Riding the Nürburgring on a Motorcycle: Touristenfahrten Explained

What Touristenfahrten are

Touristenfahrten, or tourist drives, are public sessions when the Nürburgring circuits open to ordinary road vehicles. You buy a lap ticket or a card loaded with laps, pass through a barrier and drive the circuit at your own pace. The Nordschleife, the 20.8 km (13 mile) “Green Hell” through the Eifel forest, runs as a one-way toll road during these sessions, and German road traffic law applies: overtaking only on the left, no stopping on the track, and you are responsible for your own driving. Sessions run on many evenings and weekends through the season, but they close for races, testing and industry days, and they shut, sometimes for an hour or more, after any incident.

What is open to motorcycles now

This is the important part. Motorcycles are currently not allowed on the Nordschleife during Touristenfahrten. The circuit’s operator removed bikes from the public Nordschleife sessions on safety grounds. Riders can still use the Grand Prix circuit on tourist sessions that are open to bikes, and the Nordschleife itself is open to motorcycles only on organised, instructor-led training days and courses.

Rules like this can change, and some riders are campaigning to have bikes allowed back. Before you plan a trip, check the official Nürburgring website for the current rules for motorcycles, the calendar of tourist sessions on each circuit, and the dates of bike training events. Do not rely on older guides, forum posts or videos.

If you want to ride the Nordschleife

• Book a training day or course that includes the Nordschleife for motorcycles. These sell out, so book early once dates are published.
• Check your insurance. Most road insurance policies do not cover use on a circuit, even on public sessions. Training organisers may require or offer separate cover.
• Prepare the bike. Good tyres, fresh brake pads and fluid, and nothing loose on the bike. Remove luggage.
• Take it seriously. The Nordschleife is narrow, bumpy in places, and has blind crests and long, fast sections with little run-off. It takes many laps to learn.

The Grand Prix circuit

The modern Grand Prix circuit is shorter, wider and has proper run-off. Where its tourist sessions are open to bikes, it is a more forgiving place for a first taste of riding a circuit on your own bike. Check the official calendar for which sessions take motorcycles.

Watching rather than riding

A day watching at the Nordschleife is a fine trip in itself. Popular viewing spots include Brünnchen and the area around Adenau. Race weekends, such as the endurance races and classic events, fill the forest with spectators. If you are going for an event, book your stay early, as the towns around the circuit fill up.

The Eifel: the real reason to go

Even without a lap, the Eifel is one of the best riding regions in Germany, and the roads around the circuit are excellent:

• The B257 from Altenahr through Adenau, past the Ring and on to Daun.
• The Ahr Valley, a deep, twisting valley of vineyards and wine villages east of the Ring.
• The Maare, volcanic crater lakes around Daun and Manderscheid, reached on quiet forest roads.

Our Eifel loop guide links these into a day ride. Add a day on the Mosel Valley, an hour or so south, and a day in the Belgian Ardennes to the west, and you have a long weekend or a week. Our Germany planning guide has more ideas.

A long weekend at the Ring

A three or four-night trip works well for a first visit. Ride out on day one, crossing in the morning and arriving in the Eifel by evening, or break the journey in the Ardennes. Spend day two on the Eifel loop with a stop at a viewing point during a tourist session to see the circuit in action. On day three ride the Ahr Valley and drop down to the Mosel for lunch on the river. Use day four to come home, or to add a bike training session on the circuit if you have booked one.

What to bring

Pack for changeable weather: the Eifel is high and exposed, and it can be cold and wet even in summer. Bring earplugs if you plan to spend time by the track, and a folding seat or a mat for the viewing banks. If you are booked on a training day, the organiser will send its own kit list, usually covering a one-piece or zip-together leathers, a back protector and a bike in good mechanical order.

Riding around the circuit

The public roads around the Ring are busy with fast cars and bikes on tourist days and race weekends. Police check speeds and noise around the circuit and in the villages, and locals have little patience for loud exhausts and showing off on the B-roads. Ride the public roads as public roads: the circuit is for lap times, the villages are where people live. Fuel stations and car parks by the circuit fill up quickly on busy days, so fill up early.

Where to stay

Adenau and Nürburg sit right by the circuit and have a long tradition of hosting Ring visitors. If the circuit is not the main point of your trip, stay a little further out, in Daun, Manderscheid or the Ahr Valley, where it is quieter and the roads start from the door. Browse biker-friendly stays in the Eifel and on the Mosel, and use our secure parking guide when you book.

Getting there from the UK

The Eifel is about 450 km (280 miles) from Calais, a long first day or an easy two with a night in the Ardennes. See our first European tour guide for the crossing and the paperwork.