3,798 m (12,461 ft). 2nd highest in the Alps.

Highest point on the road is 2504m (8,205ft) I should have been more precise. There is another road that climbs another 1500ft to an observation area that won't be open for another month or so.

 

Thats the peak of the Grossglockner itself, the highest peak in Austria.

The Hochtor is at 2504 m. Can you spot it in the pic below?



That would be the Edelweiss Spitze at 2571m (8435 ft) which is a dead end road to that observation area you mentioned. Its just above the Fuscher Törl parking lot.

Even though you didn't have great weather, I'm glad you got to experience that road and others. Do you happen to remember any of the other passes you went over.

I chatted with this 997 owner atop the Edelweiss Spitze back in 2010 when I guided friends on their first motorcycle tour of the Alps; they're hooked and coming for a third year in a row...go figure . Talk about great weather they lucked into; the best I've seen in all my Grossglockner crossings.

 

And you can rent a Turbo at Frankfurt airport and blast around if you want - if that's want you want. What is personalized? Define? The person who laid out the trip, who had the connections worked for Porsche for years. We visited sections in the factory that few people get to visit. Had lunch with the workers. Had dinner in a four old century farmhouse not open to the public. 30 years of friendship open doors that no other individual from this side of the pond could open - at least not by me. This wasn't driving around Germany and eating in McDonald's... It was the experience of being with other PCA members from all over North America and listening to their experiences. Can't get that driving alone. Listening to 912 restoration stories (horrors) or flabbergasted to find out the person your sitting beside lives beside the Governor of Texas and George W is a close friend... Now where am I going to meet people like this normally? Wine tasting in a cellar with wines the LCBO will never order. Shots of schnapps so smooth it was like velvet fire. I had many. The human powered beer wagon we pedaled all the while drinking beer on the streets of Stuttgart in rush hour (tactical error!) To the lady in the BMW M3 - sorry about the suds on your windshield. Very polite people here - in Toronto we would have been yelled at or attacked. Then there was the Spring Oktoberfest we went to the night before we flew home, OMG! Not even close to the Kitchener type.

Our new good friend Thomas has offered to construct any trip we want anywhere in Europe, five other couples and we stay in villa's all over central Europe from the Stelvio Pass to Lake Como or Tuscany region - you name it. So when you say organized tours... it's not as if we were on a bus tour.

Laughing over dinner at American speak ver's Canadian speak with new friends.

Learning how one can import a used 991 to Canada after Avis gives it up next year - a secret learned from a Porsche rep... and I'm not talking...

There were laps of the Ring arranged at the last minute for a UCR member that picked up his new cab that week at the factory. Then the couple from Singapore decided they wanted a 'Ring Taxi' ride the night before. One call made it happen. Or meeting the president of the Porsche Club of Japan. I don't have these resources.

 

FYI Alex: the pass opened two days before we crossed it. The plows were still at the top. Good luck was on our side.

 

Wow......one day....

Do they rent baby seats for the 991s?? lol...

Or I'll need to put this on my bucket list.

 

Doug, please stop, my head is about to explode

Spent my teenage years dreaming of riding a motorcycle across the alps. Spent most of my adult years (I'm 53) dreaming of moving there. I've done a few bicycle vacations in Spain, France, and Italy. I'm ready to go back.

When/if you go back to Tuscany, Stelvio, etc, with "Thomas", give a sign

 

Your own tour. When I tour Europe, the last thing I want to do is hang around with a bunch of North Americans (which includes Canadians), that is if you want to experience Europe and eat and chit-chat with the locals.

This type of tour sort of parallels many of the organized motorcycle tours I have read about on those forums.

Going self guided, I've been on roads far more interesting and challenging than what tour organizers take participants on. Having seen the GPS tracks of someone who went on one, I can comment.

Its a matter of how you want to go and what you want to spend. Not everyone has the funds to go on these tours. Going self guided would give those the opportunity to experience what driving in the Alps is all about. And to be honest, what you drive is on little importance. The roads and scenery alone would blow the minds of most drivers.

This will be year eighteen in a row touring there...self guided, but on two wheels.

 

When were you there?

I was going over the Col d'Iseran (Val d'Isere ski area) in France one June 25th and the snow at the edge of the road was 15+ feet high, and cut at the edge of the road like a wall.

 

It opened on the 28th of April and we went up on the 30th.



A couple of video frame grabs.

 

How do the Fast Lane Travel tours compare to the Porsche Travel Club tours. They look good too, though somewhat less diverse in terms of locations. Slightly cheaper than Fast Lane too.

 

Couldn't tell you as I haven't done the Porsche Travel Tours - although Thomas used to head the Porsche Tours and now works for Fast Lane. The accommodation is 5 star and the food was above that! Reserved parking where ever we went and valet parking at every hotel - cars warmed up and ready at the front door every morning, stocked with fluids. Can you do it cheaper? Sure. But everything was first class and I'm happy with the whole trip. All food, drinks, gas, insurance and car rental was included as well as any tolls we paid and entrances to museums. The special factory tour was a highlight as well as lunch with the workers. Fascinated to watch them drinking beer on their lunch breaks! From vending machines to boot. We were escorted in the MB museum by an ex factory engineer who told fascinating story's. All in we're happy with the trip which is all that counts. Holidays are different to each person. They have a trip south from Stuttgart to Tuscany region that my spouse really, really would like to do. 10 days driving out of 14 days.

 

High praise indeed. Did you do the 5 Country Adventure in the 911 or the Treffen?

I'll have to start working on my Chief Frustration Officer (wife) for this next year. Thanks for sharing this btw.

 

Treffen Plus

 

so did that guy actually park his bicycle so he could run over and do his buddy from behind while on his bicycle ?

 

There are indeed some nice things money can buy and such a trip is definitelly one of them.

Alex, you're right, one will enjoy the scenery in any car and I did in my past trips. Driving a sports car would definitelly be a bonus, many times during my trips have thought how nice it would have been to have the Porsche or the Audi Quattro with me (this includes drives in BC and NW USA but there are some in the East too).

Have looked at the itinerary for Treffen Plus, it is very detailed. Nothing would stop anyone from simply following it on his own and enjoy the same spectacular sights at a lower cost. But you won't get the group synergy.

George