Hi Everybody,

So, I’ll sound a little ungrateful here, apologies in advance. I’m super happy to be doing ED next week on my CGTS 4.0 in Leipzig, I’ll start with that.

Now, onto the whining.

I procrastinated on the whole thing and now as I look into driving my dream path on the Stelvio, Susten, etc Pass, it appears they’re all closed until June??

For any of you experienced folks, is there any chance they open on sunny days around April 18-28 range? Or should I totally give up on the idea and just reroute altogether?

If there is indeed no hope, do you locals or pros know of another alternate routing for someone who would like to see the mountains and drive curvy roads?

Again, extremely grateful for this experience and don’t want to come across in any sort of negative way. I should’ve done better research on the passes, definitely would’ve helped alleviate my last minute dismay.

Alternatively, do any of you folks think taking one of the trains, e.g., Glacier Express in lieu of driving is worth it just to see the views? I feel as if I’d be thinking of the car sitting idle without me driving it every second, but I’m trying to balance seeing the Alps per my personal bucket list vs driving the car the most. I suppose I could return on a separate trip and ride the train…

Anyway, any thoughts or tips are welcomed. I have read numerous other threads on this too. Apologies if my thread is a duplicate of other information.

As of now, I have planned Leipzig - Prague - Munich (then I’m lost because wanted mountains before going toward Baden Baden and Zuff drop off) …

Thanks all!

 

In the thread I started on the last page or two a member posted the mountain pass website, it shows what is open/closed and anticipated open dates I believe.

If they're not open, not much you can do. I think it seems Germany had a late Spring, as we did in west Canada too. Maybe a drive up by and around Lake Constance, there is a castle down by the south border, neuwin*something, its supposed to be one of the nicest castles in the world.

Cheers

 

The big passes you mentioned have no chance of being open but there are many smaller passes that are open. There is the Rossfeldstrass not far from Munich and there are some nice routes open in Austria, Kaunertaler Gletscher road is very nice. The Deutsche Alpenstraße is great and runs from Lake Constance and Königssee, on the Rossfeldstrasse.

Another option could be the Italian lakes but the Bavarian route is a better option from a time perspective.

 

thank you so much for the info, apologies I missed the other page on it.

Great info, I’ll look into it now!

Finally, I really want a Zuffenahusen tour, but none are available in English for the entirety of 2023. Is it super bad form or considered rude to book one in German and just tag along? I just want to see the factory and don’t mind if I can’t understand what’s being said… But curious if that’s rude?

 

I might check this one out when we leave Fussen and the castle:

The Deutsche Alpenstraße is great and runs from Lake Constance and Königssee, on the Rossfeldstrasse.

 

Where did you hear that there are no English factory tours for the rest of the year? That's not true. They do two every day - one at 10am and another at 1pm. And there are available slots starting Sept 11.

Edit - I realize that doesn't help you for next week but I want to make it clear for anyone who may be considering going in Sept or later...

 

Anybody have a recommended weather site or app that has a good 10-day forecast for a broad regions? We’re planning a drive in the coming weeks and most of the places we’re looking at are predicting rain the entire time. I’m trying to figure out potential alternatives that are more likely to be dry, but struggling with available sites. I found some that are all cookies and spam…um, no thanks. What am I missing?

 

https://www.bergfex.at/

Bergfex is great for the Alps and covers France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Germany. The app is free.

 

Or try https://www.bergfex.com/ if you don't speak/read German (though it doesn't always translate the entire page).

I don't see where you can get updates on whether Alpine passes are open or not.

 

I've never found a reliable site for that so google each one individually or by country. This is a good one for Swiss passess https://alpen-paesse.ch/

 

We took the Hochtannbergpass from Fussen to Lake Constance, it has some nice views going from the valley up into the mountains and back down into the lake. The weather was great and the sky clear which helped tons. It’s not a road you can speed through, more of a viewing and casual drive. The switch backs by the pass get a bit aggressive but other than that is a calm drive.

Regarding your question about the factory tour, DO NOT miss it. How close you get and the amount of information is very special, especially as a new owner. We had our tour at 10am like another said, there wasn’t even another person with us, the German tours were packed.

The tour starts at the museum entrance, if you arrive 1hr early you could tour the museum and do the factory tour at 10.

A trip to the restaurant above the factory through the glass elevator is highly recommended, the food and view is fantastic!

ps, if there is no English, jump in with the German tour, it’s worth it. No one would care.