When is the best time to go for a blast throught the Alps?

[weeble69]

Thinking of driving through France, Switzerland and Italy down to Venice and back. When would be the best time of year to do this?

Any tips from those of you that have made the Alps trip would be great.

Cheers,
Ian

[madbadger]

June or September.

You need to miss the high passes being closed for winter and avoid the holiday season in the middle when all the roads will become gridlocked with Dutch caravans.

[Maxitrojan]

Ian - worth a visit from the report a Sporting Bears member has put on our website is www.collection-schlumpf.com in Mulhouse. When I looked on www.sportingbears.org.uk and read their "Visit to Schlumpf collection" write up I recognised Mulhouse as one of the places I drove past on my way to Switzerland this year. To say I was gutted to drive past this collection not knowing it was there was an understatment!

The tunnels are great fun but watch the cameras.

[Harsh]

agree with the above, June is great but September is actually better. the traffic is lighter and you get a better run on the passes.

any questions you have on where to visit, i'm more than happy to point you in the right direction.

[Syndrome]

About 10 years ago, or at least before the TG clowns did it and it became "so last year".

[Greeny]

But you can not beat going through the passes just as they have opened, somtimes with a wall of snow several feet high either side of the road!

[Harsh]

takes some good luck with timing though as they dont open at the same time every year!

having said that the snow road in Norway is like that pretty much all the way through the summer.
It's a real highlight of the tour.

[Greeny]

Thats true. Best luck so far was following the snow plow up the Col de Iseran, having by-passed the 'route baree' sign, to be the first across that year. Not much traffic that day. Mid June - on a motorbike!!

[Harsh]

Greeny said:

Thats true. Best luck so far was following the snow plow up the Col de Iseran, having by-passed the 'route baree' sign, to be the first across that year. Not much traffic that day. Mid June - on a motorbike!!

i know what you mean, similar to 14 of us doing it in Atoms in 2008!
very warm down in the valleys but bloody freezing at altitude, and the tyres go off as well!

[will_]

Is May too early to do the Stelvio and suchlike?

[Lambochick]

I've been to Italy twice in May in previous years, and on both occasions most of the passes were still closed.

[krallicious]

will_ said:

Is May too early to do the Stelvio and suchlike?

I would say so. We had snow on the ground in Switzerland in late April and that was only at 700m. Most of the major passes are over 2000m. Generally by the second week of June, most of the passes will be open. Just go early to beat the bloody Dutch!

[will_]

Thanks for those replies, might need to reschedule...!

[Harsh]

Actually, the best time to go is in September,
The weather is still good and you miss all the summer tourist traffic.

[madbadger]

Harsh said:

Actually, the best time to go is in September,
The weather is still good and you miss all the summer tourist traffic.

madbadger said:

June or September.

You need to miss the high passes being closed for winter and avoid the holiday season in the middle when all the roads will become gridlocked with Dutch caravans.

[Harsh]

madbadger said:

Harsh said:

Actually, the best time to go is in September,
The weather is still good and you miss all the summer tourist traffic.

madbadger said:

June or September.

You need to miss the high passes being closed for winter and avoid the holiday season in the middle when all the roads will become gridlocked with Dutch caravans.

in that case i concur with the madbadger!

[UltimateGT]

June is best. Passes are open and not too many bikes. Save time and blast you way down and take your time coming back. There are so many passes that if you miss one because it is closed you can always drive others. The smallest ones are the best because they don´t have so many coaches!

[fatboy18]

When its not Snowing

[michaelw3628]

I was looking at last week of May But as I can't do August and September due to hopefully busy month (Working for main dealer car sales)it sounds like June may be a better time. I want to watch teh World Cup from June 11th so is it realistic to go in first week of June and does 1 week really make that much difference??

[madbadger]

There's a world cup on in June?

Excellent. - that will be the ideal time to go for a drive in the Alps - or almost anywhere else for that matter.