[_KG_]

Hello all

I know I don't post much here, bur it seems that there have been a few threads here of people doing various trips, so thought I'd add mine.

We had 8 nights away and went as far as Lake Maggiore in Italy:

The route was - Tunnel to Calais, then to Strasbourg for the first night stop. We left Strasbourg heading for Stresa on Lake Maggiore. We crossed into Germany and headed south, skirting Freiburg and into Switzerland at Basel. Straight through Switzerland via the St Gotthard Tunnel and then past Locarno onto the minor roads skirting Maggiore.

We spent 5 nights in Stresa and we were then on our way to Beatenberg above Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. We took the scenic route there, which admittedly didn't go down to well with my wife, but how often do you get the chance to drive the St Gotthard, Furka and Grimsel passes?
We had 2 nights in Beatenberg and then it was one monster drive back to Calais, pretty much going back the way we'd come a week earlier. Reckon it was around 560 miles.

The 330d handled itself admirably for the whole trip. On the motorways it was quiet and composed, yet good fun on the smaller back roads.

The return leg back to Calais was despatched in around 8.5 hours. Speeds limits were stuck to rigorously in Switzerland. There were a few extended stints at around 130mph and a max of around 145mph in Germany (the Autobahns are annoyingly busy most days), and Belgium was crossed for the most part with the cruise set at 90. I got out of the car at Calais without so much as an ache or the slightest twinge. The M-sport seats are definitely the best I have had in any car.

If I'm correct in thinking that the average speed indicator on the trip computer is done on GPS, then the BMW speedo is pretty damn accurate. At an indicated 130mph, I reset the average speed and it came up with 207kph (128mph). Pretty good I thought, and massively better than the speedo in my old GTi.

I also reckon that the cruise control is the best I've used - the car actually reduces speed when you ask it to, rather than just 'coasting', as my work Toyota does, and from memory the Golf too.

Critisicms of the car over the week:
I want to know why when you change the units to km, it changes everything except the speed indicator on the cruise control. That would make a good system even better.
I also thought that there was a fair bit of tyre noise on the poorly-surfaced Belgian motorways, although I guess this is partly due to being RFT's.
On the mountain roads, I felt the gearbox was too keen to change down. I found myself quite often knocking it back up one gear and there was still plenty of torque available to pull us along.
Lastly, there is one annoying rattle eminating from somewhere around the rear seats. On certain surfaces it was driving me mental! Will be mentioning it to the dealer in due course.

Anyway, thanks very much if you've managed to read all the way through. A few pics:

If only British motorways were like this:


Leaving the hotel in Stresa:


Furka or Grimsel pass - Can't quite remember...


Switzerland hotel (highly recommended inidentally...), including rare shot of wife in background!


View from our balcony at above hotel - pic doesn't do enough justice.


Lauterbrunnen:


Room enough in the boot to bring this lot back :


And at the end of it all. Pretty good economy I reckon considering there were high-speed runs, slow mountain passes, and a full boot (see above )

[AlanQS]

I think it was the Grimsel pass. Did you go inside the caves at Lauterbrunnen?

Freezing cold!

I did the trip about three times in the eighties - bloody amazing. Is the polar bear ice sculpture still at the entrance to the Rhone glacier?

P.S. any more pics?

[dxb335d]

Great Write up their Pal. Thanks for sharing, im desperate to do such a trip, it looks fantastic.

Who did you go with?

ALso i didnt know you could change to KPH how do you do that?


Carlos

[_KG_]

Carl - I went with my wife. It's taken 6 years to convince her to do another road trip, due to getting food poisoning the day before we were due to drive back to Calais from the French Alps on our las trip. It wasn't pretty....

You definitely need to sort yourself out a Euro trip. Driving on the continent is a breeze if you're a confident driver, it's just in town where you really need to keep your wits about you (and at speed on the Autobahn, naturally).
You have the perfect car to do it in too. Get it sorted!

Re changing the trip/computer to kph, it's in the i menu under units. Good thing is you can choose to keep fuel consumption as mpg (who really understands l/km?). As I mentioned though, it doesn't change the cruise speed to kph.

Alan - we only really had one full day in Switzerland so we didn't get to go in the caves. We've been to the area once before about 7 years ago though, so we managed to do quite a bit then. Trip to the Jungfraujoch and the Trummelbach falls were highlights then.

As you asked, a few more pics:

Parked up on the south side of the Alps


View from our room in Italy


View of Maggiore from Mottarone


Looking down to the start of the St Gotthard pass


Assorted pics from the passes







North face of the Eiger

[jw2000]

Very nic pics.

[alcook]

Man, that brings back memories of my own trip to Stelvio in May this year... How were the roads at this time of year? We went in May due to the School hols here and it was pretty much dead on the roads as some of the passes weren't completely open, so we simply enjoyed going up as far as we could and coming back down again....

I'll be showing the lads in the club the slight difference in your route.... nice to have a change when we do it again next year...

I do remember the drive back being the main pain! It saves wasting a day to do it in two, you may as well bite the bullet and get it over and done with in one! But 800 miles in one go back to Yorkshire was a major killer... I agree totally about the seats though

Thanks for sharing....

[Dave_3]

Good run.

Passed close to me.

I haven't been for a drive up the passes this year yet - need to get out. Used to do a bit of work at an underground research facility deep under the Grimsel pass, along from the Crystal caves.

D.

