Scenic routes through the Alps
Discussion
American tourist visiting Europe for the first time for my honeymoon, staying 2 weeks in Italy/Switzerland in early September. We will be taking public transportation for the first week in Rome/Florence/Bologna, then renting a car in Bologna and driving to San Candido for 4 nights and then over to Lugano for 2 nights before flying out of Milan. One of the things I most look forward to on this trip is driving in the Alps. Looking for some suggested routes for Bologna to San Candido, as well as from San Candido to Lugano. Here is what I have mapped out so far...
From Bologna to San Candido, probably stop at one of the car museums (either Ferrari Museum in Maranello or Lamborghini Museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese, possibly Pagani Museum near Castelfranco Emilia, any suggestions?) near Bologna/Modena, then head north to Trento on the A22. Beyond Trento, my plan is to head into the Dolomites on SS612 to SS48, then take the Sella Pass to the Gardena Pass to the Compolongo Pass, then either the Falzarego Pass or Giau Pass to Cortina, then SS51 to San Candido. Is the Giau Pass worth the extra 15 or so minutes instead of the Falzarego Pass?
While staying in San Candido, we will be taking a trip over to Grossglockner in Austria for a day, driving it and hiking at the Pasterze Glacier.
The route from San Candido to Lugano is still a rough idea, starting with a stop at Stelvio Pass. We would only do the "north" side, going up the hairpins and then heading onto the Umbrail Pass into Switzerland. After that, we would go over to the Albula Pass, south on the San Bernardino Pass (not taking the tunnel) and then into Lugano. We will be driving this on a Thursday in September, so hoping Stelvio isn't too busy.
Any input on the routes, or any other passes in the area I should definitely see? We are renting a "premium car" through Sixt, which they consider a BMW 4 series or similar, so hoping to have a nice ride for the nice views. A few more things to add, I have my international drivers license, Sixt allows cross-border travel for a small fee, and I will check to see if the car has the Swiss vignette, otherwise I will purchase. Shouldn't need the Austrian vignette because I'll be far from their highways.
Thanks for any advice!
From Bologna to San Candido, probably stop at one of the car museums (either Ferrari Museum in Maranello or Lamborghini Museum in Sant'Agata Bolognese, possibly Pagani Museum near Castelfranco Emilia, any suggestions?) near Bologna/Modena, then head north to Trento on the A22. Beyond Trento, my plan is to head into the Dolomites on SS612 to SS48, then take the Sella Pass to the Gardena Pass to the Compolongo Pass, then either the Falzarego Pass or Giau Pass to Cortina, then SS51 to San Candido. Is the Giau Pass worth the extra 15 or so minutes instead of the Falzarego Pass?
While staying in San Candido, we will be taking a trip over to Grossglockner in Austria for a day, driving it and hiking at the Pasterze Glacier.
The route from San Candido to Lugano is still a rough idea, starting with a stop at Stelvio Pass. We would only do the "north" side, going up the hairpins and then heading onto the Umbrail Pass into Switzerland. After that, we would go over to the Albula Pass, south on the San Bernardino Pass (not taking the tunnel) and then into Lugano. We will be driving this on a Thursday in September, so hoping Stelvio isn't too busy.
Any input on the routes, or any other passes in the area I should definitely see? We are renting a "premium car" through Sixt, which they consider a BMW 4 series or similar, so hoping to have a nice ride for the nice views. A few more things to add, I have my international drivers license, Sixt allows cross-border travel for a small fee, and I will check to see if the car has the Swiss vignette, otherwise I will purchase. Shouldn't need the Austrian vignette because I'll be far from their highways.
Thanks for any advice!
No help on the route, but as you're American you may not be aware of this:
DO NOT SPEED IN SWITZERLAND.
Not even a tiny bit. Distances are in Km and speeds are in Km/Hr. It may not feel like you're speeding if you see a 50 sign, but that's really 30MPH so you need to make sure you're looking at the speedometer.
DO NOT SPEED IN SWITZERLAND.
Not even a tiny bit. Distances are in Km and speeds are in Km/Hr. It may not feel like you're speeding if you see a 50 sign, but that's really 30MPH so you need to make sure you're looking at the speedometer.
