Ariels up the Alps 2019 - trip report and photos

[GraemeW]

We are now back from this great trip. It was renamed Ariels in the Alps 2019. This is just a post trip report, mainly about the roads. Photo and video selection to follow.

Firstly, I will repeat, what Ive said many times, there is nothing better for a petrolhead and Arielista, than a trip on some of the worlds best driving and scenic roads. This year we focussed on the Alps, mainly in Switzerland, with short excursions into Italy and Liechtenstein. If you've never been on a Euro trip in your Atom or Nomad, then plan to join us soon, one year.

In the end only 3 cars travelled ex UK, myself and Sir Nick in Atoms, and Mr & Mrs Dunny in a Nomad. Have to say they deserve the medal travelling all the way from Scotland to meet us at Folkestone. We also spent 2 days in Switzerland with a German owner, Curves Junkie and his wife, who showed us some great new roads and passes. More of that below. I want to focus most of this report on the roads and passes, in case anyone else is heading that way in future, plus some other observations about the trip.

France:
We spent 2 days crossing France, getting to Swiss border. Routes on MyRoute App club group site. One day on motorway, which was draining due to 30C plus heat. We did manage a stop at Gueux near Reims for the obligatory photo shoot at the old French GP circuit, plus a meander through some scenic champagne district roads and a stop to sample some at Mailly Grand Cru. The second day we left the motorway to enjoy rural France. Highlight was some unexpectedly good driving roads between Besancon and Pontarlier. Following a gorge with empty twisty and well surfaced roads. Again route on Myroute App.


Switzerland:
It is difficult to top Switzerland as a driving destination, the scenery and the roads are outstanding. I will focus on the passes, which is what we went there for. We left a Ariel Club tour stickers on most of the pass signs at the top. Look out for them if you head that way.

Gurnigel pass: A late addition to our trip, a recommendation I found on another car club forum, and what a pass. Definitely one of the top 5 for an Atom IMHO (See below). Dunny had his own favourites for the Nomad, which he will perhaps tell you about. Its a lesser known pass with not much traffic, an excellent surface, and a good blend of hairpins and sweeping curves to keep you working hard on gears and steering. Its between Fribourg and Thun in the national park between the 2 towns. Followed by great drive along the lakes to Interlaken.

Susten pass: Another excellent pass for the Atom, but somewhat spoilt for us with a bit of rain and fog.

Klausen pass: I cannot comment too much on this pass as it was very wet, and we saw nothing. Also the surface wasn't that good in many sections. Had to slow even more as cows were standing in the road in near zero visibility fog. Although it looks great in the club calendar for August.

Malbun road/pass: Actually in Liechenstenstein where Sir Nick led us on a short diversion up to Malbun (nostalgia trip when he skied there as a teenager?) Another well surfaced, little traffic road twisting, up the mountains. Well worth a diversion if you are in the area. Like Gurnigel, and unexpected delight.

Fluela pass: leading up to Italian border from Davos. We met Curves Junkie at the top. It is a good pass for the Atom and Nomad, but we experienced quite a lot of traffic on the pass, so if you can time it early or late you will have much more fun. I'm glad I supercharged my car, it made getting safely past slower traffic so much easier before the next bend....as well as Alcons to slow you for a rapidly approaching hairpin.

Fuorn pass: After Fluela. Faster flowing pass, also full of traffic so we couldn't appreciate it as much as others. On its own great, but not as good as others in this exalted bunch. We then crossed into Italy. will cover those below.

Bernina pass: Rising from Italian border towards St Moritz. A top pass despite being quite busy. Plenty of overtaking opportunities. Stunning scenery as well.

Albula pass: We couldn't do this one due to it being closed for a bike race. Ive heard its a good driving road. Less traffic, less towns to slow you down and great scenery

Julier pass: did this one twice, each way (due to our itinarary). Faster flowing, less hairpins, and excellent surface. Add it to your list.

San Bernadino pass: heading south towards Lugano. Take the old road, not the new motorway pass. Another one of my favourites, despite the middle bit being granite blocks. Crosses from German speaking Switzerland to Italian speaking switzerland. Scenery and architecture change. Wasn't too busy with a great mix of bends.

Passo del Maloja: Crossing into Italy from St Moritz in Switzerland. Not so much a driving road, more for scenery. In UK it would be a stunning drivers road but compared to the other passes here, not essential...

