Germany · Toll circuit · Bucket list · Fast sweepers
Nürburgring Nordschleife
Touristenfahrten · Eifel
- Length
- 20.8 km13 miles
- High point
- 617 m2,024 ft
- Driving time
- 9–12 minutes a lap
- Season
- March to November (public sessions)
- Toll
- Pay per lap
- Country
- Germany
The Nordschleife is 20.8 km of one-way toll road through the Eifel forest with around 300 m of elevation change and more than 70 corners. During Touristenfahrten, the public sessions held on most evenings and many weekends from spring to autumn, anyone with a road-legal car and a ticket can drive it. German road traffic law applies: no overtaking on the right, and no timing.
The drive
The lap starts on the Döttinger Höhe straight, drops through Hatzenbach and Flugplatz, plunges down the Fuchsröhre and climbs through Adenauer Forst to the banked Karussell, then crosses Hohe Acht and falls through Wippermann, Brünnchen and Pflanzgarten. Nothing prepares you for how blind, bumpy and fast it is.
The surrounding roads are a destination in themselves. The B258, B257 and the lanes around Adenau and Nürburg are smooth, twisting and far quieter than the track, and they make a good day when the circuit is closed for industry testing.
In your Lotus
A Lotus is a very good way to learn the Ring. The cars are easy on brakes and tyres, they communicate early, and lap times are irrelevant in public sessions anyway. Keep to the right and indicate to let faster traffic through. Check your insurance carefully: many policies exclude the Nordschleife by name, and you are liable for barrier repairs and recovery if you crash.
Watch out for
- Noise limits are enforced at the entrance. A loud aftermarket exhaust can get you turned away.
- Closures after accidents are frequent; buy laps a few at a time.
- The track is treacherous in the wet, with patchy grip where the surface has been renewed.
