European Roadtrip + Stelvio pass (very photo heavy)
Discussion
Just returned from an epic 16 day road trip through Europe and thought I'd share some of the photo's.
The whole trip came about when on a lazy Sunday morning we were laying in bed with our coffee's watching an old Top Gear episode when my wife asked my what I wanted to do for my birthday. We hadn't booked our summer holiday yet due to all the airport delay issue's, and just as I was thinking about it, the Top Gear lads were driving up the Stelvio pass, and then I thought, thát would be cool to do!
I go home (the Netherlands) by a car a few times a year, and whilst there we've done trips to Antwerp and Bruges and stuff like that, but I've not done a proper road trip like this before so I was very excited. Gone through a lot of topics on the forum here to read up about the various passes and where to stay etc.
I bought this 2011 Boxster S (987.2 model, with the 3.4 litre engine) just over a year ago, exactly to do things like this, so I started planning on getting to the Stelvio pass, with several stops on the way so we wouldn't spend too much time in the car.
In total we done 2106 miles with a total travel time of 49:04 hours, which sounds like a lot but split over 16 days it wasn't that long at all. Longest journey we done was probably 4.5 hours, with the other journeys around 2.5 - 3.5 hours long.
We manage to do the entire trip with the roof down which was lovely, and on a quiet stretch of unrestricted German autobahn I managed to get 264 km/h on my dials which was an interesting experience with the roof down...
Was also very impressed with the MPG. My daily driver is a 4.2 supercharged V8 Jag that does about 13 MPG and even on long motorway journeys to the Netherlands I've never had more then 220 miles out of the 72 liter tank however I filled the Boxster up before our trip and managed to do home to Folkstone, and then Folkstone to our hotel in Luxembourg on 1 tank, which was 352 miles, and especially with my heavy right foot I was very impressed with that!
Before we left I paid £ 207,9 per liter for Shell V power, first fill up in Luxembourg, also V power at a Shell, £ 177.4 per liter!
So the itinerary was :
- Furka pass.
- Tremola pass (the old Gotthard).
- Nuefenen pass (my favourite!).
- Furka pass again, stop for lunch in Ulrichen.
- Gotthard pass (the new one).
Out of the 9 hotels, the two that stood out most were Hotel Brienzersee which had amazing views over the lake, and is just outside Interlaken. Also the 40 minute drive from Brienz to the first Alpine pass (Grimsel) was pretty epic. Would definitely stay there again.
The other amazing one was the QC Terme Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi, which is a stunning building set right in the mountains and they have this 'thermal path' made up by like 12 different pools, a stunning ballroom for dinner.
Made friends with some German 911 owners that were doing the same Alpine passes and joined them for a while (even stopping together for photo's and then doing the next pass together), and in Reims when we visited the circuit there was a large group of French owners that invited me in for their photo shoot.
I don't have/want a dashcam, but most of the road photo's (bar a few made with our mobiles) are made with this little Go Pro I mounted next to the rear view mirror with the remote switch next to my steering wheel so anytime the road/scenery looked pretty I could just snap a picture without having to ask my wife every 2 seconds to get her phone out
Plenty of luggage, big suitcase in the front, and 3 in the back :
Luxembourg :
Baden-Baden
The B500, stunning route and as it was a week day not busy at all!
Lake Brienz, in Switzerland :
Doing the Alpine passes :
Roof is only up as we went up the hill on the right to a little restaurant with amazing views.
And then it was onto Bellagio (Lake Como), via the car ferry (10 minutes) from Griante :
Bellagio :
Saw a group of Porsche's from Germany come over by ferry as well the next day : Kinda wanted to join them for a drive but was on the wrong side of a bottle of wine
Refuelled and washed, of to the next lake (Garda) :
Sirmione (Lake Garda) :
And then from Sirmione to Bormio to stay at this epic hotel :
And after a lovely breakfast it was time to do the Stelvio pass, and despite not leaving the hotel until 10:30 ish, I was really surprised as to how quiet/empty it was!
After the Stelvio pass we did the Umbrail pass the Santa Maria, and from there we went towards Stuttgart.
