The Swiss Splendor 

Swiss Splendor Overview

Magical Switzerland. Here the Alps are still growing! The Swiss network of indescribable roads takes riders to unforgettable vistas of perfectly manicured mountainsides. Yes, they do mow them. It is a perfect place, clean, safe, orderly, and fun. Swiss Splendor is the moniker for this tour because that is exactly what you will discover—unbelievable splendor!

Bavaria, the gateway to the Alps

Everything begins in Munich, an impressive, inviting city with a booming economy. Passing through customs and immigration at the airport is quick and hassle-free. This is a taste of what is to come. Efficiency! The country is clean, the transportation system superb, and the drivers precise. In the summer everything seems to happen outdoors. Bavarians enjoy their meals in outdoor beer gardens, and walk, hike, and motorcycle with a vigor.

BMW has a striking presence in the center of Munich

Choices are the only rule on the Swiss Splendor itinerary. The free day in Munich is your day. Take a ride in the countryside and get accustomed to your new BMW. Visit bustling Munich and enjoy the museums and activities there. Tip a beer in one of Bavaria’s famous beer gardens. Or simply put your feet up and adjust your body to a new time zone. It’s your call!

The first “real” day on the road, moving from one place to another, is through an area known as the Allgäu, where towns ooze Medieval history. A few were Roman towns, and it is remarkable to walk streets that have been in use for 2,000 years. A walk through the old town of Kempten, Memmingen, or Kaufbeuren will enchant you, for here history is part of everyday life. Town gates are still the way through fortified walls, medieval buildings are in use, and the locals take no notice.

Austria = altitude!

Crossing the border to Austria coincides with the roads getting twistier and the mountains higher. Fertile fields and expansive farms give way to rugged peaks. The Alps on the western side of Austria are quite vertical, with sharp peaks and narrow valleys.

Stopping at the top of the Furkajoch before arriving in Rankweil, one can see right over Lichtenstein and into Switzerland!

Splendid Switzerland

The Rhone River has cut an huge valley on the Austrian / Swiss border. That is the last piece of flat earth we will see for the balance of the tour. From here on there is no doubt this is a tour not simply through, but over the mountains.

The beauty of Switzerland is best seen from up high, and the Swiss have provided amazing roads to do just that. The roads are well paved and brilliantly engineered. Combined with a BMW motorcycle they take one to remarkable places.

The old post coach on the Gottard pass, Switzerland

Riding up the Klausen pass is the first exercise in learning to deal with Swiss scenery. It begins with an easy ride down an impressive valley. There are a dozen photo possibilities regardless of where you stop. As the road climbs away from the valley different angles and vistas lure your eyes here, there, and everywhere. The road continues up until you literally pop out into a high Alpine valley surrounded by stunning peaks.

The climb, and the increasing grandeur of the scenery just keeps growing. It gets better as you continue up, and no, this amazing place isn’t the top! The descent is just as impressive. Swiss passes are thrills for the senses!

Great pavement, faultless engineering, good road markings, and sensational scenery. The Grimselpass.

South of Interlaken, our home for the next two nights, lies the Eiger. This glacier-covered peak rises, seemingly straight up, from the remarkable Lauterbrunnen valley. Take a cable car or cog train to dizzying heights for a better view. Visit a 600 year-old castle, take a lake cruise on a paddle wheeler, or ride over Switzerland’s highest pass. Visit Thun, a city that has been inhabited for over 2300 years. There is much to do on our free day!

Many of the most impressive Swiss pass roads are on the itinerary over the next few days. When the adventure is over our bet is that you will not be able to pick a favorite. They are all splendid—hence the tour moniker, Swiss Splendor.

"Typical" views from a mountainside in the Swiss Canton of Grisons are most impressive.

The Engadin is a special place within Switzerland where Romansh culture reigns. This small and unique area features solid, tasteful architecture grouped in quaint, inviting villages, and mountains galore. Rides to and from our overnight in Zuoz are over lightly trafficked mountain passes, away from normal tourist routes. This is another place where "Rob's White Roads" will take you to views tourists simply don't see.

One of the day's routes from Zuoz follows the Inn River, passing through villages that slowly morph from Romansh to Germanic in architecture and mindset.

Riding up the Sustenpass, Switzerland

Another bisects South Tyrol, a beautiful corner of Italy. The Italians build their pass roads a little differently than the Swiss, but still pierce the clouds to give you views found nowhere else in the world.

This is where you find the 2nd highest pass in the Alps, Italy's Stelvio. At the top of the pass kiosks hawk all sort of Stelvio memorabilia. A museum exhibits relics found here after WWI. And riders, sports car drivers, and bicyclists converge in serious numbers. Each has a tale of the ascent, and new memories to take down with them. As you take a selfie looking over the edge at the hairpins below, you are a member of the club!

Austria's terrific Tyrol

We turn northeast and pass through the Austrian state of Tyrol. For millennia the roads and villages of the Tyrol were one of the main links between northern and southern Europe. It is a dynamic region with a mix of the Mediterranean “laid back and casual” attitude and the precision of the Germanic people. And then, all-too-soon, we are back in the rolling Bavarian farmland.

Traditional farmer's homes near Pfafflar, Austria

After 8 days of all the passes, seeing the ancient towns, and reveling in the jaw dropping scenery, the Swiss Splendor will leave you with big memories!