Two weeks driving in the Alps

Day 1

Passo dello Stelvio and Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse

• Passo dello Stelvio · 30.4 mi · 9.9 / 10. Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
• Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse · 29.8 mi · 9.8 / 10. Austria's grandest high alpine road climbs to Franz Josefs Hohe beneath the country's tallest peak.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 56 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 2

Col de la Bonette and Sella Ronda Loop

• Col de la Bonette · 14.9 mi · 9.7 / 10. A looping summit road above 2800 metres that circles the peak itself for maximum theatre.
• Sella Ronda Loop · 34.2 mi · 9.7 / 10. Four Dolomite passes in a single circuit of the Sella massif, the finest loop in Europe.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 37 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 3

Passo Sella and Col du Galibier

• Passo Sella · 6.8 mi · 9.6 / 10. Sheer Dolomite towers on both sides make this short link one of the world's great scenic drives.
• Col du Galibier · 11.2 mi · 9.6 / 10. The spine of the Route des Grandes Alpes, a relentless climb to one of driving's holiest summits.

About 186.4 mi and 4 hr 47 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 4

Col de l'Iseran and Grimsel and Susten Circuit

• Col de l'Iseran · 9.9 mi · 9.6 / 10. The roof of the Route des Grandes Alpes, a stark granite amphitheatre above 2700 metres.
• Grimsel and Susten Circuit · 74.6 mi · 9.6 / 10. Three of the best passes in the Alps stitched into one loop back to the same valley.

About 186.4 mi and 6 hr 36 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 5

Passo Pordoi and Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse

• Passo Pordoi · 8.1 mi · 9.5 / 10. Twenty eight numbered hairpins climb to the highest paved point of the Dolomites road network.
• Timmelsjoch Hochalpenstrasse · 18.6 mi · 9.5 / 10. A high toll road crossing into Italy with a dramatic glass museum perched at the summit.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr behind the wheel including transit.

Day 6

Col d'Izoard and Vrsic Pass

• Col d'Izoard · 20.5 mi · 9.5 / 10. Hairpins through larch forest give way to the lunar Casse Deserte, a surreal high altitude finale.
• Vrsic Pass · 29.2 mi · 9.5 / 10. Fifty numbered hairpins, twenty four of them cobbled, over the highest pass in Slovenia.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 39 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 7

Furka Pass and Susten Pass

• Furka Pass · 9.9 mi · 9.4 / 10. Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
• Susten Pass · 29.2 mi · 9.4 / 10. A flowing, beautifully engineered road beneath the Steingletscher ice cliffs.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 21 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 8

Route des Cretes, Verdon and Passo Valparola

• Route des Cretes, Verdon · 14.3 mi · 9.4 / 10. A vertiginous loop skimming the canyon rim with balcony viewpoints at every bend.
• Passo Valparola · 20.5 mi · 9.4 / 10. War tunnels, a small lake and the Lagazuoi towers, quieter than its famous neighbours.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 14 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 9

Passo Gardena and Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse

• Passo Gardena · 7.5 mi · 9.3 / 10. Limestone spires of the Sella group frame every one of this pass's flowing bends.
• Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse · 13.7 mi · 9.3 / 10. Thirty four hairpins climb past the turquoise Silvretta reservoir to a glacier ringed summit.

About 186.4 mi and 4 hr 52 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 10

Col Agnel and Grande Corniche

• Col Agnel · 13.7 mi · 9.3 / 10. Remote high altitude pass to the Italian frontier with tight ribbons and stark empty scenery.
• Grande Corniche · 9.9 mi · 9.3 / 10. Napoleon's high road above Monaco, immortalised on film, staring down onto the principality.

About 186.4 mi and 4 hr 50 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 11

Mangart Saddle Road and Passo Fedaia

• Mangart Saddle Road · 7.5 mi · 9.3 / 10. The highest road in Slovenia, blasted through rock tunnels to a 2072 metre saddle.
• Passo Fedaia · 18.6 mi · 9.3 / 10. A brutal ramp to a dam under the Marmolada glacier, the roof of the Dolomites.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr behind the wheel including transit.

Day 12

Nufenen Pass and Kaunertal Glacier Road

• Nufenen Pass · 23.6 mi · 9.3 / 10. Switzerland's second highest paved pass, wide, smooth and gloriously empty.
• Kaunertal Glacier Road · 16.2 mi · 9.3 / 10. Twenty nine hairpins to a glacier at 2750 metres, one of the great dead end drives.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 22 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 13

Grimsel Pass and Col de la Croix de Fer

• Grimsel Pass · 16.2 mi · 9.2 / 10. Granite reservoirs and stark rock walls line this dramatic climb from the Bernese Oberland.
• Col de la Croix de Fer · 18.6 mi · 9.2 / 10. Turquoise lakes and jagged aiguilles frame this classic crossing of the Grandes Alpes.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 14 min behind the wheel including transit.

Day 14

Col de Turini and Hahntennjoch

• Col de Turini · 10.6 mi · 9.1 / 10. Legendary Monte Carlo Rally stage stitching together forested hairpins above the Roya valley.
• Hahntennjoch · 18.6 mi · 9.1 / 10. A narrow Tyrolean pass of relentless corners, a local secret for years.

About 186.4 mi and 5 hr 5 min behind the wheel including transit.

Base yourself

Bolzano, Innsbruck, Andermatt or Chamonix

Nights to book

13 nights. On anything longer than five days, book two nights in the best base rather than moving hotel every evening.

Fuel and tolls

Budget for roughly 2609.8 miles of driving plus any vignettes or tunnel fees for the countries you cross.