[_KG_]

Originally Posted by alcook

Man, that brings back memories of my own trip to Stelvio in May this year... How were the roads at this time of year?

The passes were all busy. We drove them on a Sunday which didn't help matters as all the bikers were out. Some of them are absolute headcases - they sit inches from your rear end and then end up passing just before a totally blind corner. Madness. Made it more intense for me, as I had to keep an eye on them as well as making sure I didn't drive off the edge....

[_KG_]

Originally Posted by Dave_3

Good run.

Passed close to me.

I haven't been for a drive up the passes this year yet - need to get out. Used to do a bit of work at an underground research facility deep under the Grimsel pass, along from the Crystal caves.

D.

Where abouts are you? Do you spend most of your time in CH now? I can't help but think it must be a nice place to live. The country keeps itself to itself, no interfering in the rest of the worlds problems, and they look after their own well. Perhaps it's different to how an outsider looking in sees it.

Underground research facility eh? Sounds interesting.....can you tell us more?

[alcook]

KG.. if you're up for it, can I get in touch nearer our next trip to get some tips on pass openings etc please mate?

Having someone there with local knowledge would be invaluable... Could also meet up!

[AlanQS]

You did well for a day in Switzerland! You seem to have hit quite a few high spots

[remmib]

Looks like a great trip.

[CrimsonRedE93]

Great pictures, talk of all these road trips is giving me itchy feet

[_KG_]

Originally Posted by alcook

KG.. if you're up for it, can I get in touch nearer our next trip to get some tips on pass openings etc please mate?

Having someone there with local knowledge would be invaluable... Could also meet up!

Think you may need to get in touch with Dave 3 chap.

I live in Northamptonshire.

I'd rather be in CH though. Although, the German company I work for are only a couple of hours from there. Maybe I should see about relocating....

[alcook]

Originally Posted by _KG_

Think you may need to get in touch with Dave 3 chap.

I live in Northamptonshire.

I'd rather be in CH though. Although, the German company I work for are only a couple of hours from there. Maybe I should see about relocating....

Bugger......

1/10. Pay more attention... see teacher...

[Dave_3]

Presently and for the last 8 years just west of Zurich, but spent 4 years in Bern - so a quick jaunt up the mountains was easier before. Afternoon dash down past Lake Thun and up to Grindlewald to clear out the cobwebs.

There are websites that show the conditions of the passes. I can't rememebr the last time I was up a pass. Should all be open now, though. In mid-winter the tops of the passes are under many, many feet of snow. Closed completely.

Not a bad place to live, clean and safe - but fastidious, plethora of rules (and people who love rules - and even have a rule of what people who don't follow rules should look like). Want to be alternative, there are defined rules on how to do that. Stifles creativity and original thought - so you are still conforming in "opting out". Like living in Sunday School every single day. Very, very high level of depression and suicides with kids.

UK has a much broader spectrum of conditions, arts and entertainment. The excellent, good and terribly bad. I love coming back.

I was working in the Grimsel Undeground Research Laboratory. Originally doing a bit of mathematical modelling related to radioactive waste disposal.

D.

Originally Posted by _KG_

Where abouts are you? Do you spend most of your time in CH now? I can't help but think it must be a nice place to live. The country keeps itself to itself, no interfering in the rest of the worlds problems, and they look after their own well. Perhaps it's different to how an outsider looking in sees it.

Underground research facility eh? Sounds interesting.....can you tell us more?

[alcook]

I must admit the week we spent in Switzerland was heaven.
The place was very quiet, few cars on the road, the place had a very spacious 'feel' with many open spaces. Kids (even very young ones) were coming and going to school without a parent in sight..

The place was clean and just had an air of relaxed peace and quiet....

I actually checked out house prices and was shocked at how expensive a House/Chalet was in the Grindelwald / Brienz area was (outside a major centre like Zurich)... some £600k for a 4 bed with garage..

But all that gloss above is put into perspective when you colour it with the every day negatives (every place has the negatives of course...)

I suppose you have to balance out the negatives and see how loosing the wider spectrum will affect your life style...

When we go again next May, I'll be paying more attention to the locality and looking at it from a 'living there' perspective..

[Dave_3]

Originally Posted by alcook

I actually checked out house prices and was shocked at how expensive a House/Chalet was in the Grindelwald / Brienz area was (outside a major centre like Zurich)... some £600k for a 4 bed with garage..

A couple of good friends just bought a chalet (apartment) in a less "glamourous/fashionable" resort for a very reasonable price - less than £100k. And they rent it back out through an agency to skiiers and ramblers the rest of the year. Basically pays the mortgage for their little mountain retreat and bolt-hole. And they love to Ski/Ramble/Kayak etc.

Made sense as they left for jobs in Norway (Taxes there are simply ) and they side-lined some of their Swiss pension quietly into the Chalet ... They can slip off from the Fjords and go to the Mountains when they want.

I don't ski, and have properties back home in the UK. Still might consider it though ...

Economy in Switzerland is not facing a credit crunch at present. The big Swiss banks took a humilating knock, but in general a lot of money quietly moves into Switzerland in times of international uncertainty in global financial markets. Safe, secure haven.

D.

[beemerbird]

KG - stunning pics. There are so many beautiful places to see in Europe let alone the rest of the world. Some people say winning the lottery wouldn't change their lives. Bollo.ks! Know where I'd be off to - exploring planet earth.

Dave - you are a man of many talents are you not!