Trip report - schlepping round Europe
Discussion
Caught the 10pm ferry from Dover on the Saturday night after customs had decided we looked dodgy and dragged us all in for a look see 
though what they thought I would be smuggling out of England in an mx5 is anyones guess. So an mx5 a modded fabia vRS, and an Evo X landed in a rain soaked France around 1 am. Apart from not being able to see Belgium road markings and all the street lights being turned off it was an uneventfull trip down to Todtnau to the Alpine coaster and to pick up our final compadre in his Octavia vRS D. Naturallly the cheapo camera played up so no footage there then!
By 11 it was onward and upward to a very sleepy and almost closed Wilderswill. With just a to the Tremelbach fall to complete the days activity 30 hours after leaving sunny Bradford found us drinking Grosse Bier at a delightful Pizeria and resting our heads as the only guests in a small gasthoff.
Monday dawned slighty overcast but looking reasonably promising as we headed off for Meiringen and the Reichenbach falls, Swapping Valleys however produced low cloud so it was onward to the Grimsel Pass. 30 - 60 cm of snow had been forecast and by half way up the north step we found out just how accurate the weather service was, with snow plows running in loops on the upper roads and the parking lot under a foot of snow, all this with visibility down to yards in Blizzard conditions, the rear wheel drive light weight mx-5 was looking like a candidate for the snow socks. Dropping onto the Southern Step increased visability and afetr a couple of traverses we where out into bright sunshine, With the Furka pass laid oput in front of us it was decided to take a short detour to the Belvedere for a stroll in the Rhone glacier.
The Grimsel pass (top right) as viewed from the Belvedere hotel:
Inside the Rhone Glacier:
Retracing our steps we where soon headed over the Nufenen pass for Airolo, the weather remained clear and fine if a little chilly at altitude, but by now the roof was off!
On last run saw us in a delightfull hotel in San Bernardino by 3 pm
The next 3 days where always going to be on the long side, covering large mileages.
Tuesday it was up and over the San Bernardino, down the Splugen
along the Maloja, over the Abula, down the Ofen and over the Fluela, which was in 30 degree sun but stopping the car and getting out was like walking down the chiller section of a supermarket!
The plan was then to take the Umbrail to the top of the stelvio and then the East step to the Reschen, but Lance Armstrong and his mates had decided the Umbrail was to be shut so it was a direct route over the Reschen pass and into Imst. Where due to more poor planning
and equally bad web sites the longest Alpine coaster was also found to be shut
After a very good nights kip following a 7 course evening meal (68 half board) the TimselJoch beckoned and shortly after the Jaufenen pass, with a short stop at the top for piccies:
An uneventfull drive lead us to Bolzano and onto the Dolomites. Via many many passes we found Pian and our Hotel for the night.
The following day we completed our figure 8 in the Dolomites with a further 8 passes
Finally making it back to Bolzano for 1 pm and heading straight for the Autostrada over the Brenner pass and onto Berchtesgarden.
Friday was a day of rest and a visit to the Eagles Nest, Hitlers Tea house and 50th Birthday present
Tunnel to elevator
Elaborate entrance hall at the end of the tunnel
Saturday was Autobahn thrashing up till Aachen and then Sunday the boring job of traversing Belgium and the ferry home.
The video can also be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7f7Es1i5o
though what they thought I would be smuggling out of England in an mx5 is anyones guess. So an mx5 a modded fabia vRS, and an Evo X landed in a rain soaked France around 1 am. Apart from not being able to see Belgium road markings and all the street lights being turned off it was an uneventfull trip down to Todtnau to the Alpine coaster and to pick up our final compadre in his Octavia vRS D. Naturallly the cheapo camera played up so no footage there then!By 11 it was onward and upward to a very sleepy and almost closed Wilderswill. With just a to the Tremelbach fall to complete the days activity 30 hours after leaving sunny Bradford found us drinking Grosse Bier at a delightful Pizeria and resting our heads as the only guests in a small gasthoff.
