[gangzoom]

So just got back to the UK after an unforgettable trip across Europe to Spa. Thought I share some photos.

The 335 performed perfectly, and was just as at home blasting down the autobahn or on a tight hair pin corner 2700 meters above sea level!! Though the car has developed another oil leak, so back to the garage this weekend (6th time this year, though I've now lost count ), but after performing so well on the trip I cannot see my self parting with the 335 ever .

The Sulsten pass in particular was the most scenic.









The Grimsel and Furka pass wasn’t too bad either







We were lucky enough to stay in a hotel located in most the amazing surroundings

Stelvio is an engineering feat, 47 hair pins but to be honest not the prettiest or nicest pass, it was at least the highest at 2750m above sea level.





Interms of driving the Umbrail pass next to Stelvio was prettier and nicer to drive on.



We than took a quick drive to Spa for the GP.

Eau Rouge is a sight you have to see in person to appreciate its magnificence.



We came for F1, but the guys in GP2 were just mental, overtaking at Eau Rouge in the wet....why not!!




But F1 cars are still the stars of the show











So in total, over 2000 miles of driving, 6 different borders crossed, and an experience I can recommend to anyone who loves cars/driving.

[Mani59]

Some amazing shots! The hotel surroundings look epic!!

[AWBimmer]

Something on my bucket list as this looks incredible mate! Well done for doing this buddy. How did you actually plan the whole trip? Did you know where you wanted to go and just make pitstops in between for hotels? How long did you take out for the trip if you don't mind me asking?

[dobbo99]

great pictures, would love to do this.

[sylonien]

Jealous! Looks like fun journey!

What wheels have you got?
Looks really nice on your car.

[gangzoom]

Thanks for the comments.

The trip was at least 12 months in the planning, booked the Spa GP tickets nearly 12 months ago!!

Intotal we went for 10 days, including the GP weekend, but because of the bank holiday only actually needed to take 6 days of annual leave .

In regards to route planning, nothing was set even up until the night we left. My wife has a skill in finding amazing hotels, so I just told here roughly which area I wanted to drive in for that day and she sorted the rest .

It's something I recommend anyone who has the means to try and do at some point.

Stelvio was actually the most boring pass we did, and if I was to do the trip again I would give it a miss, and just focus in on the mountain passes around central Switzerland.

Furka, Grimsel, Susten, Oberalp are a must. Others that we'll try to do next holiday will be the Gotthard and Klausen.

Apart from the roads the rest of Switzerland is pretty amazing, it beats NewZealand for beauty, but is less than a 8 hr drive away rather than a 24hr flight away.

Interlaken


Aarae gorge



Rhine Falls, where Sherlock Holmes and Moriaty had their final battle.



Mount Titlis



Around the Grimsel pass




But the Gelmer funicular was something I've never experienced before, 106% gradiant, 1800meters ride, literally through the clouds!!



...where at the top you find this!!!



The Rhone Glacier


It really was a unforgettable trip, and we really count our selves lucky to have been able to do it!! I’m just amazed Switzerland isn’t really promoted more in the tourism industry

We really only did a whistle stop tour of the mountain regions, if your into hiking/cycling/adrenaline sports/general exploring amazing country side you could easily spend a week in each mountain region and not get bored, we've definitely found our new favourite holiday destination

[zltm089]

very nice pics!

[breathe3asy]

Top thread!! & I love your E90, so simple but so sexy. What you've done with those tail lights & those rims!! Gorgeous pics thanks for sharing man

I would 100% love to pull something like this off but the planning & prep that needs to go in defeats me

[Kerr]

That looks a fantastic holiday.

[windymissile]

Great pics and a great write up.
Stelvio was made famous by top gear and has suffered ever since. Like you, I prefer the other roads to the east. One thing I miss about living in Germany is the amazing roads just a few hours drive south. Our road trip to Italy was made even better by the drive there. Even if it was in a fully loaded 325i with a baby in the back. Kempten is a beautiful little place worth a stop off in southern Germany if its ever along your route.
WM

[chriz1]

Looks good what did you do for accommodation? Just stop when you found somewhere or was everything planned/pre booked?

