Swiss Alps
Self-Drive

Six nights at your own pace, from the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart over the Stelvio and the Swiss passes to Mont Blanc, then home through France, Basel and the Black Forest.

You collect the car at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart, and the first night is at the V8 Hotel, where classic Mercedes and McLaren have showrooms under the same roof. The next morning you head south down the Autobahn into Austria, then into Italy over the Stelvio Pass.

From there the Alps come one pass after another – nearly 200 miles of them on day three, then a full day of the Furka, Tremola, Susten, Grimsel, Gotthard and Nufenen. You cross the Great St Bernard Pass into the Aosta Valley, then turn north for France, Basel and the Black Forest, and finish back in Stuttgart. There is no lead car – just the road book, the route links and the road.

The tour starts at the home of Porsche. Take time in the museum – some of the rarest Porsches in the world are here – before checking into the V8 Hotel. It’s a car hotel in every sense: a classic Mercedes dealership and McLaren sales and service are inside the building, with Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Harley-Davidson next door.

Day two takes the Autobahn south out of Germany to a mountainside restaurant in Austria for lunch, then on into Italy and over the Stelvio Pass. The night is at a 4-star spa and wellness resort in the southern part of the Stelvio National Park.

Day three is around five hours and nearly 200 miles of Alpine passes and twisting roads, with lunch at a mountaintop restaurant and a toboggan run on the way down – PDDUK says it’s Europe’s longest. You then spend two nights at a spa hotel in the heart of the Alps, with the passes on the doorstep.

Day four is all passes. You drive the Furka, the pass from Goldfinger, then the Tremola, Susten, Grimsel, Gotthard and Nufenen. Stop for the ice cave at the Rhone Glacier or a tour inside the Gotthard Fortress if you want to. The afternoon is free for the spa or the town, and PDDUK gives you a list of restaurants in the villages nearby.

Day five heads west on more passes and open country roads to Grindelwald, where lunch is at an Alpine restaurant reached by a cliff walk. The afternoon takes the Great St Bernard Pass and drops south into Italy’s Aosta Valley, to a spa hotel with Mont Blanc outside your balcony.

On day six you leave Italy for France and lunch at a fondue restaurant PDDUK rates as one of the best it has been to. The afternoon drive ends in Basel, with the evening free for the old town and dinner by the river.

The last day crosses into Germany and through the Black Forest, by way of Triberg, the home of the cuckoo clock, and a coffee stop PDDUK knows for its Black Forest gateau. Then the road winds back through the woods to Stuttgart, where you hand back the car.

This is a self-guided tour, with no lead car or tour guide. You drive from a road book with maps and route links. Six nights’ accommodation and breakfast every morning are included. The tour runs from June to October, and PDDUK quotes prices on request.