After I left the hotel this morning I got straight on the road and pointed the car towards Germany for another 300 mile journey.
My first stop for sight-seeing was Königswinter, not far from Bonn. It took around 2hrs 30 to get there – the only delay caused me taking an earlier exit off the Autobahn to go in towards the centre of Bonn, rather than towards Königswinter, but I soon corrected myself!
Königswinter is next to the Rhine river I went in order to see the nearby Schloss Drachenburg which I got to by taking the Drachenfelsbahn (Drachenfels Railway).
I had a late lunch in Königswinter (Schnitzel… What else when in Germany!?) before setting off on another 3 hour drive, to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber in Bavaria.
I’ve had a clear run most of the way so far – Some slow bits going through all the roadworks (there are lots of those on the Autobahn), but otherwise I’ve reached Bavaria and have not been stuck in a traffic jam since the M25 last night.
The journey in to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber was a particularly good one – Once I got past Frankfurt it was as though everyone left the Autobahn and left it all to me. I had the best part of 50km (30 miles) on an almost empty, completely unlimited A7 Autobahn. 165km/h (102mph) in lane 1 with Bavarian radio playing Born to be Wild.
At one point my speedometer was reading slightly over 110mph – The published top speed of my car is 114mph. Normally, traffic flow doesn’t allow such speeds for a prolonged period of time but today, there was no traffic and so I could just… go fast.
I got in to Rothenburg-ob-der-Tauber just before 8, checked in to my room and went in to town to have a walk about, and to get a light dinner (I just got a sandwich from the supermarket – having eaten a full meal in Königswinter).
Most British stereotypes of Germany are actually Bavarian; Rothenburg is a distinctly Bavarian town. When I arrived at my hotel I was greeted by staff wearing the traditional Bavarian dress. It feels so different here compared to Königswinter!
An easier day of driving tomorrow – I should be able to reach Sindelsdorf from here in under 3 hours. It’s Sunday tomorrow, usually a good day for Autobahn driving.
It’s getting late so I’m going to bed now.
Gute Nacht.
FH.
Today’s Mileage: 366.3
Accumulative Mileage: 683.8
Journey Map
