Four days in the Alps this weekend

Four days in the Alps this weekend

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sc23

Original Poster:

22 posts

141 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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My friend and I have decided, very much last minute, to embark on a four day Alpine road trip this coming weekend.

We are leaving tomorrow night on the Eurotunnel, and have a hotel booked in Saint Quentin, about 90 minutes south of Calais. The only other concrete plan is to get to Zurich on Friday night - I used to live there and we have planned a night out with my friends.

I wanted to bounce our route around - there's a lot of expertise on this forum , and I would appreciate any feedback (we'll be checking Pistonheads regularly once we have started the trip so any last minute thoughts are welcome!). I've done my best to read as many threads as possible, and the advice has helped mould our route.

Interested in your thoughts, especially if (i) you think the route is rubbish (ii) you think we are doing too much (iii) you have particular tips on where to stay in a particular location or(iv) if you think we should cut or replace any of the route....

It's quite a lot of driving in 4 days - so am not sure if we are biting off more than we can chew. However I'm a Central London dweller so am keen to make the most of some proper roads!

You'll also note that we don't have any plans for the last day of the trip (the return leg) - recommendations appreciated!

Friday

- breakfast in Reims
- drive from Reims to Baden Baden for a late lunch
- afternoon drive through the Black Forest (Baden Baden to Schramberg)
- late afternoon tea in Schramberg or thereabouts
- evening drive down to Zurich

Saturday

- Zurich to Glarus
- Klausen Pass (east to west)
- Drive south to Aldermatt
- Drive the Furka Pass and Grimselpass
- Swim in lake and late lunch
- Saint Gotthard Pass
- Drive down to Bellinzona
- Stay in Como (possibly hop over to Maggiore if we have time)

Sunday

- Breakfast in Como
- drive up east side of Como
- Passo del Moloja
- Passo del Bernina
- Stelios Pass
- Afternoon tea at top of Stelio Pass
- Ofenpass

We then aren't sure how to play things. I hear the Silvettastrasse in the Silvretta Alpine National Park is good, but I don't know if after the rest of Sunday's action we will be too tired. So one option would be to loop from there towards Davos. Or option B is to do an evening drive to Galtur, do the Silvettastrasse, and then overnight in Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (where we have friends)

Monday

- no plans - possible doing some of the sections that we didn't manage on Sunday - as long as we make our Eurotunnel at 1020, open to suggestions!!

I'll be sure to post a report of the trip on our return.

Cheers all.

Crimefighter

152 posts

135 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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Are you and your friend going to be sharing the driving? I may be getting old but that looks like a punishing schedule to me! If you are young and up for it, you might be alright.

That said, your itinerary looks very exciting. Just returned from a road trip to the alps myself (albeit over 10 days), and all of your selections look great.

Zed 44

1,242 posts

155 months

Wednesday 24th September 2014
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I agree with Crimefighter and you're driving through a lot of areas which have great driving roads which you appear to be missing altogether just to tick boxes, ie. the Black Forest which could easily take 2 days to do and has some great driving roads there. Re, the Andermatt loop passes, the Furka was least pleasant to drive for me. Going west towards the Grimsel from Hospental the road was at times bumpy, narrow and full of traffic including tourist buses and service buses.

Your Friday route looks very ambitious even allowing for not taking breakfast and lunch. Non stop driving from Reims to Zurich is over 7 hours on autoroutes. Presumably you would want to drive the (some would say overrated) B500 to Schramberg which if you want to drive it in the daytime is going to probably add another couple of hours to that. Having traveled a lot in Europe I think you need to add another 30% minimum to those hours to account for petrol and food stops, photographs, pee stops and getting lost and slow traffic.

I'm in Calais at the moment having done a tour of the Black Forest and the Andermatt loop. We had a great time but covered a lot less turf in a longer time than you plan to take.

In any case, good luck, have fun and drive fast but safely. thumbup

sc23

Original Poster:

22 posts

141 months

Thursday 25th September 2014
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Thanks both. Crimefighter - I'm 32, and (I like to think!) in pretty good shape. But I hear what you are both saying - it's a lot of miles in only four days! I think we'll have to see how we go and how tired we are. Tomorrow (Friday) will be a good litmus test - with our concrete date in the diary we do need to get there by dinner, starting from a Reims breakfast. But beyond that, we have nothing booked, so we are flexible. Unfortunately we couldn't get my friend onto my insurance (the insurer said no as he doesn't have experience in a similar car) so I'll be doing all the driving (not that I mind too much once we get to the mountains!). We can always trim down the number of passes we do in Andermatt or on our way back up from Como. I'll let you know how we get on.

Cheers!

Crimefighter

152 posts

135 months

Friday 26th September 2014
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You might find that you are tired in the evenings from the driving, and you mate is up for a big night - best to pack the red bulls! :-)

In any event, hope you have a great time.

CF.