I'll try to keep that in mind. I'm used to driving in Canada so metric isn't foreign to me, but I do tend to speed in the states with the help of a radar detector. Will not be bringing that with me (I think they're illegal in Europe anyways?), so I'll have to keep an eye on my speed. I've heard Italy is strict about speed too, with cameras and such, but that also Italian drivers will go speeding by so I'll have to get used to that.
As a Swiss citizen/resident I could say “Please drive faster than the limit” to help finance our police budgets 
But seriously, there is no law against fixed or mobile speed cameras being hidden in trees or hedges, set back at tunnel exits/bridges, so that once you’ve seen them, it’s too late.
Fines can be eye-watering, they will trace you via the car rental company (automatic exchange of info with EU countries), or if you get pulled over the police will escort you to the nearest ATM. Similar to the USA they don’t have a great sense of humour and do have guns.
Urban/village localities are often 30/40kmh and not 50 these days, but you are more likely to be caught out on what looks like a wide main road where 100/110 would be perfectly reasonable, but is 80 like all non-interstate/motorway cantonal roads.
Enjoy the Alps, but just keep an eye on the speedo
But seriously, there is no law against fixed or mobile speed cameras being hidden in trees or hedges, set back at tunnel exits/bridges, so that once you’ve seen them, it’s too late.
Fines can be eye-watering, they will trace you via the car rental company (automatic exchange of info with EU countries), or if you get pulled over the police will escort you to the nearest ATM. Similar to the USA they don’t have a great sense of humour and do have guns.
Urban/village localities are often 30/40kmh and not 50 these days, but you are more likely to be caught out on what looks like a wide main road where 100/110 would be perfectly reasonable, but is 80 like all non-interstate/motorway cantonal roads.
Enjoy the Alps, but just keep an eye on the speedo
Firstly, you will have a fabulous time. We have just spent three weeks driving from Scotland down to Treviso and back on an extended road trip, staying in Stuttgart, Salzburg, nr Treviso and Friedrickshafen. You will find the Grossglockner an incredible road but be prepared for it to be cold at the top, early July it was 2c (35f) and still snow lurking. Sadly it was very foggy for us up there so the views weren't extensive. Note also that it is a toll road, you pay at a road toll gate and it's 35 euro so no need to do anything before you get there.
While it is a spectacular road, we found plenty of motorbikes, cycles and cars, so it's not a fast road. Having said that, plenty of sports cars were up there clearly enjoying it where they could. Also note that the cafe at the top will take card payment, but very very much prefer cash payment and advertise no card payments.
We also had a day out to Cortina using the SS48 - again relatively busy but spectacular scenery. We came back via the Giau pass and would definitely recommend it. It's busy with bikes and cyclists on the Cortina side to the top, people obviously day tripping, but once over the other side we had the place to ourselves most of the way down, sometimes following cyclists hitting 50mph. We were in a convertible mercedes c class, which was fun enough but it was a road I'd have loved to have been on in my Alpine a110!
Another one to seek out is the Passo San Boldo, a bit further south. Single lane, tunnelled hairpins. Say no more.
Your schedule looks great but I wouldn't underestimate how low your average speeds might be. You might have to start out fairly early in the day to fit it all in, especially if you want to stop and look around.
But it's a great part of the world to explore. We had no issues with speeding in Italy. Yes there are cameras but little in the way of enforcement was noted.
While it is a spectacular road, we found plenty of motorbikes, cycles and cars, so it's not a fast road. Having said that, plenty of sports cars were up there clearly enjoying it where they could. Also note that the cafe at the top will take card payment, but very very much prefer cash payment and advertise no card payments.
We also had a day out to Cortina using the SS48 - again relatively busy but spectacular scenery. We came back via the Giau pass and would definitely recommend it. It's busy with bikes and cyclists on the Cortina side to the top, people obviously day tripping, but once over the other side we had the place to ourselves most of the way down, sometimes following cyclists hitting 50mph. We were in a convertible mercedes c class, which was fun enough but it was a road I'd have loved to have been on in my Alpine a110!
Another one to seek out is the Passo San Boldo, a bit further south. Single lane, tunnelled hairpins. Say no more.
Your schedule looks great but I wouldn't underestimate how low your average speeds might be. You might have to start out fairly early in the day to fit it all in, especially if you want to stop and look around.
But it's a great part of the world to explore. We had no issues with speeding in Italy. Yes there are cameras but little in the way of enforcement was noted.
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