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
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!
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