Saint Gottards pass: one of the oldest passes in Switzerland joining the north and south over the Alps. Must be done for the history, if not the driving experience. Take the old road not the motorway/main road pass. A lot in granite blocks. We ascended and descended in fog so missed the views which Im told are beautiful

Furka pass: A great Atom road. again we were in the fog for this one unfortunately, but on the otherside the fog lifted to give us a view of what a great pass it is. Good surface. Mix of fast flowing and hairpin bends. Plenty of overtaking opportunities.

Grimsel pass: Not as good as the nearby Furka or Susten, but still fun. We did most of it in fog and a bit of rain, so that detracted from the experience.

Juan pass: Between Fribourg and Gstaad. A short pass, but whose main attraction was very little traffic, and a handful of good bends

Col de la Croix: Between Gstaad and Montreux. Another back road with little traffic. Surface wasn't as good but still a great road with good views of the glaciers in the southern alps.


Italy

SS 40 heading north from Stelvio to Reschensee near Austrian border. Not really a pass but a climb up to Reschansee. Despite it being busy going up, I enjoyed it immensely as the surface was perfect and the flowing bends and scenery made me feel like i was in driving heaven. Curves Junkie took us up there to kill time so we could hit Stelvio about dinner time, when it would be less busy. He also showed us a fantastic sweeping small road the other side of Reschensee. Coming back down heading towards Stelvio, there was far less traffic and I had even more fun.

Stelvio: What can I say. You all know about it. Its a old pass with tight hairpins, which the atom turning circle can make a bit tricky when you going up. You have to cross over to the other side when turning, and I had two close encounters with fast bikes coming down, and you can't easily see the other side when going up, its so steep. This concentration detracted from the experience a bit, but getting to the top is a bit like a petrolhead rights of passage. I enjoyed the shorter section going down the other side, because I could see the road better, and the surface was better. Hitting it at about 5pm meant it was relatively empty. Shared the trip with some exotica, Porsche 911 RS2s and Ferraris etc.

Passo di Fascagno: from Bormio towards Switzerland and Bernina pass. A good pass with relatively little traffic, once free of Bormio. It stood out, apart from fun driving, because the scenery was different, less green. Perhaps more snow in winter?

Passo della Splugga: Another pass Curves Junkie introduced us to. Heading north from Italy into Switzerland. Faster flowing and relatively little traffic. Plenty of tunnels...to make a noise in.


Top 5 (driving) passes
TBH all of them were good but picking out the best in my opinion is worth doing, in case you have to prioritise? Its a difficult task. Its all very subjective, depending on time of day, traffic, weather etc. and purely from a driving perspective. In no particular order...

Gurnigel
Susten
Bernina
San Bernadino
Furka
SS40 to Reschensee (OK I know thats 6 but had to have one in Italy)

No doubt the others will have different views and I recall Dunny saying different passes suited the Nomad better.


Observations / Lessons learnt

Ariel reliability: All cars performed and worked hard everyday without fault. Except when I drained my battery leaving my lights on once. Rolled a little way down the hill in second to start it.

Emovis motorway tag: An absolute essential if travelling on motorways in France.

Tyres: I had Yoko AD08s on and i was very impressed with them, and plenty of tread left when i got back. Plenty of grip in the bends, and the odd wet weather we had. Nick went through a set of brand new Avon ZZRs, and we're not sure they're better for these sorts of trips. On the track definitely, but no real advantage on a Euro trip?

Speed limits: In Switzerland I thought this would be a problem given their zero tolerance. Firstly, the 80kmh (50mph) is plenty in the passes, given the number of corners you couldn't always get to the limit. OK maybe Sir Nick could. On the straights it was a different matter. Restraint was required. Motorways have a higher limit than the UK. Secondly, we hardly saw any traffic police. Maybe there are Atom images splattered on cameras across Switzerland.

Itinerary: We've said it before, I think we should extend the idea we've used in UK trips to the Euro trips, by having a couple of bases, and doing excursions, so that you don't have to pack up and move each day. Not exactly a pain but may have given more options and we could reduce luggage carried perhaps. Will try and include in next Euro trip (probably Pyranees in 2020?)

Length of days driving: We limited it to an average of 150 miles per day. Doesn't sound like much, but it was perfect on many days and gave us flexibility to take last minute detours when we felt like it. We, weren't having to rush, unless we wanted to.

