City to city
Through Austria and the Swiss passes rather than the tunnels, which adds a day and removes the tedium.
Direct route
264.1 mi
Scenic route
587.2 mi
Days to enjoy it
3 days
Great roads on route
7
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. Distances are planning estimates. The road list is drawn from the scored Atlas library inside this corridor. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 15 May 2026
The detour
The fast way
Motorway and trunk road for most of it, one fuel stop, nothing you will remember. Useful when the drive is a means to an end.
The good way
About 10 hr 21 min of that is spent on the great roads themselves, which is where the whole difference lies.
On the way
01 · Italy
Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
30.4 mi · Rating 9.9 / 10
02 · Austria
Austria's grandest high alpine road climbs to Franz Josefs Hohe beneath the country's tallest peak.
29.8 mi · Rating 9.8 / 10
03 · Italy
Four Dolomite passes in a single circuit of the Sella massif, the finest loop in Europe.
34.2 mi · Rating 9.7 / 10
04 · Italy
A narrow, unguarded ribbon past Lago Nero that feels wilder than its famous neighbour.
19.3 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
05 · Italy
Sheer Dolomite towers on both sides make this short link one of the world's great scenic drives.
6.8 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
06 · Italy
Twenty nine hairpins climb to a wide open saddle ringed by the jagged Cinque Torri.
10.6 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
07 · Switzerland
Three of the best passes in the Alps stitched into one loop back to the same valley.
74.6 mi · Rating 9.6 / 10
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