Motorbeam reader Harshad recently visited Wolfsburg and has sent us the pictures he snapped while he was there. Wolfsburg is the head quarters of Volkswagen and is not too big a town with a population of around 1-1.5 lakhs. Most of the people staying there work in Volkswagen. It’s a town having a huge factory and a few houses surrounding the factory. The main railway station is located just beside the factory. There is only a canal (meant for VW goods transportation) separating both. As you get down the train you see the huge factory. The construction looks pretty old, but as most of the German buildings it is built to last.
“I went to Wolfsburg by train. Autostadt is walking distance from station. I went on my own. The day ticket costs €15, I did the Safety driving training which costed me €28, I didn’t get the booking for the rest,they costed €25 each. There is a lift in the car tower which takes you up the tower just like it takes the cars, a 15 minutes ride in its costs €6. Could not do this as well, cause it was overbooked. 2 hours english guided tour costs €11, but that is not required is what I feel, you can explore the area yourself. Rest everything is included in the day ticket,” Mr. Harshad Vyawahare said when asked about the costs incurred.
Autostadt is located just beside the factory. It is huge and they have developed the landscape pretty well. There are pavilions (building) for different group companies. There is a huge museum which has old cars of many companies (not just VW group). Harshad did not find the museum, exhibits and the pavilions that exciting compared to the Mercedes-Benz or Porsche museum (which he visited last year). They don’t even give an audio guide in Autostadt. In Mercedes-Benz or Porsche museums it’s an audio guided tour. The audio device of Mercedes is pretty funky.
There’s also a fountain show at the Autostadt, 2 glass tower, where the cars to be delivered to the customers are kept, each has a capacity of 400 cars, a huge customer center and VW showroom. You can also do the factory tour from Monday to Friday, but you have to register before through internet or phone. There are some exciting driving activities you can do at Autostadt. A safety driving training , economy driving training, Touareg and Tiguan all-terrain track training, these things are pretty exciting, cost around €25 each, pre-registration on the net or phone is a must. All training are available in English as well. You can also do a 30 minute ferry ride in the canal. All in all it is worth a visit.