Monday dawned slighty overcast but looking reasonably promising as we headed off for Meiringen and the Reichenbach falls, Swapping Valleys however produced low cloud so it was onward to the Grimsel Pass. 30 - 60 cm of snow had been forecast and by half way up the north step we found out just how accurate the weather service was, with snow plows running in loops on the upper roads and the parking lot under a foot of snow, all this with visibility down to yards in Blizzard conditions, the rear wheel drive light weight mx-5 was looking like a candidate for the snow socks. Dropping onto the Southern Step increased visability and afetr a couple of traverses we where out into bright sunshine, With the Furka pass laid oput in front of us it was decided to take a short detour to the Belvedere for a stroll in the Rhone glacier.
The Grimsel pass (top right) as viewed from the Belvedere hotel:
Inside the Rhone Glacier:
Retracing our steps we where soon headed over the Nufenen pass for Airolo, the weather remained clear and fine if a little chilly at altitude, but by now the roof was off!
On last run saw us in a delightfull hotel in San Bernardino by 3 pm
The next 3 days where always going to be on the long side, covering large mileages.
Tuesday it was up and over the San Bernardino, down the Splugen
along the Maloja, over the Abula, down the Ofen and over the Fluela, which was in 30 degree sun but stopping the car and getting out was like walking down the chiller section of a supermarket!
The plan was then to take the Umbrail to the top of the stelvio and then the East step to the Reschen, but Lance Armstrong and his mates had decided the Umbrail was to be shut so it was a direct route over the Reschen pass and into Imst. Where due to more poor planning
and equally bad web sites the longest Alpine coaster was also found to be shut After a very good nights kip following a 7 course evening meal (68 half board) the TimselJoch beckoned and shortly after the Jaufenen pass, with a short stop at the top for piccies:
An uneventfull drive lead us to Bolzano and onto the Dolomites. Via many many passes we found Pian and our Hotel for the night.
The following day we completed our figure 8 in the Dolomites with a further 8 passes
Finally making it back to Bolzano for 1 pm and heading straight for the Autostrada over the Brenner pass and onto Berchtesgarden.
Friday was a day of rest and a visit to the Eagles Nest, Hitlers Tea house and 50th Birthday present
Tunnel to elevator
Elaborate entrance hall at the end of the tunnel
Saturday was Autobahn thrashing up till Aachen and then Sunday the boring job of traversing Belgium and the ferry home.
The video can also be seen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq7f7Es1i5o
Cracking trip. We have just returned from a similar sojourn - took the overnight car train from Dusseldorf down to Munich to ensure as much time in the Alps as possible; then 4 amazing days taking in all the quality passes around Andermatt, across to Bormio for 2 days around the Stelvio/Davos area and finally across to the Dolomites before heading home on the train from Innsbruck at the end of an epic adventure. Ages in the planning, over far too quickly, but many smiles, photos and miles completed.
One mini-route not to be missed if you are there again; half way along the Ofenpass between the Stelvio and Fluela passes there was a toll-tunnel which took you down to Livigno. We paid the 10e toll for an epic 3k blat along an eerie straight tunnel; however the real pleasure was the 5 mile or so lake/dam side road which had fantastic tarmac, plenty of tunnels and long flowing stretches which made for some really good driving. A very pleasant little surprise and a nice way to get back from Davos to Bormio instead of re-doing the Stelvio from the NE to the SW (generally considered the poorer way to do it).
One mini-route not to be missed if you are there again; half way along the Ofenpass between the Stelvio and Fluela passes there was a toll-tunnel which took you down to Livigno. We paid the 10e toll for an epic 3k blat along an eerie straight tunnel; however the real pleasure was the 5 mile or so lake/dam side road which had fantastic tarmac, plenty of tunnels and long flowing stretches which made for some really good driving. A very pleasant little surprise and a nice way to get back from Davos to Bormio instead of re-doing the Stelvio from the NE to the SW (generally considered the poorer way to do it).
Edited by Mustang Baz on Wednesday 30th June 23:19
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