Alpine Porsche Drive 2025

This was a new style of trip for SPD - the road rally. We sourced some pretty spectacular cars from our friends at Porsche and spent a week racking up the kilometers through the majestic Alps.

First up was the Porsche Museum, where we were united with our wheels for the week. Once we got situated, we officially started the trip with a visit to RUF where we were fortunate enough to lay eyes on one of the 29 original Yellowbirds that was in for service. We had an incredible tour of the RUF factory and capped it off with a quick chat with Alois Ruf. It was the perfect start to the trip!

The first "full" drive day started at the Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden and took us through the Grossglockner High Alpine road to the beautiful Lienz, Austria. From Austria, we made our way into Italy by way of the Dolomites to a quaint family-owned hotel in Bolzano. Italy was home to the first well-known mountain pass of the trip - the iconic Stelvio Pass, which we tackled on the next day, and it was incredible! After spending a few hours on the Stelvio Pass, we were off to Bormio for the night. A fairly relaxed day through Italy then brought us to our hotel on the shore of Lake Como. This intentionally early stop allowed for relaxation or exploration, depending on what each person needed. Some took a ferry to the village of Bellagio while others stayed at the hotel and relaxed in the pool a stone's throw away from the lake.

After a bit of recuperation courtesy of Lake Como, we ramped up the intensity of the drives as we crossed into Switzerland on our way to one of the most incredible places in the world. We sped up the Gotthard Pass, the Furka Pass with an interlude for lunch at a mountaintop restaurant in Andermatt before we rolled into the majestic Grandhotel Geissbach. This historic hotel is perched high above the deep blue water of Lake Brienz with views for days, particularly of the massive waterfall behind the hotel (which a couple of our guests did a power hike to the top of!) This hotel was the high point of the trip and we celebrated that by gathering for a lovely dinner together in the hotel restaurant.

The final "full" drive day started with a short trek into the Lauterbrunnen Valley. We took a short break deep into the valley - mostly to give people time to pick their jaws up off the floor after encountering the stunning beauty of this part of the world. From Lauterbrunnen, we drove around Lake Brienz through the Susten Pass and capped off our run of mountain passes with a blast up the Klausen Pass. Dropping back down toward sea level after the Klausen Pass signaled the end of the intense driving but we had one more stop before we packed it in for the day. We made a bit of a detour to make a visit to a tiny country that no one but group leader Kris had been to before - Liechtenstein. After a brief reprieve in Vaduz, we were back on the road to Zurich.

The hotel in Zurich offered up a great reward to the early risers with a perfect view of the sunrise. After a delicious breakfast, we hit the road, and more importantly, the Autobahn where we took one last opportunity to take advantage of the unrestricted sections of this famous motorway system on our way to Stuttgart. We can confirm that the 992 Convertible is perfectly comfortable at speeds north of 300 kph!

The return to Stuttgart marked the end of an unbelievable week packed with unreal scenery, culture and of course, people. With this trip being a sold-out success, we will of course be doing it again - we'd love to have you join us!