Hotels: We stayed in a mix. All were ok to good, except the 3 different days we stayed in the Interlaken area. Couldn't really find anything decent there within a reasonable price and secure car park. If anyone wants Atom or Nomad friendly hotel recommendations in Switzerland then PM me.

Prices: Switzerland is very expensive. Even more so with weak pound. Im not looking forward to my next credit card bill. Nevertheless its a trip you must do at least once in your life...especially if you have an Atom or Nomad.

Fuel: Although I planned fuel stops at stations with Super on our intinerary, we were caught out a couple of times when we did impromptu diversions. Rookie at Ariel recommended I carry some Octane boost, which came in handy. Available at Halfords. Also worth noting many Swiss forecourts operate a self service payment system. Daunting first time, but you get used to it quickly. Most provide English instructions (but not all!)

Walkie Talkies: We used these for slow traffic areas or when stopped to avoid having to get out etc to have a quick discussion. We also enabled sharing our locations on Google maps in case we got lost. This came in useful a number of times when we got split up

Rest day: We took one day out with no driving in Switzerland. Went up into the Alps. It was a great diversion and breaks the trip up a bit, especially after the long drive through France.

Picnic lunches: We should have done more given the prices, and also the scenic opportunities. It is worth doing these in Europe if you can find a nice stop. Baguette, some meat, cheese and a small bottle of red (with screw top!). Heaven. Plan ahead and stop of at supermarket before you set off at start of day.

Luggage: Travelling 2 up, Curves Junkie had a very interesting double panniers on his atom, mounted forward for better weight distribution. Something I definitely want to explore for my car.


Thats enough waffle for now. Hope its helpful if you head out that way.

[rowmrob]

Thanks Graeme for a great review of the passes you drove in the Alps 2019. There is such a lot of use full information in your write up. I know just how long it takes to write a review, the Ariels in Italy 2018 took two weeks to write up. Hope to join in next years trip with a wealth of knowledge about driving holidays in Ariels we can share. Dave.

[AlanP]

That makes a great read Graeme, thanks. My envy levels are unusually high after reading that. I've done some of that in my old 300/3 and loved it, but that all sounds like a super abundance of indulgence. The sort of memories that last a long time I'm sure.
Thanks.
Alan

[Alex Brandon-Smith]

Graeme that is a great report. We should get some of the photos on ariel.club. Get [mention]Steve Gibson[/mention] to post some up when he gets a moment with your report.

I've done a number of those passes on bikes in the past. Great roads and would love to go back in the Atom. Sorry I couldn't join you this trip. Agree with the Stelvio though...it's almost a right of passage but a bit of a let down when you finally get to drive it. Too busy, too tight, no flow. The view at the top is amazing though.

Well done for organising. Sometimes the small trips can be worth even more than the big trips with numbers. Always a great experience...keep everyone informed of the next one if you decide to do one mate

[speedmachine]

I miss the “and photos” part...

[Karl V]

We also enabled sharing our locations on Google maps in case we got lost. This came in useful a number of times when we got split up

What a great idea!

I can only imagine how much effort goes into arranging these types of trips - well done. Sorry I wasn't able to make it, it was bang in the middle of girlchild starting her new big school.

Given what you found with the traffic / weather, would you recommend a different time of year if you were to do it again?

[GraemeW]

Karl, I think we are limited in the times we can go to the Alps in Europe. The couple of weeks before summer holidays and the couple of weeks after, like we did in this case. traffic is higher in the summer holidays and the weather is not always reliable outside these windows. In fact snow hit some of those passes above only a week after we had been there in clear warm weather. Yes we did have 2 wet days, but i would count us lucky wit that, and even they didn't detract from the enjoyment too much.

Away from the Alps the window is bigger though

[GraemeW]

I miss the “and photos” part...

They're coming soon....

[Sir Nick]

Great write up @GreameW

G0013220.JPG (1.87 MiB) Viewed 1083 times

[Sir Nick]

.

G0013235.JPG (1.49 MiB) Viewed 1081 times

[Karl V]

This is still my favourite pic that I saw on Facial Media:

image.png (657.11 KiB) Viewed 1078 times

[stupot]

Great write up. Done almost all of those myself in the Atom over the years and know just how much fun they are whatever the weather! Great memories.

We've been lucky with some fully clear runs up both sides of Stelvio over the years. Hope you saw the photographers usually posted up there as they take some great shots of you flying up for posterity.

