Dackel's Swiss Alpine tour...

[Kagan1905]

another epic show-up - thanks for sharing David

[Wakka]

Europe is so much more beautiful than America... Jealous. Looks like you had a great time.

[Dan.E46]

awesome photos! I'm heading to Europe next year for the first time (and on my own)! I'm hoping to 'discover' myself. Maybe a long drive around the alps may do the trick!

[Edition135i]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

I'm with you Brudder! I love Germany and I have voted with my feet to stay and live here. Plus it is so expensive in Switzerland compared to Germany. A 0.5L bottle of Coke here costs 1.20 EUR while in Switzerland it costs 5 EUR.

You also see it in the type of cars the Swiss drive. Always big HP cars with large engine displacement(cc). I think I saw like six Audi RS4's on one day there. You never see that over here in DE.

I remember once I ordered "Schnitzel und Pommes" (in Switzerland) and when I got the bill that meal cost me like 55 EUR! I was shocked. But we all have to go to Switzerland at least once in our lifetime. I think next time I will try to sleep/stay/eat in Austria and just travel thru Swiss during the daytime.

Dack

You have to show me where you have to pay 5 EUR for a Bottle of coke. If you go to Migros or Coop (Aldi or something like that in DE) you pay 00.80 EUR for a bottle... Don't put such a bad Light to the swiss people

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by Edition135i

You have to show me where you have to pay 5 EUR for a Bottle of coke. If you go to Migros or Coop (Aldi or something like that in DE) you pay 00.80 EUR for a bottle... Don't put such a bad Light to the swiss people

At any gas station in Swiss you will pay 5 euros. At least I did a few times. Maybe it was bc I was in a tourist area like Stelvio or some of these mountain passes. ?

Yes... I also shopped at CoOp and Aldi both in Swiss and DE. The prices are higher in Swiss. Just what I saw and paid. Same for hotels and dinner. I am not putting down the Swiss people... its just your cost of living is much higher than say Austria or Germany(DE).

[Edition135i]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

At any gas station in Swiss you will pay 5 euros. At least I did a few times. Maybe it was bc I was in a tourist area like Stelvio or some of these mountain passes. ?

Yes... I also shopped at CoOp and Aldi both in Swiss and DE. The prices are higher in Swiss. Just what I saw and paid. Same for hotels and dinner. I am not putting down the Swiss people... its just your cost of living is much higher than say Austria or Germany(DE).

Of course DE is cheaper, thats not what I mean, but 5€ can't believe I pay max. 1€ on a normal Shop. And of course, Gas-Stations, Hotels and Dinner in Restaurant is expensive. thats true! Btw. nice fotos

[Joop!]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

^^Nice! Yes, we did all of those Passes too on our Stelvio 2.0 trip his year. Gaviapass - almost gave me(us) a heart attack going up that narrow road with no to little guard rails. It was weird... down low it had all these nice guard rails where it was safe... but going near the top nothing!!! Made my heart skip a few beats.

The south ramp of the Gavia is indeed very narrow... We did discover it when we were going downhill. We had to back up a few times to let people pass coming up where the road was wider than the average 2,5 - 3,0m wide.

Average speed does drop very fast on these roads. Thereby you had to concentrate relative hard on oncoming traffic which you aren't able to see at a lot of blind corners...

Driving along the Swiss Alps is a lot easier and you're able to go for a light spirited drive.

[DriveHard]

David. Absolutly incredible. I stayed in zermat in a past life read xwife and it was beautiful.

As far as the pics and videos go, your support and information to the forum is second to none.

Many of us are jealous me included. Your a good friend to all to take the time to post and report.

On a personal note hope all is well as i too have been known for "cave" time myself. Hopefully you just needed to clear your head. Driving works for many of us.

God speed my friend. Shinny side up. And all that good stuff

[PyratOne]

Just awesome

Thanks so much for taking the time to post all this, Dack

The Swiss (euro) Tourism Boards should pay you to post these b/c I wanna go back now....badly

[JasonCSU]

I always love your photo threads Dackel. Thanks for sharing. I like the cameo shot of the GD Subaru WRX and the beer shot is making me thirsty. I think it's time for happy hour.

[smoeke]

Originally Posted by brummelenj

The south ramp of the Gavia is indeed very narrow... We did discover it when we were going downhill. We had to back up a few times to let people pass coming up where the road was wider than the average 2,5 - 3,0m wide.

Average speed does drop very fast on these roads. Thereby you had to concentrate relative hard on oncoming traffic which you aren't able to see at a lot of blind corners...

Driving along the Swiss Alps is a lot easier and you're able to go for a light spirited drive.

I really love passes like the Gavia pass! A kind of adventure, but if you focus on the driving there is no problem at all.
Check out the video of my (first) ride over the Gavia pass down in my signature.

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by smoeke

I really love passes like the Gavia pass! A kind of adventure, but if you focus on the driving there is no problem at all.
Check out the video of my (first) ride over the Gavia pass down in my signature.

The Gavia Pass was cool, but so damm narrow and scarry. Maybe more so for me since I have a small phobia of heights. I'm ok driving up the Alps... I just don't like to look over the edge!

I enjoyed your video of Gavia. I(we) even saw that same red boat in the lake(see) at the top of the summit - on our Stelvio 2.0 tour. When were you there?

Dackel

[smoeke]

Originally Posted by Dackelone

The Gavia Pass was cool, but so damm narrow and scarry. Maybe more so for me since I have a small phobia of heights. I'm ok driving up the Alps... I just don't like to look over the edge!

I enjoyed your video of Gavia. I(we) even saw that same red boat in the lake(see) at the top of the summit - on our Stelvio 2.0 tour. When were you there?

Dackel

Cool!
My tour was about one week before yours.

