Motorbike travel movies stories and routes round the world - BMW Motorrad days Garmisch Partenkirchen in Tirol with Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse, Arlbergpas, Flexenpas and Zugspitze

BMW Motorrad days Garmisch Partenkirchen.

international motorcycle meeting in the south German city Garmisch Partenkirchen

Every first weekend of July, BMW is organizing an international motorcycle meeting in the south German city Garmisch Partenkirchen, near to the Austrian border. We decide to take the highway ride in one day (800 km) and arrive after 10 hours tired but satisfied at our campsite.

With a temperature of over 30 degrees Celsius, we welcome the cooler mountains in this area. We quickly build our tent and eat some fast food at McDonalds in the center of Garmisch. Although the Motorrad Days starts tomorrow (Friday) it is already cozy and busy and we spend the rest of the evening spotting all the different motorbikes.

After a sandwiches for breakfast we drive to the BMW event, just outside the village. We drive in convoy on a meadow parking park and walk on foot through several large tents. In the first tent the latest BMW models and the concept 6, (the first BMW six cylinder engine) is shown. A little further it is possible to get a short off-road training. With these temperatures and no rain, off-road driving is extra hard resulting in 100% sweat and dust. There are also four smaller streets with tents, where tour operators, BMW-suppliers and tuning companies show their products.

Besides an enduro training camp, what is built beautiful against a hill, there is the only stone building in this area. Here Michael Martin gives a lecture and shows a movie of his 30 years world tour. Early in the afternoon we leave because the

Netherlands

plays in the World Cup quarter final against

Brazil

. We find a large beer tent with a giant screen in the center of Garmisch and end the day with a delicious victory.

Saturday BMW organize a 30 years anniversary GS election. After some searching, there appears to be a small area next to the large BMW area, where the election takes place. Unfortunately we are too late with our own GS bike and given the small number of entries, we might even did have a chance for a price... We continue our day with a cog train taking us to the highest point of Germany: The Zugspitze.

The train trip is to a large extent completely through the rocks of the mountain and at the end we step from a dark tunnel into a white gletcher world with plenty of snow. The views are breathtaking and the final top can be climbed by climbers with ropes and climbing equipment. We enjoy a regional delicacy: Pancakes with apple sauce and then go back down with a cable car.

When we arrived in Garmisch the World Cup quarter final between

Germany

and

Argentina

is already started. The beer tent of yesterday is completely full with German fans, but we can follow the game on a small screen at the McDonalds. After a German victory, a big street party starts and it seems everyone is on the street celebrating the victory with a bike, car or even tractor: Brilliant. During all the festivities there is also a parade of old classic BMW motorcycles making the party complete!

The last day we enjoy a tour through the Austria Tirol area. The BMW organization offers daily guided tours, but these routes are also free on the Internet. We download a route and drive the beautiful Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse, the Arlberg Pass and the beautiful Flexenpass. Exactly when it starts raining, we are back at the center of Garmisch and enjoy under a canopy a delicious big Italian ice cream.

The rain of last night did not stop, so we listened during our sleep to the rhythm of the rain on the canvas. Exactly at breakfast time it stops raining and again we enjoy breakfast outside the tent with the magnificent views of the mountains. Unfortunately after the breakfast it starts to rain again. We pack the wet tent and after again 10 hours highway we arrive back home and enjoy a nice Dutch home made coffee.