I can't say exactly, but I figure we probably left Ortisei around 10 am (our usual starting time) and arrived in Varenna around 5 pm. We lost at least half an hour with our little mistake on the A22 near Bolzano. I didn't mention it but we also got stuck in traffic between Merano and Spodigna. We didn't make a full lunch stop but stopped many times for photos and a snack. It wasn't a bad day for us but we enjoy long days in the car (obviously). If you took the Sondrio route that would probably cut the time down because you would be driving at higher speeds. I guess it really depends on how much you like driving and how long you can stand to be in the car.

Hausfrau, this is great, thank you so much!

I'm going to print it out and map it out too. Good to know that the trip from Ortisei to Varenna is about 7 hours if we chose to do it in one stretch versus stop and stay somewhere.. how many times did you stop on that day to take photos, get out and stretch, etc?

Thanks again, I really enjoyed it.

Gruezi Hausfrau,

Excellent trip report. Thanks for posting.

You travelled like a motorcyclist. Taking the alps with a full throttle and enjoying the scenery and curves.

Stelvio (Stilfserjoch) is indeed not that beautiful but it's an adventure. Kind of like climbing the highest mountain because it's there.

Ofenpass is also very beautiful and would recommend it highly. The towns are OK but the countryside is fantastic. Especially in the National Park.

On the other side of the Ofenpass is the Unterengadin with Scuol, Sent and Guardia. This area is also beautiful, mainly because of it's architecture and "quaintness" of the towns. The landscape is more striking in the Nationalpark.

We had a rainy/cloudy day during our round trip Dolomite drive too. It was frustrating because we knew that if those nasty clouds would lift, we would see the most amazing mountains.

We are hoping to stay in Sent/Scuol again next fall and do some more touring of the area.

flygirl, let's see...we made a pit stop on the way to Stelvio, then stopped twice on the way up Stelvio, once on the way down Umbrail, a longer stop for snacks and a little walk at the top of Ofen, a gas/pit stop in St. Moritz, and once by a lake in the Engadin. So that's about 7 stops...hmm, that averages to 1 per hour, which seems pretty sensible. We also split the driving - DH drove Stelvio and Umbrail and I drove Ofen and Maloja.

schuler, danke schoen! It really was a memorable trip and a great introduction to the region. I hope we can make it back there sometime in the not-to-distant future, although we'll have to do it in a rental car!

Hausfrau, thank you, that helps. It's not so long of a day then, really. Even if we stretched it and it took until 8 PM that isn't bad.

I meant to mention - I second the idea of an Alps Touring Company! Wouldn't that be fun?

In trying to research this trip I found that there are few guidebooks written in English that exclusively are written for the Alps. It seems that you can find chapters about the Alps in specific country guidebooks, but they are usually fairly short and not as detailed as I was hoping to find. It actually made me consider such a thing as a long-term project.

You're right, the guidebooks aren't great. All we had was Fodor's Italy - we didn't even have a guidebook for Switzerland, but we pretty much knew what we wanted to do there. We also have friends who have been to the Dolomites several times so they gave us some suggestions about where to stay and what to do.

Which reminds me, the one thing you will really need is a very good road atlas. I don't know if you've found a good one yet, but you might consider picking one up once you get to Germany. All major bookstores should have a good selection. We got one that was specifically for the Alps at 1 cm = 3 km scale and it worked really well for us.

Another thank you for a fascinating report - and I can't even drive ! It is refreshingly different from anything I've read about before. I'm not sure it's something I'd ever want to do myself (not that keen on walking either or rain) but it was really interesting to hear about such a different holiday from the types I take.

hausfrau,

Would you mind if I attempted to map your trip? Here's a sample of the first day. http://theshadedside.com/maps/maps.htm
Your details are great!
This is a site we used when we picked our trips. http://www.alpineroads.com/
We've done Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße twice and the Timmelsjoch and Jaufenpaß once.

Caroline, glad you enjoyed it!

norrisken, sorry for the delay, I missed your message. You are welcome to try mapping our route. The first day looks pretty good. I actually have most of our route highlighted in our atlas so I can check the details.

Thanks!

I am in the early stages of planning such a trip as yours so this entire thread was a joy to read. The details you provide are wonderful and inspiring.

I took it upon myself to contact Car Magazine to see if an archive copy of their September 2005 edition is still available; and it is. By e-mail they provided me a number to call in the UK. So I phoned today from my home in California and they say I should have the copy in 2 weeks. For delivery outside the UK it costs about 7 pounds.

ooooooh Parrothead, do share the info! thanks!

If you want to pay by check or some kind of foreign draft(??) you can send 7 pounds, thirty (??) with details of your request to:

DHL Global Mail (UK) Ltd
Mills Road, Quarry Wood
Aylesford
Kent
ME20 7WZ

If you want to pay by credit card you can phone their direct line 0845 1214000. If you are calling from the US you dial:
011-44-845-1214000

They'll take your credit card details and send it by mail. They are open Mon-Fri 9-1 and 2-5.

As I said, as of today, I have only called and ordered the magazine, I have yet to receive it and other than hausfrau's original post stating this is the magazine she used I was not able to verify (by phone) the article is actually in this edition. I would be happy to post a follow-up when I receive the magazine.

Parrothead, glad to hear you tracked down the article - it's a great one! And good luck with your planning; let me know if I can help with anything.

ttt

Is this route safe to drive in during winter - say over XMas and the New Year?

Regards

manfrommadras

You'll have to do a lot of research, one by one, to see which of these passes (if any) are still open at that time. Here's a good start, it shows the current conditions, but it also lists many dates for those routes that have predetermined closure date (many close according to conditions, so you'll have to check at the last minute):

www.alpenpaesse.co

Cross-check with this one, it's aimed at motor bikes but will still be useful:

http://alpenrouten.de/alpenpaesse-ve...ersperren.html

> Is this route safe to drive in during winter - say over XMas and the New Year?

Definitely not. Most of the passes mentioned are closed in winter.

hr