If you’ve never visited the Green Hell before you may well ask where is the Nurburgring? And how do I get there? In this article we will provide information on the exact location of the Nurbugring and some directions on exactly where you need to be going.
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Where is the nurburgring?
The Nurburgring is in Europe, located in western Germany only 25 miles from the border with Belgium. It is around 40 miles to the Luxembourg border and 50 miles to the Holland border.
It is NOT in Nuremberg – do not make that mistake!
Where in germany is the Nurburgring?
Within Germany, the Nurburgring is located in the western state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), one of the 16 German federal states.
Within the state of Rhineland-Palatinate there are 24 districts and 12 independent cities. The Nurburgring is located in the district of Ahrweiler. If you are around the ‘Ring you will notice a huge portion of the local cars carry the prefix AW on their license plates. AW is the license plate prefix for vehicles registered in the district of Ahrweiler.
The Nurburgring is such a long circuit that it is not simply in one town. The entrance for tourist driving is in the town of Nurburg, but there are numerous other towns and villages within its perimeter.
Nurburgring address
The official address of the tourist driving entrance to the Nurburgring is as follows:
Nürburgring Nordschleife – Zufahrt Touristenfahrten, Hauptstraße 1, 53520 Nürburg, Germany
If you are heading to the Nurburgring for touristenfahrten you will want to head directly for this or the ‘Einfahrt Nurburgring’ (Nurburgring entrance) as it is called on Google maps. Both are in the same place and will get you to the entrance.
Click here for a Google Maps pin at Einfahrt Nurburgring.
There are other Nurburgring entrances available depending on which area you area heading for (GP track, tourist information centres) etc, and you should set your GPS accordingly.
The address for the official Nurburgring organisation, Nurburgring 1927 GmbH, is the following:
Nürburgring 1927 GmbH & Co. KG, Otto-Flimm-Str, 53520 Nürburg, Germany
This is located within the Ring information centre on the Ring boulevard, right near the Nurburgring sign.
Getting to the Nurburgring by car
Driving to the Nurburgring can be a short trip or a mammoth adventure depending on where you are coming from.
If you are coming from the UK you will need to take a ferry or the channel tunnel. Some of the most popular ferry routes depending on where in the country you are coming from are:
- Dover to Dunkirk – crossing time is around 2 hours
- Dover to Calais – crossing time is around 1 hour 40 minutes
- Hull to Rotterdam – crossing time is around 12 hours, usually an overnight sail.
Whether you chose Dover to Dunkirk or Dover to Calais is often based on personal preference. The Calais crossing is slightly shorter meaning you spend less time at sea (no bad thing if you’re prone to a bit of sea-sickness). But the shorter time on the ferry means you have further to drive along the very un-picturesque coast of northern France, usually grey and drizzley and full of traffic.
I have always used DFDS seaways on the Dover – Dunkirk crossing and never had any complaints, but P&O ferries also offer Dover – Calais crossings.
A quote for a return Dover – Dunkirk trip with DFDS on from 18th – 21st August gives the following price:
The Eurotunnel crossings from Folkestone to Calais are the quickest way to cross the channel by far, taking only 35 minutes. But you pay for the convenience. Below is a quote for the Eurotunnel on the same dates and departure times as the ferry trip above.
The difference between the ferry and tunnel used to be greater, and on other weekends of the year it probably still would be. But with not much in it the tunnel is a compelling prospect to cut down your total journey time.
In addition, RMA trackdays can offer discounts of up to 15% on Eurotunnel bookings. Always worth dropping them an email with your preferred dates and times to see what they can do.
If you’ve landed in Calais or Dunkirk from the UK, driving times to the Ring from there are roughly anywhere from 4 – 7 hours depending on traffic, time of day, how many stops you make and weight of your right foot. So set your satnav to the one of the correct addresses above and get driving.
Usually the route will take you on the E40 through most of Belgium, like the blue highlighted route on the map below.
One area to note on this route is where the E40 becomes the Brussels ring road. At rush hour it is usually a nightmare, so expect traffic there. Once the traffic was so bad on the ring road that my satnav re-routed me directly though the centre of Brussels which, unbelievably, turned out to be quicker.
Another option is to re-route via a slightly more northen route on the outskirts of Antwerp, getting off the E40 at Ghent and using the E17/E313/E314. This can help avoid the Brussels traffic and isn’t that much longer.
Again check out our detailed information on getting to the Nurburgring main entrances so you know where you’re heading when you get closer.
Speed cameras on the motorways in these parts of Europe are usually discrete grey boxes / poles right in the central reservation, very hard to spot. On rural road they are large grey boxes pointing right at you. You will know you’ve been had by one of these when you get blinded with a super bright orange flash of light to the face.
If you want to incorporate some no-limit autobahn driving in your journey (always recommended) then check out the best autobahn without speed limits near the Nurburgring.
Getting to the nurburgring by train
Where is the Nurburgring? Well for the sake of getting there by public transport, smack back in the middle of nowhere. It’s not easy to get there by train and you have to be unwavering in your commitment to public transport to use trains and buses to get as close as your can.
The below image shows the nearest train stations to the Nurburgring. None of them are particularly close, so all would require buses or taxis once you reach them.
There are trains from Frankfurt, Cologne and Koblenz to all of the train stations shown on the map above (some direct, some with a change).
If you can get to Bad Neuenahr Ahrweiler train station, there is a bus outside there which goes to Adenau where most hotels and restuarants reside near the ring. This is pretty much as close as you can get with public transport.
Rome2Rio is a pretty good website to help look at your options. Below it shows a train from Frankfurt airport to Bad Neuenahn Ahrweiler station, and then a bus from there to Adenau. It also gives schedules.
Getting to the ring by plane
Where is the Nurburgring and can I get there by plane? Well yes you can as there are a few major airport within a few hours drive, but it involves hiring a car to complete the last leg of the journey.
We have done a separate post on flying to the Nurburgring. Check it out for full details on airport and hire car options.
