Kicking off my 8 week Europe road trip …..

[_jenks_]

Hi I've been on here a number of years but only just started to post, I'm a big BMW fan having my fair share of BMWs new and old but have just started to see the benefit of documenting some of my cars and trips etc so here goes my first post.

So I live in England and am currently two weeks into an 8 week driving/ cycling trip in Europe it started with a 700 ish mile drive from my home in England across to France via the Eurotunnel (20 mile train that takes your car under the sea between France and England)

Then it's a long drive across to the French alpine town of Chatel here is my car on arrival



Plus a view of lake Geneva out the drivers window of my car



, this is just a few miles ahead of reaching the Swiss Alps where I drive "Pas De Morgin" to drive over to the French side of the mountain range here is a link to a video I made of me driving that mountain pass…

, I will make more videos as I am due to drive some more interesting alpine routes later on this trip so keep an eye on this post if that interests you.

Otherwise those who have visited Switzerland will know it's a hive of car activity, it seems the Swiss wealth is apparent by the quality of cars you come across anywhere in the country, I made a morning trip back down to lake Geneva and spotted this Z8 hiding in a garage and I also saw a Lamborghini Miura not to mention the three RS6's, Porsches etc etc we will try and stick to BMWs here on out hopefully I will have another update in a week or so In the meantime i will post cars I have "spotted" on my Instagram story _jenks_

[_jenks_]

After 4 weeks cycling in the French alpine resort of Chatel, yesterday I started the drivers section of my trip !

I drove 450km / 280 miles from the French Ski town of Chatel across the Swiss mountains and arrived in an Italian town called Bormio ….

I planned the route so that I avoided the autoroute (dual lane motorway that skips the mountains) , one of the highlights of the journey was driving the Furka Pass and seeing the hotel Belvedere which is abandoned but has recently seen renewed interest as it has made the rounds on Instagram as a car photo hotspot , another highlight was driving some of the lesser known mountain passes as they offer the same thrill as the famous ones with almost no traffic at all.

The drivers section of my trip has only just begun

[_jenks_]

So today and yesterday Im in Italy driving the Stelvio Pass , described by Jeremy Clarkson as "The greatest driving road in the world" (video due as soon as I find reliable wifi on my YouTube channel _jenks_ )

The stelvio pass is a stunning area to visit not just for the road but also for the surrounding glaciers and mountains , I was staying in the close town of Bormio which is surprisingly vibrant , the only downside so far was my own fault when I missed the off ramp on a short section of the Autoroute which resulted in a 22 minute detour entirely spent in a cold dark tunnel anyway here are the photos from Stelvio Pass …..

[_jenks_]

So one day later I head off from my Airbnb in Bormio and drive across the top of Italy and into Verbier, a Swiss mountain ski and cycling resort, the route I took had many interesting options along the way , I chose to stop at the racing circuit of Monza and Lake como.

Lake como is one of many Italian lakes that deserve a visit especially if you are nearby.

I chose Monza circuit as the second stop because I love to see circuits in real life they always leave an impression different to how you see them on TV and in games, also I enjoy driving to my local circuit of Silverstone even when there isn't an event just as a driving route. Monza is situated in a fairly large town in the centre of a grassy park in the town. The Callander of events looked very busy apart from the day I visited when it wasn't open , this wasn't an issue as people are fairly free to enter and explore within reason.

On the final approach to Verbier in Switzerland I managed to drive the GT ST Bernard pass (another famous driving road) video due soon.

[_jenks_]

So one day later I head off from my Airbnb in Bormio and drive across the top of Italy and into Verbier, a Swiss mountain ski and cycling resort, the route I took had many interesting options along the way , I chose to stop at the racing circuit of Monza and Lake como.

Lake como is one of many Italian lakes that deserve a visit especially if you are nearby.

