When is the best time to visit the Ring?

[TGJR]

I would like to plan my first trip to the Nurburgring this year and was wondering when is the best time to go balancing decent conditions and avoiding the crowds. Any other visitor tips would be appreciated.

[tertius]

TGJR said:

I would like to plan my first trip to the Nurburgring this year and was wondering when is the best time to go balancing decent conditions and avoiding the crowds. Any other visitor tips would be appreciated.

Well the first point is to go when its open and the TF calendar for 2010 isn't out yet. They will probably start releasing dates next month but they tend to be highly unreliable for a month or two.

They will be here

The management company has recently changed and there are rumours that they will signifcantly increase the amount of time allocated to TF which would be: a) good and b) might reduce some of the crowds at very busy times.

In terms of weather its very variable at the best of times - I've had torrential rain, solid fog that closed the whole circuit and gorgeous sunshine on three consecutive days in August. Snow in March/April is not uncommon.

Summer weekends tend to be busiest )very busy}, mid week is much quieter but (historically) has much shorter opening hours.

If going in summer book hotels, etc. well in advance, esp. if it also coincides with an event like the Truck GP.

Northloop.co.uk is a useful resource and forum dedicated to the Nordschleife.

This is also worth a read though it hasn't been updated for a long while now.

Finally read your insurance documents from cover to cover and don't go if you aren't insured.

[chrisr29]

Had a blinding trip mid Nov this year. A comfortable amount of people and good weather. Drove out on the Sat, lapped on the Sun in dry sunny conditions then the weather turned on the Mon to the extent where rivers were running across parts of the circuit.

Any weekend in the summer will be busy....bank hols will be ridiculous! Mid week eves tend to be a bit more civilised.

I think the whole insurance thing sucks. The risks are obviousely high (especially in bad weather) and if people aren't prepared to except them then they should stay the feck away. I don't blame insurance companies for not providing cover, I've seen more accidents there on a typical summers weekend than in my whole motoring career spanning 20 odd years and hundreds of thousends of miles.

[HereBeMonsters]

I was there for two weeks over August bank holiday this summer, and it was busy, but not extraordinarily so. I've seen it busier at Easter.

My recommendation would be to go for a week when there is a race on at the weekend, then you get the TF in the evening, and some racing to watch during the day. In the last few years I've watched the Le Mans series, OldTimers, YoungTimers and 24hrs...all brilliant.

[matt frost]

Any time from April-September is when I go, for the maximum chance of the best weather possible...obviously it doesn't work but regardless of whether it rains, it stays fairly warm. There is no way you can plan for a quiet trip during these months, sometimes you will be lucky and sometimes not so. Just look over the calendar when all the dates are up, pick a weekend based on the TF time that you want and go for it. You will have a fantastic time regardless of whether it is busy or quiet.

This year I went in mid-September and it was rammed and the weather was a bit dodgy, and I went towards the end of August, it was over 30 degress every day, I didn't see a cloud all weekend (Fri-Mon) and it was quiet. I was lucky, put it that way