Road Trip to Fuori Concorso 2026

[wobert]

As an avid watcher of Harry’s Garage and to perhaps give others some ideas of potential routes, I thought I’d start a blog of the trip I’m starting later today to visit Fuori Concorso next Sunday in Cernobbio, nr Como.

The start point was Harry’s trip in his 930 Turbo in 2025. I really enjoyed the vlog he did heading down to Como, and this was the inspiration for this solo road trip.

I’ve mulled over various options and have settled on the following itinerary:

Day 1 - Chester to Folkestone
Day 2 - early tunnel, then Calais to St Die des Vosges
Day 3 - St Die des Vosges to Freiburg, via the Vosges
Day 4 - Freiburg to Interlaken via the Black Forest
Day 5 - Interlaken area
Day 6 - Interlaken to Como
Day 7 - Como
Day 8 - Fuori Concorso
Day 9 - Como to Annecy
Day 10 - Annecy to Calais
Day 11 - Folkestone to Chester

I’m travelling solo in this…I’ll try and update the thread daily with thoughts and some photos…

[Driversmatter]

Nice. Bookmarked. Safe travels.

[giveitfish]

Ditto!

[wobert]

Thanks

Day one was uneventful, a 4.5 hrs schlep down to Folkestone and a stay at the Holiday Inn Express at Cheriton, a mile from the tunnel.

Filled up at the local Tesco, to take advantage of the cheaper fuel on this side of the tunnel.

An early start this morning, saw me grouped with a Porsche and Corvette.



I headed the normal route south down the A26 and decided on lunch in Epernay. I was last here in 2024 after following the first week of the Tour de France.





I ve since headed east to stop overnight nr St Die des Vosges, the idea being that there some great roads down towards Mulhouse. The D420, D417 and D430 look to be good!

I m staying in Freiburg tomorrow night, so will do a few loops before getting some high speed action on the Rhine autobahn heading north



I ve picked well with tonight s hotel, Logis Le Regal just outside St Die, nice indoor pool and great views from the room, if only it wasn t raining

Edited by wobert on Monday 11th May 19:21

Edited by wobert on Monday 11th May 19:26

Edited by wobert on Monday 11th May 21:17

[wobert]

Day three started bright and sunny and lead to me visiting Grand Ballon and Ballon D Alsace via the superb passes that are in the Vosges.

The roads were pretty empty, and those that did have traffic, pretty much waved me past at every opportunity.

It really is a forgotten area of France.









I intended to have lunch in Belfort, but arrived at 2pm, so every eaterie denied me entry, school boy error, entirely my bad.

I tried some high speed runs up and down the A5 autobahn, but the traffic wasn t playing ball, I managed 130 mph momentarily, before having to brake for traffic. Germany used to be a place of impeccable lane discipline and mirror use, sadly it s no more

I finished the day in Freiburg, slightly underwhelmed by the old town and dinner was average after last night s feast.





The B500 through the Black Forest beckons tomorrow, then a schlep down to Interlaken.

Edited by wobert on Tuesday 12th May 21:23

[bentley01]

Enjoy the driving. We are heading your direction starting on the 23rd and spending 13 days driving. I hope the weather picks up for you.

[wobert]

Day four saw me head from Freiburg upto Gutach-im-Breisgau to go into the Black Forest.

This route saw me onto the B500 towards Tittisee, Schlusee then down to Koblenz on the Rhine, where I crossed the border into Switzerland.

I d heard many good things about the B500, but I found it slightly underwhelming, too much traffic and roadworks conspired against a free run through.

Don t get me wrong, it s a beautiful area, but it seemed the poor relation to the Vosges with its empty passes and many switch backs.





Then it was into Switzerland, just as I ticked over 1000 miles, I headed towards Zurich then picked up the motorway towards Cham & Lucerne, lots of tunnels to keep me entertained!

I came off the motorway at Stans and headed towards Interlaken, here the scenery took a turn, so there were regular stops to take photos







I had another stop for fuel in Brienz (the third in three days!) at a garage that was also a Renault dealer the Turbo2 was





Then onto Interlaken to check-in to my hotel.



After a day in the car, I headed out on foot and went up the Harder Kulm funnicular to get some views over Interlaken and beyond.

Spectacular is the word!





I decided to skip the funicular back down and took the path back to town for a well deserved beer.

Day 5 will be car free, as I m heading to Brienz on the train, to go up the Rothorn and walk down. It ll then be a boat back to base. The weather is looking changeable, but I have suitable kit with me, so I m sure I ll make the most of it!

[wobert]

Day 5 went as planned, reliance to public transport and quite a bit of walking.

The weather was supposed to be 50% chance of rain, but I got lucky…

Early train from Interlaken to Brienz…



Then the first train up the Brienz Rothorn…







I then headed down the 4 miles back to town…a mix of road and “wanderwegs”.

