Grand Route des Alpes – France.

The french Alps are worldwide renown for their cruel but beautiful mountains.

Every year the best of the best cyclist duel it out on their bikes on such famous roads as the Col d’Izoard, Col du Télégraphe and Col du Galibier. But also the mountains towards the coast are well known for their passes thanks to the Rallye Monte Carlo. So your bucket list will be considerably decimated after these eight days and your hands will be hurting from all the turns.

Day 0: Arrival and meet up
Bregenz

The first day is to get you acquainted with your vehicle you might have rented and the European highways you might never have travelled on before.
You will get a roadbook from wherever you land or start (our meeting and starting point is central to Zürich, Stuttgart, Munich and even Frankfurt).
On the meeting day it is up to you, whether you arrive early and enjoy a relaxing day in the SPA, or just arrive just in the evening to our dinner and drivers briefing.

Day 1: Bregenz > Aosta

The initial approach to the Grande Route des Alpes leads our way via Chur and Andermatt over the picturesque passes Oberalp and Furka, which you already know because 007 chased Goldfinger on this road. Side trips are possible to the Grimsel pass and lake. The route runs parallel to the famous Swiss train Glacier express. At Martigny we turn off to the highlight of the day: the great St. Bernhard pass towards Aosta.

Day 2: Aosta > Barcelonnette

The third day starts right with the beautiful drive through the Aosta-Valley over which the fabulous Mont Blanc towers. The further drive will take us via the small St. Bernhard pass into France. Down we go via Bourg-Saint-Maurice and La Rosiere, followed by Val dÍsere and Col d’Iseran, Col de la Madeleine, Col du Télégraphe, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, Col d’Izoard – a seemingly never ending curves fest. Then we will decent to Barcelonette where we will fill up the cars and rest up for the next big day.


Day 3: Barcelonnette > Nice

We’ll start right through the red rocked canyon up to the Col de la Cayolle. We can take a little side trip up the Col de Champs to enjoy some more lonely curves. Further up high alpine roads it goes past almost vertical walls to the Col de Valberg. Very unique by landscape and pretty steep is the Col de la Couillole followed by Col de St. Martin, route de la Vesubie. One highlight chases the other, passes are getting crazier and crazier on the Col de Turini (well known from Ralley Monte Carlos “night of the long knives”) and as a final challenge the Col Braus with 40 hairpin turns before we roll into Nice.


Day 4: Just Nice!

After all the outrageous passes we’ll spend the day relaxing and enjoying the mundane atmosphere of the french riviera. You also could do a trip to Monte Carlo and Monaco for some sightseeing and shopping. Afternoon option: Wine tasting in a particular scenic area.


Day 5: Nice, St. Tropez or a road trip to the canyon of Verdon – your choice!

The available options are:

  • Staying in Nice and enjoy another day following Cary Grant or Grace Kelly trying to “Catch a Thief”.
  • Do a quick drive to St. Tropez, visit the bustling village and the spend the afternoon in Club 55.
  • Visit the Gorge du Verdon, the “Grand Canyon of Europe” – this is a 6 hours drive with plenty of curves and lonely roads…
  • Artuby bridge offers one of the world famous bungee jumps with 182 meters.

Day 6: Nice > Lago Maggiore

We put some spurs to our horses to do the hairpins of Col Braus again, this time we’ll be ascending. Passing Sospel up to Col du Tende which at the top is a more than 3 km long tunnel from 1882 crossing the boarder to Italy. From there we go fast to the stunning area of Piemont and have lunch in a typical location. After visiting the restaurants wine cellar – without drinking – we head towards beautiful Lago Maggiore to spend the night.


Day 7: Lago Maggiore > Vaduz 

It is definitely worth leaving the relaxed and glamorous atmosphere of Lago Maggiore and hit the road again. Real highlights are awaiting us: the San Bernardino pass and an old roman road through the deep and gloomy Viamala canyon. From there we will take you to the fourth smallest country in Europe: Liechtenstein where we will spend the night in a fabulous Hotel in Vaduz watching the castle of the monarch.

Day 8: Thank you
and good bye!

This is it. We guess you bucket list will have decimated quite extensively and we hope you have met some nice like-minded drivers. 
Your individual return travel is on the agenda for today.
You want to add a few more days?
Let us know, we will organize for you and we share some good and possibly roadbooks with you.

Tour level:

Tour pace:

Tour includes: 

Accommodation 4* plus, welcome drink and -service each day, breakfast, lunch and dinner (drinks excluded), 2 driving guides, GPS road book, private and covered parking (if available), participants pack.

Luggage transfer on request.

This is a BYO car tour, if you require a rental please let us know and we can provide offers from our car rental partners.

Price per person:

6395.- Euro

(please inquire for price of second person travelling in same car.)
Prices are subject to change.

Dates:


Please inquire here for availability: