Alps road trip in October
Discussion
Hi everyone
Looking for some insight please from any seasoned Euro road-trippers.
I'm looking to do a bucket list Alps tour. This will be a major departure for me as not only have I never done anything like that before (a blast around North Wales for the day is as far as I've ventured so far), but also because the car I intend to take has barely seen the light of day in the two years I've owned it (I bought it, spent unjustifiable sums making it the spec and condition I wanted and then, too afraid to spend another penny on it, duly mothballed it). However, I'm turning 40 and decided sod it, life is too short...time to drive the damn thing.
I'm looking at a 4 night tour covering all the major passes (Stelvio, Tremola, Grimsel, Furka, Gotthard etc) but...it's in October.
Having never been in the area at that time before, I have no idea what the weather will be like. Is ice a risk? Are passes likely to be closed due to snow? How likely is it the sun won't make a showing at all? Is it nuts going in a 20 year old 911 C2S (rear wheel drive) on summer tyres? It's with an experienced company so I'm not worried about safety so much as not getting the full fat alpine pass experience.
I know the weather is super variable and its impossible to say what it will be like on any given day, but wanted to get a general sense from people whether it was worth even considering, or whether I should look for a trip during the safer (but busier) summer months?
Cheers!
Neil
Looking for some insight please from any seasoned Euro road-trippers.
I'm looking to do a bucket list Alps tour. This will be a major departure for me as not only have I never done anything like that before (a blast around North Wales for the day is as far as I've ventured so far), but also because the car I intend to take has barely seen the light of day in the two years I've owned it (I bought it, spent unjustifiable sums making it the spec and condition I wanted and then, too afraid to spend another penny on it, duly mothballed it). However, I'm turning 40 and decided sod it, life is too short...time to drive the damn thing.
I'm looking at a 4 night tour covering all the major passes (Stelvio, Tremola, Grimsel, Furka, Gotthard etc) but...it's in October.
Having never been in the area at that time before, I have no idea what the weather will be like. Is ice a risk? Are passes likely to be closed due to snow? How likely is it the sun won't make a showing at all? Is it nuts going in a 20 year old 911 C2S (rear wheel drive) on summer tyres? It's with an experienced company so I'm not worried about safety so much as not getting the full fat alpine pass experience.
I know the weather is super variable and its impossible to say what it will be like on any given day, but wanted to get a general sense from people whether it was worth even considering, or whether I should look for a trip during the safer (but busier) summer months?
Cheers!
Neil
Neil I think you'll find a lot of the passes closed by then also in Italy there will be a requirement for winter tyres by then, not sure about Switzerland's rules. We did a brilliant trip in Mid Sept back in 2017 inc the Stelvio and it was OK, also last year we did mid May and a lot of the passes were closed
We did a similar trip in 2022 in mid October - all passes were open and weather was nice but I think it's luck of the draw at that time of year. Some of the passes were surprisingly busy on weekends so that's something to keep in mind for scheduling. It's a fantastic holiday so you should go for sure regardless! 
I did a trip report with some pics and maps for inspiration - starts half way down:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I did a trip report with some pics and maps for inspiration - starts half way down:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
We did a 3 day stay in Andermatt in June 2022 as part of a self organised European tour.
As you say the weather can be variable even then - we did the Furka, Grimsel, Susten loop on a Sunday and the Furka in particular was really busy especially with bikers. The weather changed during the trip from dark cloud 13 degrees on the Furka to 28 degrees decending the Grimsel.
The plan for the next day was to travel to Livigno in Italy (duty free status) via the Oberalp pass but departing the underground car park in our accommodation the TPMS shouted out we had a puncture so that screwed (literally) our day as we needed to get it fixed as we were due in Annecy, France the next day. Luckily it was repairable.
Remember Switzerland is pretty expensive - a pizza is likely to cost you around £20.
Out of interest we enjoyed the Susten Pass the most.
As you say the weather can be variable even then - we did the Furka, Grimsel, Susten loop on a Sunday and the Furka in particular was really busy especially with bikers. The weather changed during the trip from dark cloud 13 degrees on the Furka to 28 degrees decending the Grimsel.
The plan for the next day was to travel to Livigno in Italy (duty free status) via the Oberalp pass but departing the underground car park in our accommodation the TPMS shouted out we had a puncture so that screwed (literally) our day as we needed to get it fixed as we were due in Annecy, France the next day. Luckily it was repairable.
Remember Switzerland is pretty expensive - a pizza is likely to cost you around £20.
Out of interest we enjoyed the Susten Pass the most.
Cheers all - great to get some insights and to read your stories.
Seefarr - read your fantastic write up with pics and then couldn't believe the horror story ending. Talk about a twist - was gutted for you. Read on and saw you got a lovely replacement - hope you're enjoying it every bit as much!
A cool thing about reading write-ups like that is that it reminds garage queen worshippers like me how much more joy cars bring when they're being used as intended instead of being garage ornaments - pretty inspiring stuff!
So it sounds like the takeaway is it's in the lap of the weather gods. Might just suck it up and go for it. Sounds like it'll be an adventure either way!
Seefarr - read your fantastic write up with pics and then couldn't believe the horror story ending. Talk about a twist - was gutted for you. Read on and saw you got a lovely replacement - hope you're enjoying it every bit as much!
A cool thing about reading write-ups like that is that it reminds garage queen worshippers like me how much more joy cars bring when they're being used as intended instead of being garage ornaments - pretty inspiring stuff!
So it sounds like the takeaway is it's in the lap of the weather gods. Might just suck it up and go for it. Sounds like it'll be an adventure either way!
I did a trip in September and October last year.
First one was to Lake Annecy and the Maurienne Valley (some great roads there).
Second one was through to Switzerland, hit stelvio pass and then went into Austria, and Grossglockner. Roads were pretty quiet at that time of year and we had great weather. Austria was phenomenal though, the roads were just amazing and the scenery was 10/10.
First one was to Lake Annecy and the Maurienne Valley (some great roads there).
Second one was through to Switzerland, hit stelvio pass and then went into Austria, and Grossglockner. Roads were pretty quiet at that time of year and we had great weather. Austria was phenomenal though, the roads were just amazing and the scenery was 10/10.
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