[GraemeW]

Hope you saw the photographers usually posted up there as they take some great shots of you flying up for posterity.

Yes I noticed from some of the pics you sent in for this years calendar, some good shots of you on Stelvio. I wondered who you got to take those. I think they had all packed up and gone home when we went up there. The light was fading as well. Ah well, will just have to go again, what a pain

[Curves Junkie]

Here is our little travelogue from my point of view.

I was with my wife also with the Ariel Atom in the Alps on vacation. We started 4 days before the agreed meeting and this time we had started our tour at Grossglockner. So we worked our way from East to West to Bormio/Italy. 25 passes in 4 days at Austria and Italy.
On Thursday evening we arrived at the hotel in Bormio. Our hotel was right next to the hotel where our English Ariel friends checked in on Friday.

We had arranged to meet on Friday at Fluela Hospiz for lunch and then drive over the Fuorn Pass to Stelvio. I had suggested that we drive the Stelvio late in the afternoon because hopefully there will be less traffic. So we made a small detour.

The Reschenpass (SS40) is a main road from Vinschgau (Italy) to Austria. Therefore always very much traffic, with trucks, caravans etc.. That's why we drove off the western shore of the Reschensee, a narrow, winding road with a beautiful landscape.
In the 1950s the lake was dammed and the village Altgraun sank in the water. To this day only the church tower looks out of the water.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reschensee

We didn‘t drive into the Stelvio from Prad until about 5:30 p.m. in the evening.
A must have pass for everyone who comes to this area once. It goes from Prad 48 hairpin bends up, then again with 39 hairpin bends down to Bormio.
In the meantime the pass is complete with tarmac and no longer in the cobbled hairpin bends. But unfortunately in the last years the road was bordered with a continuous stone wall - so you can't see the road above from below.
The view at the top is phenomenal, especially if you walk up to the Albergo Tibet Restaurant https://www.tibet-stelvio.com/.

Unfortunately we were too early at the Stelvio and therefore we had traffic - which came towards us. Thus we did not have a free ride, but Sir Nick and I we had a great blast.

Obviously the best time to enjoy the Stelvio is before 09:00 in the morning and after 19:00 in the evening. Otherwise too much traffic and too many drivers who can't drive and the demands of the pass are not up to.

In the evening we had a delicious dinner and great conversations in the „Steakhouse Keller“. No, there was no pizza or pasta. ;-)

The next day we went via Livigno to Forcola di Livigno. After we arrived back in Switzerland, we drove the Bernina Pass to the south, the mountain down, where we turned around in Somaino, to drive then the Bernina up. The Bernina is a very curvy and demanding pass, which was a lot of fun to drive.

Then we continued via Sankt Moritz to the Maloja Pass. In this direction the Maloja is not so beautiful, especially as rain started to fall. But I wanted to get to one of the most beautiful and technically very demanding passes - the Spluegen Pass. With a completely new road surface it went steeply uphill, with great curves and hairpin bends to Monte Spluga.
And the best - the pass is in Italy, not Swiss - so we can fire up. Sir Nick and I had a great blast too. GraemeW, I'm sorry we waited for you up at the top, but it was so great to blow up there with Sir Nick too.

In Spluegen there was a common latte macciato to say goodbye, then we parted ways. We drove to Bellinzona and the others to St. Moritz to the hotel.

Thank you for meeting Mr. & Mrs. Dunny, [mention]Sir Nick[/mention] and [mention]GraemeW[/mention] . We had a lot of fun and great nice conversations. Thank you for the nice days together. Hopefully you will come again and we will see us again.

[Curves Junkie]

IMG_20190830_105732.jpg (794.43 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_112243.jpg (789.27 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_113437.jpg (794.76 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_113607.jpg (797.3 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_124255.jpg (780.43 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_134750.jpg (793.97 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_134841.jpg (799.2 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_144008.jpg (788.23 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_144228.jpg (776.88 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_150559.jpg (786.29 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_150625.jpg (781.19 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_152419.jpg (797.91 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_153453.jpg (793.55 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_160020.jpg (789.79 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_162625.jpg (798.66 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_162634.jpg (799.76 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_162819.jpg (797.65 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_162923.jpg (789.07 KiB) Viewed 1003 times

IMG_20190830_164354.jpg (772.41 KiB) Viewed 1003 times