[AWBimmer]

Simply Stunning. I'm now looking into this for 2015 - 16 LOL

[gangzoom]

Originally Posted by windymissile

Our road trip to Italy was made even better by the drive there. Even if it was in a fully loaded 325i with a baby in the back. Kempten is a beautiful little place worth a stop off in southern Germany if its ever along your route.
WM

Glad to hear you can still do road trips around with a baby in the car!! As selfish as it sounds the one thing putting us of starting a family is loosing all independence and been tied down by a baby

Originally Posted by chriz1

Looks good what did you do for accommodation? Just stop when you found somewhere or was everything planned/pre booked?

Luckily my wife is an organisation queen, and she arranged all the accommodation, we even had a spread sheet of where to go/do each day. Having a proper itinerary was really useful, but we used a lot of ideas from this website.

http://www.ultimatedrives.net

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Simply Stunning. I'm now looking into this for 2015 - 16 LOL

You really have to do it!!! It also really does show just why the 3 series is such a good car, mountain roads, traffic, autobahn, or even just to nap in whilst in the Eurotunnel, the car does it all so well. Yes barebones track car would be more 'fun' on the passes but do you really want to spend 4-5hr on the autobahn in one doing 120mph+ constantly to get to the mountains. And am sure a 7 series more refined at autobahn storming but when you arrive at the foot of a pass it’s going to feel like a whale, where as 335 did everything asked of it. I have to say I really didn’t appreciate just what a good car it was until this trip. I really cannot see my self parting with our E90 335i for a long long long time, regardless of what bit decides to brake/fail next

This was my favourite part of the road trip, Grimsel pass is on the left, Furka pass on the right, in the middle is the Rhone glacier, all connected by lovely smooth free flowing roads, some 2000 meters above sea level!! It was all so gorgeous I didn't know where to point the camera

[acerboo]

I bet that was an amazing holiday, far better that laying on some beach getting burned to a crisp! looks like that road could be a bit of a Furka in the wet!

[Josh1a1h]

THIS LOOKS FANTASTIC!

Thank you for the write up, thank you for the pictures!

I think a few of us forum members will certainly be arranging something like this at some point. It just seems like the perfect drivers holiday! (Could your wife arrange it for us ) haha

I am in Switzerland every year for skiing, but i hardly see it when the mountains aren't covered in snow and i always drive a crappy hire car, but the roads are amazing! If they can make roads which do not crack and are perfectly smooth, which also go through more extreme weather conditions than ours... Then surely the UK could sort the damn roads out haha.

One question... How did the power feel when driving at high altitude? DId the car feel starved of oxygen due to the turbos working harder? Altitude and turbos don't always go hand in hand...

Great Read!!!

[gangzoom]

If it helps, here's the spreadsheet my wife made up for the trip!!

The scenery must be completely different in winter, but I think most of the passes are close in the winter months.

No idea about a drop in power at altitude, to be quite honest on the passes you can barely go full throttle for more than 2-3 seconds before another hair pin or corner comes into view...The fear of falling off the mountain/unknown roads meant any really fast driving in passes was not really on the cards, some of the locals are mental though, one clapped out E class estate overtook me, a X5, and a range rover in one go around a blind corner with a rock cliff wall on one side and a sheer drop down to the valley floor on the other...I could almost hear them moaning about 'Foreign Tourists' in their fancy cars driving like pansies as they over took us

[silver07335i]

OP, thanks for sharing your vacation photos! The trip looks amazing! What camera(s) did you use?

[gangzoom]

Cheers for the comments about photos.

My camera gear is getting on a bit these days, but still performing amazingly well. I use a Canon 550D body, the Canon 17-55mm F 2.8 IS is my main lens. I love it, its not cheap but built like a tank (has survived me dropping it twice from table height onto a hard floor).

The F1 shots were done with a Cannon 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 IS lens. Not the fastest lens, but I've been banned by the wife from buying any 'L' lens, and to be quite honest when its good enough to capture shots like this, cannot really complain....

These are shots at Eau Rouge.. I was about 15-20 meters from the track the F1 cars are doing about 180mph+!!...They were much much faster than the GP2 and Porsche GT cars, and was really hard to track/focus on.



This is at run down to Pouhon, so again at about 180mph.

For 'consumer'/almost entry level DSLR body and Lens I really cannot complain about the quality of the Canon gear

[scaryprowler]

Great thread! Quality photos and write up! Thank you for sharing this

[Greg330]

Great pictures!

Would love to do this myself one year...