Road tripping to the Dolomites

[jtparr]

Hard work getting up at 05.30 after the night before….but worth it beyond any question…..roll on panorama…..



This one was actually taken by Richard…

[IanM]

Snow in June?

Thanks for sharing photos.

[anglophone1]

New Restaurant owned by Ferdi Porsche https://fat-international.com/mankei

[Gary71]

Of course what goes up must come down again and we headed off towards Italy.









Every single road was stunning, every corner another mountain and we entered the Dolomites just in time for lunch by a wonderful lake.

[Gary71]

Snow in June?

Thanks for sharing photos.

Loads! One of the later roads only opened last Friday

[anglophone1]

Fabulous- you were fortunate that everything was open- we did the same week last year in Pyrenees and two crucial passes still shut!!

[hot66]

Generally last week of May most passes are open … last time only one was closed . This year there was a significant less amount of snow .

… anyway, as Gary says, after a bit of breakfast and a small car park mishap we all headed off back over the Grossglockner and down into Italy and the fabulous Dolomites.



Lunch stop was a very special location, one of the most beautiful lakes and back drop with trout swimming in the river and a lovely restaurant overlooking ii





We still had some miles to do to get to the next hotel but the route included some of the great passes .. these roads differ from the Austrian ones as they tend to be a lot rougher and more honest and for me more fun. They just suit a smaller air cooled 911 . We also for the first time experiences a real mix of weather with hail and rain which did make grip levels more interesting !







Onwards and through Cortina and onto Canazei where our hotel for the next 2 nights would be.

[hot66]

Have to mention the hotel we’re staying at .. i managed to get it booked quite early on for what I thought was almost too cheap .. £65 / night 1/2 board !!! And the food was stunning ! Plus it had a pool, a spa with a massage therapist who was rumoured to weigh 65kg and a 24hr bar

We were here for 2 nights as the next day was a circular route taking in a lot of passes , many well known on the cycling circuit etc. It turned out to be one of our best driving days .

Views from the hotel

[hot66]

Day 4

Sensible start time today as we were all knackered after the previous days early start and hard driving.

We had a lot of passes to do today but started with 2 stunning ones, Passo Sella and Passo Gardena . These are amazing ti drive.





After a regroup we headed down and onwards … it was all going so well until I was waved down by the Italian police ! Along with the rest of our group behind me. Can’t deny we might have been travelling slightly over the limit so I was crapping myself when we were pulled thinking I was facing a big old fine etc or worse … much to the entertainment of the rest of the boys, they were told they could carry on ! So there I was left with the Italian police on the side of a beautiful mountain ( they did have nice Ducati police bikes as in the pic )




Now, with hindsight we think they were just giving us a shot across the bow, but they didn’t really mention speed but did want to see my documents which is a legal requirement to carry …. And of course I always carried mine in my travel bag …. Which of course for the only time of the whole trip I’d left in the hotel room !!! I was lucky I’d decided to put my passport in my pocket but after 3/4 hr I was fined for not having my documents and warned about the location of my UK sticker . A few euros lighter and I was heading down the hill to meet up with the rest of the ( Smug ) group

[jeremyg]

Great story - Trish and I are about to do a very similar trip in our new (to us) 2.7 76 911S. 2 questions - what was the name of the trout place restaurant stop, and where exactly was your UK sticker stuck?

[hot66]

I’d actually got on quite well with the Italian lads and they were pretty fair … I did mention the uk sticker thing to the rest of the group so it was funny to see a few hasty applied uk stickers going on car

So, back in the road and onto some more passes with Passo Giau being the last before lunch. Last time il here there was 6ft snow, this year it was almost snow less but it did give us the chance to have a stroll and realise we all need altitude training:lol:



Heading toward cortina we grabbed some lunch at a small cafe the locals were eating at ? Only 3 meal choices ! ) and then onwards to finsh the day on some really twisty tarmac rally style passes. Everyone was in agreement these were so intense and great fun.





By the time we got back to the hotel it had been a long day but we all needed a release so it was long, very funny night in the bar

[hot66]

Great story - Trish and I are about to do a very similar trip in our new (to us) 2.7 76 911S. 2 questions - what was the name of the trout place restaurant stop, and where exactly was your UK sticker stuck?

Toblacher See (ger) or Lago Dobbiaco ( it)

I had my sticker in the top left of the rear window … he wanted it near the number plate. He let me off though ( he did point out it would have been an 80euro fine for no uk sticker ) . As said, they were just giving a shot across the bow and we had been pushing our luck a little

[jeremyg]

Thanks James - this has reminded to get one to put on - and stick it in the right place! We’re passing through the Dolomites and I’m looking out the route maps from the last time we were there for the 356 international meeting in Merano.

[hot66]

Merano is stunning .. we passed through there on the way to the timmelsjoch having driven there via the SP98 from Bolzano.

[matteo68]

Fantastic! Photos are stunning!