Modern Vespa

It's almost time!

Next week I'm going for a camping trip to the Swiss, Italian and Austrian Alps.

I'll be away for 10 days, of which 3-4 will be in Zell am See (Austria) for the Vespa Alp Days (a gathering with about 1,000 Vespa's from all over Europe).

The planned route is at the bottom of this post. It contains many famous mountain passes, like the Sustenpass, Grimselpass and Furkapas (all in Switzerland) with a height of 2,100 to 2,400 meters (7,100 to 7,969 ft).

Also included is the Stelvio Pass in Italy: 2,758 meters (or 9,045 ft) above sea level, with more hairpins than should humanly be possible.

Many more passes in Italy are planned, to finally get to Austria for the rally.


In total it's going to be more than 3,000 kms (or 1,900 miles).

I'll try post some photos here during the trip, for those who'd like to follow.

Enjoy your epic adventure!

What a fantastic journey! I hope you and the scooter really enjoy it and that the weather is good for you throughout. Good luck!

Looks fabulous, I hope all the passes you want to traverse are open for your enjoyment.

Thank you all!

I've done everything I could to control the outcome, but now it's in the hands of the weather gods.

Most of the passes open up around this time, to fingers crossed. If most of them are closed after all, I'll just head South a bit further and visit the lovely town of Verona and maybe Venice.

But hopefully, I'll just be able to head up into the mountains!

Thank you for sharing with us. Looking forward to the report and pics!

I must admit I'm envious of your planned trip. The route looks amazing, I've been in the Italian/Swiss alps and know that they are stunning.

I'm looking forward to your reports and photos, so that I may enjoy your trip a little from a distance.

Thanks,

Bob

So many great riding roads, including passes, in the Alps. My favorite place to ride. Love Stelvio

The GTS is all packed and ready for lift off!

I'll be leaving tomorrow, which actually is a day early. But plans exist to deviate from. Everything is packed, now it's just a case of going and have fun.

Last week many of the passes I'd like to ride were still closed due to snow, but yesterday the Gavia and Stelvio pass in Italy opened and today the Furka and Nufenen pass in Switzerland opened up. The Sustenpass, which I originally planned on riding, is still closed, but I have replaced that with the Nufenen pass and the old, cobblestone Gotthard pass, called Tremola.

I'm all up for the adventure, all I need now is a good night's sleep.

The only problem is that my wife fully supports this trip which should be good, but at the same time makes me realize what a lucky guy I am with such a great wife, which makes leaving her behind for 11 days even harder...

Anyway, I'll survive. Let the mountains come!

Yesterday I rode through Belgium, Luxembourgh, Germany and France to end up somewhere in the Elzas mountain region. The weather was kind to me and the views were a nice warm-up for things to come 😊.

Today I rode from France to the German Black Forest and then to Switzerland. I ended up on a campingplace on the intersection between the Gotthard Pass, the Furka Pass and the Oberalp Pass. All magnificent passes that I'm probably all going to ride tomorrow, yay!

Today I took the Klausen Pass, which was also very impressive, bit rainy most of the time.

Oh, and when I crossed the border into Switzerland, the border control agent asked where I was going. Riding mountain passes in Switzerland and then on to even higher passes in Italy, I said. He looked at my Vespa, puzzled, and asked "With that thing?!".

🤪

On top of the Gavia Pass, Italy!

Beautiful, but it makes me shiver just looking at it.

While I miss adventures through Italy (wholly planning for more in the coming years, two next year!), this makes me very eager for retirement in 2025 and Vespadventuring through the Rockies and nearby National Parks here in the US.

I guess it's time for some more pictures. The trip is incredible, I should do this every month .