Picking my M3 May 10... (long)

Hi Folks,

Well, I'll be picking up my ZCP M3 May 10. I'm very excited and looking forward to many joyous miles in the Alpes and the Pyrenees…

Just wanted to run a couple of things by you see what you think. Total length of trip will be three weeks. The tentative planned route is a couple of days exploring Bavaria, then head down through Switzerland (with a night in Davos) into northern Italy's lake region for a week or so, then through Chamonix into France
for four days (Provence, Chateaux region and Biarritz), then northern Spain for a whole week (Basque country, Rioja, Cantabria, Asturias and Galicia). I will wing this trip for the most part as I can't really make reservations that far in advance because of the tentative route and to not feel pressured or tied to a certain course. My wife is not happy about this.
In your experience has this been a problem? Am I going to find all the good places to stay sold out? Also, I have made reservations in Munich's Torbräu hotel. Anybody been there?
I chose it because it was recommended by Karren Brown's guide. (Cortina and Admiral were sold out…)

Drop off will be in Madrid. BTW, they have been very helpful in Madrid. They said it was no problem to have someone drop off the car as long as I fill out the paperwork in advance(my plane leaves on a Monday at 8:00 a.m.) so I get to keep the car for the weekend.

One last question: How do people usually handle the first oil service? The M3 manual calls for an oil change after the break-in period at 1200 miles. I figure that I'll easily put 3000 on this trip. Is getting an appointment in general throughout Europe as hard as it is in the US? Problem is I'll be avoiding big cities for the most part....

If anybody has gone through this I would appreciate any feedback.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. Thanks for any tips or suggestions you might have...

Reply » Picking my M3 May 10... (long)

When you get down to the lake region we stayed on Lake Maggiore and it was beautiful. There are some incredible hotels in Stresa and there are some vineyards within a reasonable drive.

Reply » Picking my M3 May 10... (long)

We will definetely stay a night or two there and in Lake Cuomo too.
We are using the Karen Brown guide for the most part and the places
she recommends seem to be great and full of charm in this area. I hope I picked the right guide...

However, I'll finally be staying at the Meridian in Munich since I thought I needed a good rest
and some nice spa pampering (guess who insisted on this...) to get over my jet-lag.
It's funny that this hotel does not appear in any of the many guide books I have,
but at 170 Euros for a 5 star hotel, you can't go wrong. I'll encounter more than enough "charm" over the following three weeks...

Reply » Picking my M3 May 10... (long)

With several trips to Germany in the past 5 years (averaging almost 2 per year), I've never had a problem winging it with hotels. We usually spend some time with family over in Bavaria but also plan side trips that have been up to one week long. The only time I pre-book is for the night where I'm planning on flying into Germany (unless I'm staying with family of course). I'd advise that you pre-book a hotel in your arrival city and departure city corresponding to your travel dates. If there is a specific event you want to attend (especially large events like Oktoberfest), than pre-booking is important. Otherwise, bring along a few travel guides and some recommendations from the various travel forums on the internet and wing it. Who knows where your mood will take you.

One tip though is to have the hotel that you're departing from call your desired hotel at your destination get travel info and perhaps book a room... I've done this occasionally if I'm unsure of directions/train connections or there may be a language barrier (I speak near fluent German but some Swiss Cantons are French or Italian speaking).

YMMV in Italy, France and Spain but in Germany and Switzerland, I have never had a problem getting my first choice hotel.

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