So I have been following the community for quite some time and have been able to gather a lot of insights which have helped me on my Porsche journey, so I thought to “give back” with my driving tips for a European Delivery road trip.

I am actually based in Zurich so the European Delivery per se does not apply to me, but I do spend a lot of my weekends on mountain passes so I would simply share my thoughts on how you guys could plan a nice road trip in order to get to know your new cars on the great roads of Switzerland.

I would caveat that these suggestions / tips would only apply for Zuffenhausen (Stuttgart) deliveries, as it would be quite the distance from Leipzig – although the latter as a starting point would help to get past the engine break-in period quite a bit quicker



Day 1:



I would suggest to drive to Zurich as it is a perfect starting point to explore the Alps. The city has great restaurants (Baauernschaenke, Maison Manesse, Shin, Zunfthaus zur Waag, Buech) to explore and good hotels to stay as well (Dolder, Baur au Lac, Alex, Storchen).

I would actually recommend to just explore the city as it is really worth it particularly during the summer.

If nonetheless you would fancy for a day drive I would do the following:

• Klausenpass (you have to start on the Glarus side as that is the most enjoyable way to explore that pass)
• After you finish the Klausenpass, I would then drive towards Schwyz towards the Ibergereggstrasse (this is a tight and twisty pass, but enjoyable nonetheless; at the foot of this pass there is a nice Michelin vegetarian restaurant called Magdalena that is worth a visit)
• On the Ibergerreggstrasse you drive towards Unteriberg and then towards Satteleggstrasse which would be the third and last pass of the day
• Finish off with lunch at the terrace of the Alex Hotel on Lake Zurich on the way back into town

Day 2:

• Sustenpass (drive towards Wassen to start the pass on that side of the mountain)
• Grimselpass
• Furkapass

It is really important that you get up early for these passes (even more so on weekends) as I have experienced multiple times to have the passes in their entirety for myself. Ideally you should be at the foot of the Sustenpass by 08:30.

I personally like to just drive in the morning and relax in the afternoon – that is always how we design the road trips with friends, as this allows us to have a nice lunch and there is no need to hold back if you want to enjoy a drink.

Overnight, I would suggest staying in Andermatt at the Chedi. Particularly in the summer the rates are quite reasonable if you book in advance and so in the afternoon you can have a good spa session following by Japanese for dinner. If you drive between July and August, the hotel has a Japanese restaurant open at the top of the mountain which is a nice lunch experience.



Day 3:

• Oberalpass
• Lukmanierpass

The Lukmanierpass is really an underrated mountainpass as I find it generally to be quite empty and it has a great combination of hairpins, high speed and slower speed corners.

For the overnight stay you can go with either Ascona, Locarno, Lugano, Morcote, or even Como.

If you have the time, I find Como to be worth driving the extra hour over the other locations but for a good hotel, the prices can become quite punchy during the summer season (EUR 1,500+ per night). When we do our annual car trip, we do like to stay in Como and combine it with a boat trip to some of the nice restaurants on the shores for lunch.

The Mandarin Oriental in Como is fantastic and I can only recommend it if you want to indulge a bit as well while on your trip.

For lunch, you can’t go wrong in staying at the hotel or taking a boat up to Bellagio.



Otherwise, if you want to stay in Switzerland the Relais Morcote is really a nice place to stay at.



Day 4:

• San Bernardinopass (make sure to drive off the highway in Mesocco)
• Spluegenpass
• Malojapass

After the Malojapass, you will arrive in St Moritz. It is actually a nice place to stay and while lots of people have their prejudices for this place, the obnoxious people are only there during the winter so nothing to worry about. There are definitely nicer places in Switzerland to stay but it fits perfectly as an overnight spot for this roundtrip.

Unfortunately, the hotels in St Moritz are quite old so unless you fancy the old styled / classic hotels, you will likely be disappointed. But ultimately, the service is good and the spas are nice. I would suggest to stay at the Carlton over the Kulm, Badrutts, or Suvretta.

On a nice summer day, I would suggest to have lunch on the terrace of Salastrains or Paradiso Mountain Club.



Day 5:

• Albulapasss or Julierpass
• Klausenpasss
• Mini Mountainpass up to the Burgenstock

After the Klausenpass, I would suggest to drive to the Buergenstock and have lunch on the terrace of their Asian restaurant. The views are really amazing as you are sitting a few hundred meters above Lake Luzern.

I am always a bit torn whether it is worth it to stay at the resort (given I live 1h away in Zurich), but I would definitely say that if you are visiting do not hesitate to stay overnight (particularly at the Alpine Spa as you would want to have the spa access).

I hope the above is helpful for any of you who are looking to organize a nice trip with their new cars!

 

Thanks so much for posting. I’ve done most of your itinerary for Days 2 and 3, but have much more to try on the remainder of your schedule.

 

Please post picks, I want to do a Euro Delivery so bad with a Porsche.
Hoping to put together one with my next Porsche delivery.

 

Have a look at the Cortina d'Ampezzo, Badia, Corvara and Sud Tirol areas in the Dolomites. We have vacationed in that area a couple of times and there are always hot cars ripping around - F-cars, L-cars and naturally P-cars.

Awesome roads, scenery, food, landscape and 5-star lodging options. Lots to like.

From Stuttgart to Cortina, Ulm and Füßen/Garmisch (Schloß Neuschwanstein) are interesting lunch/coffee stopping points.

 

Many thanks for this itinerary, I am planning ED 3rd week in November.
Are any of these passes open at that time? I believe many/most are closed, but unsure.
Do you have alternative suggestions for driving roads in the late November time frame?

 

Passo Brennero (Brenner Pass) near Innsbruck is open all year. Not sure about the places in the OP.

 

Most of the passes tend to close around the end of October but the closures are weather dependent to an extent.

This website shows the status of all the mountain passes in Swtizerland throughout the year - really helpful resource:

https://www.alpen-paesse.ch/

Some passes in Switzerland are open all-year round like the Julierpass. As a reference late November 2022 you still had the following passes open: Julier, Albula, Bernina, Bruenig, Lukmanier, and a few others. But you will find all the information on closures on the link I have shared in this post

 

I'm schedule for November 16th, and I had the same question!

 

Great write up, especially nice from a local. You sound like quite the foodie, good suggestions all around.

 

Appreciate this - we leave for our ED trip in three weeks, and my plan for Swiss passes is quite similar! We have Leipzig delivery but it's no problem at all driving that far - looking forward to it. We'll starting by spending the night in Zurich, then we'll follow this itinerary:

Day 1: a loop of Gotthard/Furka/Grimsel/Susten. Stay in - yes - Andermatt. Side note: I drove into Switzerland in early June 2019 specifically for this loop only to find that they were not yet open at the time! We were able to do Klausen after coming from Grossglockner.
Day 2: a loop of Gotthard/Nufenen/Furka (the latter will be full length this time & in the other direction). Then onto Oberalp and Lukmanier. We'll stay in Bellinzona.
Day 3: run San Bernardino, Splugen, Maloja, Julier, Albula. Stay in Pontresina.
Day 4: run Bernina, half of Stelvio (obv'ly Italy here - did this in Oct 2017), Umbrail, Gavia (also of course in Italy).

We'll move onto the Italian Dolomites in the next couple days after the 14 Swiss passes. Total # of passes looks to be 26, possibly 27 if we are able to make time for Fluela.