The views in places were stunning…









I had a coffee and lunch in Brienz, then got the boat back to Interlaken. This co-incided with the weather turning, so it was perfectly timed, I forgot to take any photos on the boat, as I’d zoned out after all the fresh air.

I got back to my hotel mid afternoon, so headed up to Grindelwald to see if the Eiger was viewable, it wasn’t, so I decamped to a cafe for a snack…



I got chatting to two American couples who were holidaying together, both the husbands were car fanatics so we had a good talk about my Lotus and their Porsches, both owned modern 911s and both had 930’s too. It was great to hear their car histories…

Friday sees me leaving Switzerland and heading to Como.

I’ve decided to use the car-train from Kandersteg to Brig and then over the Simplon pass into Italy, I’m looking forward to this as it’s a real adventure…

[plynchy]

Heading down that way in a couple of weeks in my GT4, not for the first time. The scenery is just incredible.

One note from your plan, Annecy to Calais in one run is pretty sizeable!

[wobert]

plynchy said:

Heading down that way in a couple of weeks in my GT4, not for the first time. The scenery is just incredible.

One note from your plan, Annecy to Calais in one run is pretty sizeable!

The scenery is stunning, it’s 30+ years since I was in Interlaken and I’ve forgotten just how beautiful the landscape is.

Yes, the final drive from Annecy to Calais will be a long one, nearly 500 miles, I’m staying nr Lumbres so will get a rest before heading back to Blighty.

[Michael_B]

It’s currently -7C at the top of the Simplon, though should be above freezing when you’re there later today. There’s always the car shuttle from Brig towards Domodossola, which I took a few years ago one September on the motorbike with Mrs B, due to unexpected snowfall at Grand St Bernard/Simplon and Mt Blanc was closed for works.

The Bernese Oberland area is indeed exceptional, we can do day trips to Grindelwald from here; Lake Brienz is a little less crowded than the usual places.



I didn’t get the boat that day as I was in my Cayman



Bonne route!

[wobert]

Thanks for the feedback, useful to know there’s another option to the Simplon, Waze is primed to give me what works the best in terms of routing…

[Michael_B]

Looks like only a possible sprinkling of snow/sleet today at the Simplon summit, on four wheels you’ll be fine.

The shuttle is FCFS and runs every two hours. We were in no rush, though we timed our arrival from Geneva to avoid a long wait. I just didn’t fancy taking a loaded up motorbike and pillion around the hairpins in those conditions!

[plynchy]

wobert said:

Thanks for the feedback, useful to know there s another option to the Simplon, Waze is primed to give me what works the best in terms of routing

As an avid user of Waze, I was pointed toward TomTom by a colleague, hadn't used it for years but the app is actually very good.
Allows you to plot your routes exactly as you want them on a PC then sync with your phone etc for use in the car. Used it last year to capture many of the Swiss/Italian mountain passes and it worked very well.

[wobert]

Day 6 started early and wet.

I headed from Interlaken down to Kandersteg to pick the car-train service up to Goppenstein. A bargain CH31 francs!



It was then a drive over the Simplon pass into Italy, the road was clear apart from a few trucks.









Then down to damp Maggiore and over to Como.



Having spent 6 hrs driving, I decided a walk was needed, so I headed up the funnicular at Brunate and walked down.





And a much needed beer at the end…!!



The plan today is today head up to Balaggio, Verenna and Managgio, linking the three with ferries, either with, or without the car.

The weather is set fair for the weekend!

[wobert]

I forgot to add, this beauty was parked up in the hotel car park…

[wobert]

Day 7 was spent mooching around Bellagio, Verenna and Menaggio.

Como to Bellagio is c1 hr by car, the views above the lake are stunning, it is such a beautiful area to drive around.



I stopped in Bellagio and went for a wander, since it was the first decent day’s weather in weeks the place was utterly overrun by people.

I had a coffee in town, then headed back to car to weigh the options on where to head next…






So…I decided to head to Verenna via the car ferry, which was a very reasonable €12.70 for me and the Lotus.







Verenna fared no better for flocks of people, so I drove north as far as Dervio as I needed to refuel.

Then back to Verenna to catch the ferry to Menaggio.







I ended the day back at Como and since I’d not eaten since breakfast, I had an Aperitivo before dinner.



Today, is the point of the whole trip, Furio Concorso 2026!

[wobert]

So, thoughts on today….

Pretty good, but not without comment.

I pre-purchased tickets to smooth the entry to the event, the reality was I had to queue as the “online” ticket needed to be “validated”, which meant there was little benefit to prepurchase, throw in a bit of Italian ambiguity, and there was some chaos.

However, this was a minor gripe compared to the event itself. It turned out to be a little smaller than I’d imagined, but as the saying goes, “small but perfectly formed”…

I even managed to meet both Harry and Frank Sytner, the latter of whom was happy to chat…

Here’s a selection of the day’s photos…

[wobert]