AdiT

1,025 posts

156 months

Friday 26th September 2014
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I wonder if he's still on plan? Should be finishing lunch in BadenBaden about now.

sc23

Original Poster:

22 posts

141 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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I'm back! Very happy, if a little tired! A fantastic trip - I'm missing those mountain roads already. As predicted, it was a lot to do in four days, but we managed to pack most of it in (and more). I'll do a full write up in the relevant section, but here's a quick run-down of what we got up to:

Thursday night
We took a late Eurotunnel, and had a good chat with the lads in the Boxster S who were driving down to Chamonix in a six car convoy. If you are reading this, I hope you had a great trip! I enjoyed seeing the Ariel Atom in the group gunning past us at midnight on the motorway down to Reims - the lights reflecting off the tubular chassis looked spectacular. We stayed over at Hotel Kyriad in Saint Quentin - about an hour south of Calais. It is two minutes off the autoroute, is clean, modern, good value and most importantly has safe parking with nice wide spaces!!

Friday
After breakfast in Reims and a look around the cathedral, we arrived in Baden Baden for a late lunch - sitting in the main square in 25 degree sunshine was rather nice. We then headed down the B500 through the Black Forest (Baden Baden to Schramberg) - we also hopped off the main route and into the surrounding forests, where we found some spectacular roads, tiny villages and no traffic! From there it was a short autobahn hop to Zurich, where we stayed with a friend. Crimefighter, as predicted, I was tired but we were both ready for a big night out - which finished at 3amsmile This meant a later start on Saturday...

Saturday
We headed south to the Furka Pass, which was a great introduction to driving the famous alpine passes. The views are spectacular - the only problems we experienced were the narrow nature of the road in places (tricky with a wide car) and the surface isn't great - we were bouncing all over the place in Sport Mode. From there we headed up the Grimselpass for a quick dip in the lake.

Next up was the Nufenpass, or Nufenstrasse which goes from Ulrichen to Airolo. This is a less beaten path, and traffic was light. I found this to be my favourite section of the day - the surface was good, not too tricky to overtake, plenty of switchbacks and straights, and amazing views of a glacier from the top.

From there it was the autoroute down to Lago di Como, where we wolfed down a fantastic pizza on a terrace on the west side of the lake, and then headed into Como - dropping the car in an underground car park overnight, and heading out into the town's piazzas for some drinks and gelati. A nightcap negroni went down a treat, and I was happy to wake up without the customary negroanover...

Sunday
We started with breakfast in Bergamo, beating the tourist hoardes by heading up the funicular at 830. From there it was a longish drive up towards the Stelios Pass. After the initial tight turns and tunnels, the road opened up as we climbed higher and higher, making for easier overtaking, great views and great driving. The top really is a mecca for drivers, motorbikers, cyclists and skiers headed up the cable car to the glacier. After wolfing down an excellent bratwurst sandwich, it was down into the South Tyrol area of Italy, for some stunning A roads up to the Austrian border via the Reschenpass. This area was a real surprise for us - it's truly picture postcard, with excellent well-maintained roads and great views.

After a long day, we arrived at our final 'event' of the day - the Silvetastrasse. We approached from the south - the final 15km up to the toll booth in Glarus are great fun, as you work up the valley from ski resort to ski resort. We paid our 15 euros and off we went - up the best road I have ever driven. There were no other cars, just a perfectly surfaced, wide and clearly sighted road up a stunning valley that reminded me more of a Highlands landscape than the Alps. After a quick break at the resevoir at the top of the pass, we dropped down the other side through a series of tight switchbacks, each perfectly cambered making it easy to place the car and accelerate out to the next turn. I can't wait to return.

From there it was an uneventful drive up Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance (where we have friends) for a well earned steak and weissbier.

Monday
With a tunnel booked for 1020pm, there was no escaping the fact that we had some big miles to do in the day - so we opted for chasing numbers up the German autobahn, stopping for breakfast in Stuttgart (very pleasant sitting on a terrace overlooking the main square) and then a late lunch in Luxembourg (didn't really grab me, although the drizzle which had then swept over northern Europe didn't exactly make anything photogenic). And from there we headed home, via bits of Belgium, and past Lille.

Would I do it again? Definitely. Would I attempt so much in so few days? Probably not. I think we could have done with an extra day - maybe a 'rest day' half-way through. If you haven't yet done an Alpine road trip, get out there and do it.

Next year - Southern French Alps and the Route Napoleon is tempting me. And maybe I'll take a few more days of holiday!

Cheers.

ss1977

88 posts

184 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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Enjoyed reading that, thanks for posting. Has given me some ideas for a potential road trip next year.

Crimefighter

152 posts

135 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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Indeed, great writeup - enjoyed the read, and glad you had a fantastic time.

Also impressed you remembered it in such detail! :-)

Zed 44

1,242 posts

155 months

Tuesday 30th September 2014
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I am curious about the "Stelios" pass. Is this a new one I haven't heard of or a misspelling of the Stelvio. It's just that you've used it several times before.

sc23

Original Poster:

22 posts

141 months

Wednesday 1st October 2014
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my badsmile I was clearly still very tired when writing up! Yes, the Stelvio. Highly recommended if you haven't driven it yet.