I chose Monza circuit as the second stop because I love to see circuits in real life they always leave an impression different to how you see them on TV and in games, also I enjoy driving to my local circuit of Silverstone even when there isn't an event just as a driving route. Monza is situated in a fairly large town in the centre of a grassy park in the town. The Callander of events looked very busy apart from the day I visited when it wasn't open , this wasn't an issue as people are fairly free to enter and explore within reason.

On the final approach to Verbier in Switzerland I managed to drive the GT ST Bernard pass (another famous driving road) video due soon.

[_jenks_]

Oh and here is a POV video I made of the Route de Avoriaz in my original destination of Chatel ….

M3 POV Mountain Drive || Morzine To Avoriaz Drive Route d'Avoriaz In 4K F80 BMW M3 Driving The Alps

[_jenks_]

So I'm still here in Verbier , Switzerland and I managed to revisit the Great ST Bernard Pass on a sunny day to capture this "follow cam footage" of the route up the Italian side…..

I've driven a fair amount of mountain pass' now and Gt St Bernard Pass stands out to me because it's not as busy as some of the other routes I have driven and the road has less tight switchbacks giving you a faster road than say the Stelvio Pass so i think this is my favourite road so far on this trip. Link to my video below and some additional photos .

Driving In Switzerland || Great ST Bernard Pass In F80 BMW M3 Insta 360 One X2 Follow Cam Footage 4K

BMW M3 Looking Fly
https://youtube.com/shorts/8z2ZaYjd41Y?feature=share

[_jenks_]

So I've been back a few weeks now but am just getting round to a summary post of my route.
Here is the loop I drove, my aim was to try and drive as many enjoyable roads I could while visiting Chatel in France and Verbier in Switzerland….

The numbers on the below photos are ….
1) Morgins pass , Switzerland near Lake Geneva.
2)Hotel Belvedere Rhonegletscher - Furka Pass 🇨🇭
3) and 4) I'm not sure of the exact location , it's somewhere between Davos Switzerland and Bormio in Italy.
5) The top and bottom of Stelvio Pass, Italy.
6)Lake Como, Italy.
7) Autodromo Monza racing circuit, Italy.
8)Great St Bernard Pass, Italy/ Switzerland.
9) A small road near the Carrefour restaurant in Verbier, Switzerland.
10) The top of route de Avoriaz, France.
11) Lake Montriond, Morzine, France.
12)The 3rd(?) largest dam in Europe - Mauvoisin Dam in Switzerland, if you stay in Verbier and enjoy scenic cycling this is a must visit.

[_jenks_]

Since returning home to England I have reset my trip computer but if I remember correctly I travelled around 4000 miles at an average of 27ish mpg , the above map doesn't account for the every day trips I did over the course of the two and a bit months I was away. The total of all the fuel receipts I kept for the trip amount to 1160 euros , excluding any fuel I paid for in England.

It was an excellent trip and I'm already starting to daydream about where I could go next time around 👍

Chris.

[Jbrown7403]

Really cool trip and congrats!! You pictures and videos brought back a lot of fond memories for me (although I was driving a Škoda rental and not my F82 …c’est la vie)

Silly question perhaps but how do you create those videos trailing behind your car? Really vivid and a great view!

[_jenks_]

Originally Posted by Jbrown7403

Really cool trip and congrats!! You pictures and videos brought back a lot of fond memories for me (although I was driving a Škoda rental and not my F82 …c'est la vie)

Silly question perhaps but how do you create those videos trailing behind your car? Really vivid and a great view!

Hi thanks 🙏 , I made a video on how to get the "follow cam" footage you can see it here…..

But essentially it's down to having a 360 camera , I've got the insta 360 one x2 which makes this kind of footage possible, cropping the footage takes a bit of time and getting used to but overall I'm really happy with how it works.

[Jbrown7403]

Originally Posted by _jenks_

Hi thanks 🙏 , I made a video on how to get the "follow cam" footage you can see it here…..

But essentially it's down to having a 360 camera , I've got the insta 360 one x2 which makes this kind of footage possible, cropping the footage takes a bit of time and getting used to but overall I'm really happy with how it works.

Great video! Total witchcraft how it removes the selfie stick!