever, and you should have a great time. It'll take a whole day.
o On a nice day, the coast towards Knokke het Zoute (bordering Holland). Walk around
town, the very wide beach, and the dunes towards Het Zwin.
o Downtown Brussels: Grote Markt/Grand Place, Manneken Pis (statue of small boy doing his thing)
o Things to drink: all varieties of beer. Start with Duvel and then just go down the list.
Trappiste biers are yeasty. Try Kriek (cherry beer) if you want to be daring, but think of it 
as a refreshing efervecent alcoholic drink.
o Buy: Pralines (Leonidas is the most common, with the more expensive like Godiva, Neuhausm etc to follow).
o Eat Belgaufre wafles. These are Brussels sugary wafles, and not the fluffy kind you get elsewhere

Driving
=======
o No turn on red
o Yield to traffic to the right unless indicated otherwise (white diamond sign with yellow center).
You won't believe how many got killed by this one.
o Stay to the right unless passing
o Do not pass on the right
o Never cross a solid line
o Avoid larger French cities. I saw several minor accidents on a daily basis.
o Traffic in Italian cities is chaotic. It's the finest example of a self configuring
system. If you are not used to the local unwritten rules, and don't know your way,
you'll be in for an interesting experience. Watch for numerous mopeds.
o Austria & other countries require a reflective vest present in the car
o Austria (weekly min), Switzerland (yearly) require you to pay a road tax, which you can buy at most gas stations

Communications
==============
o Europe follows a different phone numbering convention then the US
o Numbers are given by an area code that starts with a zero followed by a 
variable length phone number: (0123) 456 78 99
o Within the same are code you just dial the phone number, otherwise you dial the whole thing
o "0" is like US's "1" for long distance calling
o Calling between countries, you need to dial the international access number, usually 00
o Then you dial the country code: 49 = germany, 1 = US
o Then you dial the area code, but drop the zero, and then you dial the number
o In cell phones, it's best to store all numbers as international access numbers, using "+" as
the international access number. The cell phone providers know how to parse that string correctly.
So using + 49 123 456 78 99 will work anywhere in Europe, even Germany.
o There is no agreed upon emergency number like 911 in Europe. It's usually something like 100, 112.
o You will also need country specific phone adaptors to use a modem
o Cell phones are called Handy, GSM or Mobile phones in Europe
o US cell phones in general will not work in Europe
o The exception are GSM phones that can transmit on the European frequencies
o TMobile and Cingular provide GSM service in the US (but at different frequencies)
o Using a US based cell phone in Europe is expensive, and often requires about
an hour of fiddeling and calls with US operators to make it work.
o Even after you get it to work, there may be odd restrictions (can't call or
text message to other European countries). 
o Text messaging is cheaper than calling, and also more popular in Europe.
o Another method is to use your existing phone, and buy a new SIM card for about 25$ in Europe.
o A local pre-paid SIM card will give you cheaper local calls, but you will also have a local number
o SIM cards contain your phone book, so a new card will not transfer your existing phone book
o Most US phones are node-locked, which means you cannot install a new SIM card w/o unlocking the phone
o Node locked phones can be umlocked, usually for a fee or with some additional software
o Most US cell phone providers will be extremely reluctant to unlock your phone (most are clueless)
o There are some services on the internet that claim they can do it
o Another solution is to simply buy a pre-paid phone in Europe (about 100$), or go without.

Clarifications, modifications, comments, rants and raves welcome.

Have fun.


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

:wow: Wow! :thumbup:


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## rojasorone (Mar 24, 2005)

DUDE!!! :jawdrop:


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## Uncle Fester (Feb 18, 2005)

Sucks not. :thumbup: :thumbup:


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## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

I'm exhausted! Good job!


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

Hervorragend, ausgezeichnet.

Vielen vielen Dank für diesen ED-Führer.

As sometime München resident, I can state that this is better than most natives could do.


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## The Other Tom (Sep 28, 2002)

Excellent !! Hey Bee, make this a sticky.


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## MarcusSDCA (Jan 14, 2004)

I think that means "good job" in case you don't read German. 

--Marcus
_________________
Fedup mit Oooomlauts

E98
E95 (16 Zylinderz)
E81
E63 
E60 (Hamptons weekend car)
E46 M3 (La Jolla car)
E39 (Vienna garage) Ochtk zillyderz
E29
E28
E22 (mumzie's car)
E15 (grannie's car)
E14 (grampas car)


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## Liverman (Jun 14, 2005)

:thumbup: Hereforward and henceforth, FlashingBlade may never be accused of "not searching before posting"!

An excellent piece of work.

Scary that someone reads what I write! It encourages me to be careful what I say and how I say it!

_Greg_


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## elbert (Mar 28, 2002)

Great info, and entertaining too :thumbup:


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## j2 (Jun 13, 2003)

Excellent, thanks for posting!


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## FSV (May 3, 2005)

Good job !
I should've had your list before I went !
..add Nurburgring to other destinations/ Great drives !

thanx !


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## Hendramy (Jul 5, 2005)

Nice!!! Wish I would have read this before I went the first time!


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## jcatral14 (Aug 4, 2003)

Nice job :thumbup: 
I'm bookmarking this thread


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## mdreviews (Dec 13, 2002)

AWESOME! This is like the cliff notes of European Delivery.

After doing ED myself, a lot of it made sense. :thumbup:


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## BayAreaBMWFan (Aug 8, 2004)

BMW now expects payment 14 days before delivery and not one month.


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## Me530 (Feb 17, 2005)

Bump


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## JSpira (Oct 21, 2002)

One very important correction.

The following statement is incorrect:
,,There is no agreed upon emergency number like 911 in Europe. It's usually something like 100, 112.``

112 is the single Europe-wide number. 112 is a number that enables everyone to call emergency services anywhere in the European Union, from a fixed or a mobile phone.


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## ska (Sep 20, 2005)

I dont understand this one....
"o Yield to traffic to the right unless indicated otherwise (white diamond sign with yellow center)."


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## eddiethekub (Apr 17, 2005)

The white diamond with yellow center means you are traveling on a priority road and you have the right of way. Otherwise the general rule "yield to the traffic on the right" applies. 
However, since you are from Boston, you have probably never seen anyone yield to traffic on the right.


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