The Satnav was set to include Toll roads which saved some time though when leaving Switzerland on the way to Stuttgart we stopped at this tollbooth and were told it would be CHF 34, to pass, which seemed more then previous roads, but we happily paid it and then accelerated away, only to arrive at this, without having a clue where we were, why there was a train in front of us, and where this train was going to take us...
Though the alternative was a 55 minute detour, so we were happy to drive onto this little train for the 25 minutes journey to wherever...
The next day in Stuttgart we were off to the Porsche Museum :
And to break up the journey back we spend the last few days in Reims in France, which obviously also includes the famous Circuit, where there happened to be a group of French Porsche owners that invited us into their photoshoot :
Eurotunnel Porsche parking
This was definitely the most fun I've had in a car, especially in the Alps and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking about it!
The whole trip came about when on a lazy Sunday morning we were laying in bed with our coffee's watching an old Top Gear episode when my wife asked my what I wanted to do for my birthday. We hadn't booked our summer holiday yet due to all the airport delay issue's, and just as I was thinking about it, the Top Gear lads were driving up the Stelvio pass, and then I thought, thát would be cool to do!
I go home (the Netherlands) by a car a few times a year, and whilst there we've done trips to Antwerp and Bruges and stuff like that, but I've not done a proper road trip like this before so I was very excited. Gone through a lot of topics on the forum here to read up about the various passes and where to stay etc.
I bought this 2011 Boxster S (987.2 model, with the 3.4 litre engine) just over a year ago, exactly to do things like this, so I started planning on getting to the Stelvio pass, with several stops on the way so we wouldn't spend too much time in the car.
In total we done 2106 miles with a total travel time of 49:04 hours, which sounds like a lot but split over 16 days it wasn't that long at all. Longest journey we done was probably 4.5 hours, with the other journeys around 2.5 - 3.5 hours long.
We manage to do the entire trip with the roof down which was lovely, and on a quiet stretch of unrestricted German autobahn I managed to get 264 km/h on my dials which was an interesting experience with the roof down...
Was also very impressed with the MPG. My daily driver is a 4.2 supercharged V8 Jag that does about 13 MPG and even on long motorway journeys to the Netherlands I've never had more then 220 miles out of the 72 liter tank however I filled the Boxster up before our trip and managed to do home to Folkstone, and then Folkstone to our hotel in Luxembourg on 1 tank, which was 352 miles, and especially with my heavy right foot I was very impressed with that!
Before we left I paid £ 207,9 per liter for Shell V power, first fill up in Luxembourg, also V power at a Shell, £ 177.4 per liter!
So the itinerary was :
- Home (Essex) to Folkstone, overnight stay near the tunnel.
- Eurotunnel to Calais, and then to Luxembourg for a couple nights.
- Luxembourg to Baden-baden, couple nights there.
- Drive the famous B500 route through the black forest, stop for lunch in Waldshut, then onto Brienz (Switzerland) for a night.
- Brienz to the famous Alpine passes, which were :
- Furka pass.
- Tremola pass (the old Gotthard).
- Nuefenen pass (my favourite!).
- Furka pass again, stop for lunch in Ulrichen.
- Gotthard pass (the new one).
- After the Alpine passes drive to Bellagio (Lake como) for 4 nights.
- Bellagio to Sirmione (Lake Garda) for 3 nights.
- Sirmione to Bormio (at the foot of the Stelvio pass) stay in stunning spa hotel for the night.
- Next morning, on my birthday, the Stelvio pass, in both directions as it was so quiet! Followed by the Umbrail pass to Santa Maria (Switzerland).
- Then onto Stuttgart for a couple nights.
- Stuttgart to Reims for the last 2 nights.
Out of the 9 hotels, the two that stood out most were Hotel Brienzersee which had amazing views over the lake, and is just outside Interlaken. Also the 40 minute drive from Brienz to the first Alpine pass (Grimsel) was pretty epic. Would definitely stay there again.
The other amazing one was the QC Terme Grand Hotel Bagni Nuovi, which is a stunning building set right in the mountains and they have this 'thermal path' made up by like 12 different pools, a stunning ballroom for dinner.
Made friends with some German 911 owners that were doing the same Alpine passes and joined them for a while (even stopping together for photo's and then doing the next pass together), and in Reims when we visited the circuit there was a large group of French owners that invited me in for their photo shoot.
I don't have/want a dashcam, but most of the road photo's (bar a few made with our mobiles) are made with this little Go Pro I mounted next to the rear view mirror with the remote switch next to my steering wheel so anytime the road/scenery looked pretty I could just snap a picture without having to ask my wife every 2 seconds to get her phone out
Plenty of luggage, big suitcase in the front, and 3 in the back :
Luxembourg :
Baden-Baden
The B500, stunning route and as it was a week day not busy at all!
Lake Brienz, in Switzerland :
Doing the Alpine passes :
Roof is only up as we went up the hill on the right to a little restaurant with amazing views.
And then it was onto Bellagio (Lake Como), via the car ferry (10 minutes) from Griante :
Bellagio :
Saw a group of Porsche's from Germany come over by ferry as well the next day : Kinda wanted to join them for a drive but was on the wrong side of a bottle of wine
Refuelled and washed, of to the next lake (Garda) :
Sirmione (Lake Garda) :
And then from Sirmione to Bormio to stay at this epic hotel :
And after a lovely breakfast it was time to do the Stelvio pass, and despite not leaving the hotel until 10:30 ish, I was really surprised as to how quiet/empty it was!
After the Stelvio pass we did the Umbrail pass the Santa Maria, and from there we went towards Stuttgart.
The Satnav was set to include Toll roads which saved some time though when leaving Switzerland on the way to Stuttgart we stopped at this tollbooth and were told it would be CHF 34, to pass, which seemed more then previous roads, but we happily paid it and then accelerated away, only to arrive at this, without having a clue where we were, why there was a train in front of us, and where this train was going to take us...
Though the alternative was a 55 minute detour, so we were happy to drive onto this little train for the 25 minutes journey to wherever...
The next day in Stuttgart we were off to the Porsche Museum :
And to break up the journey back we spend the last few days in Reims in France, which obviously also includes the famous Circuit, where there happened to be a group of French Porsche owners that invited us into their photoshoot :
Eurotunnel Porsche parking
This was definitely the most fun I've had in a car, especially in the Alps and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone thinking about it!
amazing scenery and great photographyLooked like a great trip!
Me and my partner stayed in Lake Como for a week back in April of this year, staying in Varenna but visiting all of the town's around the lake, Como, Bellagio, Leno, etc.
We are planning a 14 day road trip for my 30th next summer
Hook of Holland>Dusseldorf>Ingolstadt>Munich> St.Moritz (San Bernardino Pas, Gotthard Pass, Grimsel Pass, Susten Pass)>Andermatt>Zurich>Baden Baden> Luxembourg>Brussels and then home.
Me and my partner stayed in Lake Como for a week back in April of this year, staying in Varenna but visiting all of the town's around the lake, Como, Bellagio, Leno, etc.
We are planning a 14 day road trip for my 30th next summer
Hook of Holland>Dusseldorf>Ingolstadt>Munich> St.Moritz (San Bernardino Pas, Gotthard Pass, Grimsel Pass, Susten Pass)>Andermatt>Zurich>Baden Baden> Luxembourg>Brussels and then home.
Great journey, as we know having been to all the same places (more than once), with the exception of Baden-Baden which we happen to be doing this Sept on the way to Austria.
Wouldn't bother with the Stelvio again, as it's probably the least enjoyable of them all to drive, although great to look down on.
It's what Porsche are made for.
Wouldn't bother with the Stelvio again, as it's probably the least enjoyable of them all to drive, although great to look down on.
It's what Porsche are made for.
Paft Dunk said:
Nice write up. Thanks for taking the time to do it. Like the GoPro idea for taking photos as well, will try that next time.
That worked great, both for photo's and video's.It's not even an actual Go Pro, it's just one of amazon. I bought one years ago and use it for underwater photography and was impressed by the quality. This one is even better, has bluetooth (connects to your phone as well), a handy remote and comes with loads of accessories.
It does both photo's and video's with the remote controle, so great for track days etc as well.
£ 90, on Amazon
https://www.amazon.co.uk/AKASO-Underwater-Anti-Sha...
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