When I was a child me and my parents had a little tour over several passes on my birthday. Including the Gavia pass. Since that I can't get enough of it.
Unfortunately I am not able to drive in the alps very often.

P.S.: Did you notice the group of (old) Opel GT in the video near the lake?

[Dackelone]

I was going thru my GoPro camera gear and found a SD card I forgot about. There were three new videos on it. Here is the first one that finished uploading.

[Dackelone]

[Dackelone]

third and last video...

[blugg]

Hi there,

I've read this thread with much interest, because I am taking a holiday in both Switzerland and Italy soon. I was wondering if it was wise to drive in Switzerland - particularly driving from Zurich to Como.

For Italy I've been warned to only drive in Tuscany. Any tips for a foreign driver? How does this vignette thing work in Suisse particularly for car rentals?

[Dackelone]

Originally Posted by blugg

Hi there,

I've read this thread with much interest, because I am taking a holiday in both Switzerland and Italy soon. I was wondering if it was wise to drive in Switzerland - particularly driving from Zurich to Como.

For Italy I've been warned to only drive in Tuscany. Any tips for a foreign driver? How does this vignette thing work in Suisse particularly for car rentals?

I have driven all over both Switzerland and Italy AND Europe for that matter. Its safe. I am not quite sure what you mean by you were "warned" ???

I feel that the Italian's know how to drive better than the Swiss though. Also in Switzerland they seem to hate the car culture. The Swiss are very Green and like electric cars. Also in Switzerland the speed limit is rather low: 80 kph on back(country) roads and 120 kph on their Autobahns(highways). The Swiss are also crazy about Blitz-ing(photo radar) traffic. I have even seen Blitzer's for loud exhaust systems on cars! No joke. Also... IF the Swiss catch you speeding more than 40 kph over the limit... they CAN(and WILL) take you car. As in you never get it back!

My advice would be to stay at nice hotels and park your car in the Hotel's garage. Not on the public street.

Actually as I write this post I am in Geneva and after the Autosalon(show) I plan on driving into Northern Italy - to visit some new Auto museums.


Dackel

[oceanview]

Originally Posted by blugg

Hi there,

I've read this thread with much interest, because I am taking a holiday in both Switzerland and Italy soon. I was wondering if it was wise to drive in Switzerland - particularly driving from Zurich to Como.

For Italy I've been warned to only drive in Tuscany. Any tips for a foreign driver? How does this vignette thing work in Suisse particularly for car rentals?

Hi good decision to plan your vacation in Switzerland
Swiss Rentals will have the vignette installed for sure if you take one from the common known rental companies (like Europcar...) so don't worry.

Watch the speedlimit! It's very expensive to drive fast and you could even go to jail if too fast. Also other penalties are quite expensive. 200 Euros for crossing at red traffic light is the minimum.

Driving from Zurich to Como is a no brainer. Most pass roads in the alps are open by end of April. But you can check on this site. It's not in english, but you'll understand (zu = closed / offen = open)
http://www.teletext.ch/SRF1/495-01.html
http://www.teletext.ch/SRF1/495-02.html
http://www.teletext.ch/SRF1/495-03.html

There are a bunch of good Sites where you can get Information for your trip, like:
http://www.ultimatedrives.net/top-10-roads/index.php

General Information can be found here:
http://www.myswitzerland.com/en-ch/home.html

Driving in Italy is a bit different, but not too really a problem in the northern regions. The further south, the more "different" it gets. In Naples, traffic lights are not to be respected to much
Watch out for suspect persons at gas stations on Highways! Don't leave your values in the car! Less a problem in Switzerland, but be aware anyway.

[Dackelone]

@oceanview great advice.

@blugg

Yea... I forgot to say, that the further South you go in Italy(like Rome)... the more cautious you should be. Especially when it comes to parking your car. Never leave ANYTHING inside the car. That can really go for any country. But the further South(Italy) or Eastern(block) countries the more sketchy it can get. Its best to use a Hotel that LOCKS its parking lot at night and has an attendant. I'd say anything North of Rimini is fine.

When do you plan on driving there? Maybe you want to join us for our 2014 Alpine 1Addicts tour. We are planning a tour from something in the late July or August time frame.

[blugg]

Hello gents,

Thanks for the helpful responses! I think I plan to only drive around Lake Como, and when I get to Tuscany perhaps to the Chianti region. Will likely take the train from Zurich to Como then get a rental around there.

As someone who has never driven in Europe before, I was 'warned' that Italian drivers are a little...shall we say..passionate about driving. So I guess it may be a cultural thing which I need to prepare myself for. The other thing is the Italian ZTL zones and the overzealous cops, I have friends were billed for fines a year after their holiday.

I was planning to drive from Como to the Stelvio Pass but read that the roads will be closed in April - which is when I'll be doing my trip

I would so love to drive in Switzerland, so I may add a driving leg in the Swiss Alps. Can anyone suggest a route? - This is so sounding like something from a James Bond movie Will check the Top 10 Roads site.

I saw on the Hertz rental company (or was it Europcar) that they have an F20 118D for rental - will certainly rent that. It's familiar!

[oceanview]

Well you really need to check, once you are in the area. That region of the alps especially the southern alps region of Switzerland received a bunch of snow in February.
And as it is up in the mountains, it can still get much more snow.

So check once you've arrived.

Taking the Train from Zurich to Como is a very nice trip also. You will pass a few nice lakes, go up the turn tunnels before entering the Gotthard tunnel.

Don't be afraid of driving in northern Italy! It's really not a problem also if you are not used of drinving in Europe. Just don't drive into Milano region. Traffic there is a permanent rush hour.
Chianti Region is easy to drive AND just beatiful! It's Country side with mostly not too much traffic.
In April there are lot of bicycle riders around in Training Groups in that area. So be careful...