Calling all Germans: Wolfsburg Factory Tour
Last night I was talking with a friend about taking a trip to (possibly) visit Berlin in October. It turns out Wolfsburg isn't that far away.
Has anyone ever taken the factory tour? Heard good/bad things?
http://www.autostadt.de/en/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autostadt
Have never been there, but Berlin is really nice. But if you're going to Germany in October, wouldn't Munich be a better idea?
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
I have friends in Berlin, but any reason why I should go for Munich besides the beer?
Oktoberfest
October - Oktoberfest
Have never been to Munich for more than 24 hours myself, so I wouldn't know if it's worth visiting for any other reason to be honest. Berlin is definitely nice to visit, and pretty cheap (especially food and drinks!).
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
I know, but I can't imagine going to a different country on precious vacation time for just beer.
Oktoberfest is not just beer - it's an experience. I mean, you can get decent beer in Berlin too. If you are able to, I'd recommend going there one or two days. Unfortunately I haven't been there myself (yet), but according to everyone I know who has ever been there, it's a great experience.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
Oktoberfest is mostly in September, it was moved because of better weather. I never was at the Oktoberfest, but it is surely interesting to see. But Munich in summer is nice, with all the Beergardens.
I only drove by the VW factory with the ICE once, can't tell if it's worth to visit, but it's definitely huge!
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
I"d never go to Munich for the Oktoberfest, it would actually be a good reason for me to stay away.
BTW, everyone say one has to visit Berghain when in Berlin, but I never heard it from one who was already there.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
I haven't been there, but friends of mine have been there and they do recommend it. But apparently it's a bitch to get in, everybody I know who has tried has been rejected at least once.
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
I've actually been to Berlin within the last three years, but I need to take a week off and think I can get cheap accommodations there. Though I'm inclined to agree with Hazir that going to the heart of Oktoberfest sounds like asking for an insufferable touristy experience. Watching cars get made, now that's different.
Out of curiosity, were you at Berghain?
Wolfsburg isn't that close to Berlin though is it?
Keep on keepin' the beat alive!
It seems to be about an hour away by train, two hours by car. Could use Khend here...
I didn't go to Berghain or any other nightclubs. Spent most of my time in the Kreuzberg neighborhood, with some occasional museums and bike rides.
This seems to be an excellent opportunity for Khen to launch his elaborate vengeance
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
/me Feels the urge to post more Berlin songs.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
@>-`-
In the future, the Berlin wall will be a mile high, and made of steel. You too will be made to crawl, to lick children's blood from jackboots. There will be no creativity, only productivity. Instead of love there will be fear and distrust, instead of surrender there will be submission. Contact will be replaced with isolation, and joy with shame. Hope will cease to exist as a concept. The Earth will be covered with steel and concrete. There will be an electronic policeman in every head. Your children will be born in chains, live only to serve, and die in anguish and ignorance.
The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.
"Wer Visionen hat, sollte zum Arzt gehen." - Helmut Schmidt
There are exactly 5 worthwhile things to do in Wolfsburg:Originally Posted by Dreadnaught
a) Factory tour. That's actually moderately interesting
b) Autostadt. That... not so much. Unless you're a huge car fan or something. It's more like a museum. Not very much to do, after 2 hours (that's including walks!), you'll have seen everything. The concerts there are nice, though!
c) The Phaeno directly opposite to the Autostadt. That one can occupy a whole day - if you're at least moderately scientifically interested. HUGE amount of small experiments to do, be they physical, mathematical or biological. For example, they have a small lab where you can learn to differentiate between gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Or how to think with PortalsI'm still a bit amazed about their isochrone ball experiment - looks like a plot of the square-function. Only that it does not matter on which height you put the two balls - they'll always collide at the center bottom at the same time. Different heights, same heights, does not matter. They told me that the function plot was very complicated...
d) The museum of (modern) arts - sometimes they have very nifty displays, this christmas was centered around light, for example. Can be interesting.
e) The planetarium which was recently modernized with a state-of-the-art projector.
And that's about it. So, the order from most to least interesting would be: Phaeno, Factory tour, Modern Arts, Planetarium, Autostadt.
Oh, yes, I forgot: If you need to relax after doing all that, you could also visit the Badeland which is a huge swimming bath with an equally huge saunarium. When I still did Capoeira in Braunschweig on Saturdays, we drove there to relax. Very nice.
The Oktoberfest celebrates the beginning of Oktober, though. It will be finished by October, 3rd.Have never been there, but Berlin is really nice. But if you're going to Germany in October, wouldn't Munich be a better idea?
If you need more info ask me. After all, in October I'll be only 30 Km away from Wolfsburg.
Last edited by Khendraja'aro; 09-06-2011 at 09:09 PM.
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
That's good advice, thank you.
The trip has now been thrown into limbo because the friend we would visit in Berlin has to leave (possibly because of visa issues).We'll see, I really want to make this happen. Otherwise my next-best option is Montreal.
Otherwise my next-best option is Montreal.
Never pegged you for the S&M scene, but voluntarily surrounding yourself with French Canadians and Canadians?
It's funny and masochistic. But it would probably be a lot cheaper just to have some chick stomp on your beanbags, in case cost factors into your masochistic dalliances.
"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants."
-- Thomas Jefferson: American Founding Father, clairvoyant and seditious traitor.
Yeah, my friends saw a lot of weird shit in the Montreal red light district when we went in high school.
Can't tell if I actually want to go back, half the thrill was the easy access to liquor because everyone was below 21.
Oo, I have a friend moving to Austria and I could help her, but the tickets are fracking $1000.
Teutonic dreams have been dashed.
On a semi-related note, I just found this interesting thingbob. What a way to present a ballot.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:St...-Anschluss.jpg
Given the environment it must be considered a fair and balanced ballot.
They could also have printed one without the 'no' option.
You really have an interesting problem with airtickets by the way. A friend of mine flew from Istanbul to SF and back this week. Short notice and still managed to do that for a lot less than $1000.--
Flights to Turkey are undeniably cheap. But some other flights remain expensive without plenty of advance notice.
Lufthansa; first week of october $ 910. I'll admit that's not cheap, but still 10% under what you found. And that's without even trying too hard.
Yeah, anything over $600 is beyond my budget. And certainly of my travel partner. I was able to get direct to Barcelona in May for $520 so I'm not being unrealistic here. Also I believe I have less flexible schedules than you —*I can't necessarily leave on an off-peak day.
But more importantly, I hate vacationing alone which limits things as well.
I took that into account, but it is most sensible to fly from the US to Europe on a flight that departs in the evening. So you could leave on a friday night.
...For $1000.
Montreal here I [possibly] come!/
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