Das Road Trip, Ja!

[Eddy77]

So on 9th June I'm off on a nice little road trip.

It's my 40th Birthday this year so me and my best buddy are meeting up and doing a convoy roadtrip of the "Alpenstrasse" or "German Alpine Road". It runs from Lake Constance in SW Germany right across through the Bavarian Alps to Austria. Last day we will be doing the Gross Glockner too which should be great.

WE're doing the trip over 8 days so plenty of time to take it all in.

The cars?

My CLK 350 Sport Cabrio and my mate's 911 C4S Cabrio. We're fully insured on each other's cars so I'll be piloting the 911 for some of the trip - which will be nice.

Going to GoPro the trip and make a short video of the highlights when I get home. Will share it on here if anyone is interested.

Anyone done this trip before and have any tips?

 

[PobodY]

I'm envious. - We talked about a trip like this for my 40th, but in the end we caught trains from Stoke to Fes (Stoke-London-Paris-Bacelona-Cordoba-Aligcares then a ferry to Tangiers and a final train to Fes) and got a driver to take us through the Atlas mountains.

I'd be particularly interested in hearing how the CLK 350 gets on. - I might start small with the Northwest 500 and build-up to something like your trip.

 

[BTB 500]

It runs from Lake Constance in SW Germany

It's the Bodensee if you're in Germany

We went down for the day (were based near Stuttgart) a few years ago - some great new autobahns, very smooth and lots of unrestricted sections

 

[GeeJayW]

Sounds like a cool trip. Took the SLK down to Lake Constance and through to Italy a few years ago. We did touch Austria (Innsbruck), but I can't remember the exact route.

Have fun.

 

[Benzmanc]

We did the Gross Glockner a couple of years ago on the bike, you get a special sticker when you visit on 2 wheels. The Glacier was interesting but be aware they close at a certain time and as it's a dead end you have to come back down.

 

[Eddy77]

Thanks all! Will report back with video and pics in June!

 

[Eddy77]

So I got back from the trip last weekend. SUPERB!

Spent around 20% of my time driving my mate's Porsche 911 'Vert and the other 80% in the CLK. The Merc acquitted itself very well. Lovely car to spend 6-8 hours a day in. No issues at all. No dramas. Just 272bhp and a smooth ride.

The 911 was epic to drive (it's a 4S with optional Sports Exchaust) but so tiring after a few hours.

Rock Hard Ride? Check.
Heavy Clutch? Check.
Heavy Steering? Check.
Great Fun? Check.

Overall I preferred the Merc for the most part. So much more relaxing (and that matters when you are covering 2,500 miles in 7 days).

Pics and Vid to follow.

Briefly we did:

France > Germany > Austria > Switzerland > Italy and back.

Umbrail and (nearly) the Stelvio Pass (closed when we got there!). Grossglockner and a lot of amazing roads in between.

Truly epic.

Happy 40th Birthday to me!

 

[Eddy77]

Pics