Well, I have finally got around to doing a bit of a report from my Road Trip through the Alps. We were actually on our Honeymoon after getting married in Scotland a few days before departing.
Thanks to much research on here and PistonHeads, I planned a two week holiday.
I would have liked to have more pictures but the weather was not great.
We took the Portsmouth to St Malo ferry on a Monday evening and arrived in La Rochelle on the Tuesday lunchtime.
(Not the Alps I know but the wife wanted to visit again).
La Rochelle:
After a couple of days we drove across France to Annecy.
The rain was unbelievable and we opted to do two drives with a night in mid France.
Annecy, lovely town on Lake Annecy.
We spent a couple of days here relaxing and eating!
(Note: Don’t stay at the Best Western Hotel International)
Annecy:
We then headed in to the Alps passing through Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey, Jaun and Interlaken.
Arriving at the Jaun Pass which we drove West to East.
Jaun Pass:
Susten Pass:
Klausen Pass from West to East:
(bumped in to this guy)
We spent a night in Weesen which is a really nice town.
We next drove to Davos for a look around but as it was raining, we drove on towards Zernez on the Fluelapass
Next towards Santa Maria Val Müstair on the Fuorn Pass
And then the long awaited Umbrail Pass. This road takes you over the mountain from Switzerland to Italy. At the top visibility was down to a few meters!
The Umbrail Pass joins the famous Stelvio Pass about half way along. I opted to go South in to Italy to find a hotel.
Umbrail Pass:
In to Italy:
The next day was my long awaited Stelvio Pass drive. Unfortunately it was pissing it down and the fog was so thick at the top that we couldn’t get many good pictures.
I was a little disappointed with the road surface but it was very exciting.
My brakes were cooked by the time we reached the bottom.
I was planning to go back up the North face again but as the weather was bad I opted to drive on.
Stelvio Pass:
I don’t know how many people have heard of the Silvretta Hochalpenstraße in Austria. I think I read about it in Evo once and it stuck in my head ever since.
I can say now with out a doubt that it is much better than any of the other roads I drove, including Stelvio Pass!
Silvretta Hochalpenstraße:
The road is actually a Toll Road and they charge about Ten Euros to drive it. Worth every penny as the road surface is like new. The pictures speak for themselves I think.
Apart from the drive away from the Silvretta Hochalpenstraße, the rest was just normal driving.
We had to do a Six hour drive to get from Austria to Epernay in the Champagne region.
We spent Three nights in a fantastic hotel called La Villa Eugene which was our base for exploring some of the Champagne Houses.
All in all a fantastic Two Weeks and how I ever got permission to do it for a Honeymoon I don’t know.
Thanks to all who gave advice on the forum and thanks to all who give detailed reports with pictures, they helped no end.
My Z is all Clayed, Polished, covered and packed away in the garage now. I will be putting it on the market in October when I get back from work.
Before Cleaning:
Some observations:
French Toll Roads are fantastic and I had no problem parting with my cash. The best result was that on my 6 hour drive, the operators of the Tolls were on Strike!
French Drivers have no idea what an indicator is for. On or Off, it bears no relationship to what the car is doing.
Switzerland is bloody expensive and I would recommend staying in Austria, France or Italy if possible.
Italian drivers are just bloody crazy!
Note: I may have got some of the picture locations mixed.
Here are a few more that I’m unsure of the location:
Pic-Nic Z Style
And finally, a BMW X3M:
Thanks to much research on here and PistonHeads, I planned a two week holiday.
I would have liked to have more pictures but the weather was not great.
We took the Portsmouth to St Malo ferry on a Monday evening and arrived in La Rochelle on the Tuesday lunchtime.
(Not the Alps I know but the wife wanted to visit again).
La Rochelle:
After a couple of days we drove across France to Annecy.
The rain was unbelievable and we opted to do two drives with a night in mid France.
Annecy, lovely town on Lake Annecy.
We spent a couple of days here relaxing and eating!
(Note: Don’t stay at the Best Western Hotel International)
Annecy:
We then headed in to the Alps passing through Geneva, Lausanne, Vevey, Jaun and Interlaken.
Arriving at the Jaun Pass which we drove West to East.
Jaun Pass:
Susten Pass:
Klausen Pass from West to East:
(bumped in to this guy)
We spent a night in Weesen which is a really nice town.
We next drove to Davos for a look around but as it was raining, we drove on towards Zernez on the Fluelapass
Next towards Santa Maria Val Müstair on the Fuorn Pass
And then the long awaited Umbrail Pass. This road takes you over the mountain from Switzerland to Italy. At the top visibility was down to a few meters!
The Umbrail Pass joins the famous Stelvio Pass about half way along. I opted to go South in to Italy to find a hotel.
Umbrail Pass:
In to Italy:
The next day was my long awaited Stelvio Pass drive. Unfortunately it was pissing it down and the fog was so thick at the top that we couldn’t get many good pictures.
I was a little disappointed with the road surface but it was very exciting.
My brakes were cooked by the time we reached the bottom.
I was planning to go back up the North face again but as the weather was bad I opted to drive on.
Stelvio Pass:
I don’t know how many people have heard of the Silvretta Hochalpenstraße in Austria. I think I read about it in Evo once and it stuck in my head ever since.
I can say now with out a doubt that it is much better than any of the other roads I drove, including Stelvio Pass!
Silvretta Hochalpenstraße:
The road is actually a Toll Road and they charge about Ten Euros to drive it. Worth every penny as the road surface is like new. The pictures speak for themselves I think.
Apart from the drive away from the Silvretta Hochalpenstraße, the rest was just normal driving.
We had to do a Six hour drive to get from Austria to Epernay in the Champagne region.
We spent Three nights in a fantastic hotel called La Villa Eugene which was our base for exploring some of the Champagne Houses.
All in all a fantastic Two Weeks and how I ever got permission to do it for a Honeymoon I don’t know.
Thanks to all who gave advice on the forum and thanks to all who give detailed reports with pictures, they helped no end.
My Z is all Clayed, Polished, covered and packed away in the garage now. I will be putting it on the market in October when I get back from work.
Before Cleaning:
Some observations:
French Toll Roads are fantastic and I had no problem parting with my cash. The best result was that on my 6 hour drive, the operators of the Tolls were on Strike!
French Drivers have no idea what an indicator is for. On or Off, it bears no relationship to what the car is doing.
Switzerland is bloody expensive and I would recommend staying in Austria, France or Italy if possible.
Italian drivers are just bloody crazy!
Note: I may have got some of the picture locations mixed.
Here are a few more that I’m unsure of the location:
Pic-Nic Z Style
And finally, a BMW X3M:
.
oke:
