[B58_Touring]

Just back from a short road trip around europe, thought I would share a few photo's from the trip which I would highly recommend to anyone.

Due to time available between the three of us who went we only had a week to do it but managed to cover 6 countries - Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland & France, 2452 miles with a total of 57 hours on the road.

Route



Our route started on the overnight ferry from North shields to Amsterdam where we picked up one of the lads and headed straight through holland onto Germany to hit the Nurburging. Pulled over to fuel up before we got to the track and stumbled across 4 M4 GTS's getting a clean after doing a few laps of the ring...


[Photocredit @findpix]





Also a DB11 that pulled up behind us for fuel, which the driver then proceeded to take through the carwash..





Anyway, got to the ring about 5, had to wait for an event to finish so grabbed a bite to eat then got a few laps in and finally ticked that of the to do list. Will definitely be going back here when we have more time.



Quick snap of us chasing down an S2000, didnt get many pictures but have quite a bit of GoPro footage to go through and edit



From here we drove down to Frankfurt where we stayed the night before heading to Austria in the morning via the autobahn of course. This is where the scenery really started. Tunnels a plenty to open up the taps in, and the first of many jaw dropping alpine passes to drive



Beginning of the Silvretta pass in the Austrian alps





Spent a bit of time messing about on the pass getting some footage and drone pictures before heading off down the valley and through some stunning but obviously very quiet skiing villages



We headed straight through Austria into the north of Italy and stayed here for the night.

An early start the next day seen us hit what appears to be the Italian rush hour...



But we where treated to a stunning sunrise through the mountains at Lago di Braies



Our friend is a keen photographer which is the reason for some of these stops along the way. He wanted to get some shots for his website and we where glad of it because otherwise we would have drove past some of the most stunning scenery of the trip


[Photocredit @findpix]


[Photocredit @findpix]

From here we drove onto a nearby village called Cortina d'Ampezzo in the Dolomites and decided to stretch our legs a little with a walk through some of the mountains (admittedly we never prepared this part and did it in the same gear we would normally be seen popping out for some milk in)







Rewarded at the top with this



Took a bit longer than we had planned to hike up and down again so we where late setting off from here to get to Bormio where we stayed that night but by chance managed to witness this sunset from the top of another pass


[Photocredit @findpix]


[Photocredit @findpix]


[Photocredit @findpix]


[Photocredit @findpix]


[Photocredit @findpix]









Our late departure and enjoying that sunset for too long meant we had a 3 hour drive to Bormio in the pitch black across some of the twistiest alpine passes we had yet to come across, although a little bit spooky in parts and the fact it took this long to cover 110 miles as opposed to half that on a motorway it was a pretty entertaining drive in the dark.

Next morning in Bormio we discovered we had driven this in the pitch black and missed some of the stunning scenery around it, there where waterfalls and tunnels carved out of the mountain to enjoy so we decided it was worth doing again



This led us onto one of the main points of our trip, the Stelvio pass


[Photocredit @findpix]







Because its so famous and jaw dropping to look at this was quite a bit busier than the others we had already done so far. It was also a bit touristy with shops at the top and lots of bikers around doing the same as us. It was very stop and start as you can't see what is coming most of the time and for this reason we decided it wasn't our favourite of the passes, that would come later the same day.






[Photocredit @findpix]

After doing a couple of runs on Stelvio we headed across Switzerland to a place called Guttannen, there is a well photographed rope bridge that our photographer pal wanted to shoot for himself. In getting to this we got to see the Gotthard pass





the Furka pass that gold finger was filmed on









Nice Audi Quattro enjoying the roads too



This road led us onto the Grimsel pass which was by far our favourite, as well as tight hairpins it has long sweeping sections with good vision to allow you to press on a little, it winds down the mountains along reservoirs and infront of dams. A long tunnel at the end and a few waterfalls cascading down the mountains by the side of the road just because it wasnt perfect enough! Really is like a themed rollercoaster for adults, the scenery is so perfect you'd be excused for thinking it was false. Never got any good pictures of this one just some GoPro footage from the side of the car that I will edit and post once I get time. Got a couple of the rope bridge that we had came to get pictures of





A brief snippet of the Grimsel pass from the bridge disappearing into a tunnel





The roads in Switzerland really are works of art



Stopped off in St. Moritz for a bit of lunch on route to our final stop over, lovely place



This became a fairly common site on the trip



This was pretty much the end of the scenery, after here there was a long drive to France for our final night where we had a piss up in a French town called Nancy which got a bit out of hand. The last leg was to drive through france via the old race circuit in Reims where we stopped for a couple of photos, then onto Dunkirk to get the ferry home followed by a long drive through England to the north east. Finally arrived home at 3am Sunday, so that was a bit of a brutal drive at the end considering we set off at 11am Saturday in France!





All in all it was well worth the effort and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Its also probably cost me a lot of money because I am now certain I'll be going back to petrol with my next car, although it would have been cheaper in fuel the full experience wouldnt be the same attacking those roads in a diesel. The M3 was a great car to do it in, big enough to get all of our gear in. Not too big for the tight windy roads and perfectly comfortable. You also need that nice exhaust note for the tunnels just to make things that bit more exciting than what a diesel can offer! An M3 might be a bit too expensive but ill definitely be looking at a 340i.

Lots of pictures for one post there, apologies but that really is just a snap shot of the full trip. Took me long enough to pick them out.

*Edited to add photo credits @findpix on instagram if anyone wants to check out his work*

[duvetdo]

Stunning. What a fab journey. What was the damage overall?

[black stig]

Cracking post. My ideal kind of trip.

[CazuaLLUK]

Awesome post, so who's M3 was it?

[B58_Touring]

Originally Posted by duvetdo

Stunning. What a fab journey. What was the damage overall?

Overall cost of the trip or fuel wise?

Overall probably about £1200 including spending money. Fuel wise we made up a kitty of 600 euros (200 each) but probably cost us a bit more than that as we filled up when leaving the uk and when we got back into dover

Originally Posted by CazuaLLUK

Awesome post, so who's M3 was it?

Its a mate of mine who isnt on the forum, wanted to use his as he wanted to use it as intended. We just shared the driving over the week

[Blacktemplar]

Stelvio & Gotthard are just awesome. Never driven them, but have ruined myself on a road bike a couple of times Very jealous, looks like a fantastic road trip

[B58_Touring]

Originally Posted by Blacktemplar

Stelvio & Gotthard are just awesome. Never driven them, but have ruined myself on a road bike a couple of times Very jealous, looks like a fantastic road trip

No chance I could tackle those roads on a push iron! Well done if you managed both of those, seen a few cyclists looking worse for wear attempting to ride up them.

[Redandy]

Fantastic pics and route - did similar in 2011 in 520 drove down to Venice thro Germany and Austria and the Dolomites (couldn't see a thing for fog thro Austria and until about 20 miles from Venice tho) then back up past Lake Como and over the Nufenen Pass (Gotthard tunnel closed so told to wait or go over - best decision ever - simply stunning) into Switzerland for a night on Lake Thun near Interlaken before heading onto Paris.

Just started planning a similar trip Rotterdam to Slovenia - want to see Nuremburg and Salzburg on the way down then back through the Swiss Alps again.

This time I get to do it in the new 440i

[Blacktemplar]

Originally Posted by JonBk

No chance I could tackle those roads on a push iron! Well done if you managed both of those, seen a few cyclists looking worse for wear attempting to ride up them.

Not on the same day! They are a complete b*stard, just have to grind it out. Coming back down is theoretically more fun, but not when the road's clogged with slow-moving buses & M3's

[B58_Touring]

Originally Posted by Redandy

Fantastic pics and route - did similar in 2011 in 520 drove down to Venice thro Germany and Austria and the Dolomites (couldn't see a thing for fog thro Austria and until about 20 miles from Venice tho) then back up past Lake Como and over the Nufenen Pass (Gotthard tunnel closed so told to wait or go over - best decision ever - simply stunning) into Switzerland for a night on Lake Thun near Interlaken before heading onto Paris.

Just started planning a similar trip Rotterdam to Slovenia - want to see Nuremburg and Salzburg on the way down then back through the Swiss Alps again.

This time I get to do it in the new 440i

Sounds like another good route, unlucky with the weather on your first trip we where really fortunate hadnt even thought about it being cloudy until we pulled into austria but luckily it wasnt. The 440i will be a cracking car to do it in, definitely going for something similar next myself, might even be the car we do our next one in, we fancy seeing a bit more of italy next time

[Postcab]

Brilliant trip (and report). That's now on my bucket list!

What sort of mpg did you get out of the M3?

[B58_Touring]

Originally Posted by Postcab

Brilliant trip (and report). That's now on my bucket list!

What sort of mpg did you get out of the M3?

Thanks, definitely one to put on your to do list.

24.6mpg the trip computer had on it by the end. That was a good mix of driving including the laps of the nurburgring, autobahns, the slightly slower alpine passes but still plenty of foot down action. We werent really concerned with watching the fuel

[philiper1]

Absolutely stunning, well done and well jealous

[Chompers]

Brilliant write up and pics, thanks for sharing

[vadimo]

wow

[330Stevie]

Don't apologise for the number of pictures! Totally awesome write up! Thank you

[Redandy]

Originally Posted by JonBk

Sounds like another good route, unlucky with the weather on your first trip we where really fortunate hadnt even thought about it being cloudy until we pulled into austria but luckily it wasnt. The 440i will be a cracking car to do it in, definitely going for something similar next myself, might even be the car we do our next one in, we fancy seeing a bit more of italy next time

Agreed re more of Italy - at present its between heading for Italian / Slovenian border or Tuscany, Florence / Pisa and Lucca - can highly recommend Lake Garda area too - same as last time drive down with a night in Germany and then spend a week to 10 days wherever the furthest south we plan to go then heading back over the next week or so with a couple of stops for a few nights - did 18 nights last time planning 21 this time. Still the best holiday I've done but fully expect this one to be even better - not sure the passengers (wife and daughter) will be in agreement tho - that adaptive maybe missed somewhat after all.

[mpawood]

A great post! Brings back recent memories as I did a similar thing over the summer. Did it in a 435d for a little longer and went a little further into Italy. It's so great to drive over there.

[CazuaLLUK]

Originally Posted by JonBk

Its a mate of mine who isnt on the forum, wanted to use his as he wanted to use it as intended. We just shared the driving over the week

Awesome, very cool!

[Tengocity]

Great post, great trip, great car, great passes.... awesome pics!

Have done most of those passes and co platelet agree that the Stelvio is over rated. Even if it wasn't so busy I can't say it's even half as interesting to drive the others.

I'd totally agree about petrol for those roads- I did it in the Z4 a coulple of years back and I've done it in a 330d and there's just no comparison!

[SkyJawa]

Post of the year award surely? Awesome trip, awesome pics

[HelmutVisor]

Excellent post and cracking photos!

Dribble at the four M4 GTS's Lovely. Same with the Quattro.

Trips like that have to be on everyone's bucket list.

I did the Stelvio a few years back....in a Smart4 hire car. The brakes caught fire half way down

I was going to do a similar trip this year but spontaneously decided to buy my new car and didnt fancy taking the old E92 for fear of trashing it before px and reluctant taking new one until properly bedded in. Defo next year! Plan to go to all the Grand Prix circuits (current and old) to end up at Maranello.

Your post has kicked me up the arse to actually do it. Excellent drills mate.

(How fast did you manage on the Autobahns? )