# Stelvio Pass



## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

My dear Italian friends have started clearing the Pass in preparation of my drive through the venerable Stelvio  scheduled for June 9, 2008. They are working day and night and their progress is evident in the picture below. :bigpimp:

Just in case you want to view the Stelvio Pass Webcams: http://webcam.popso.it/stelvio.php?CAMERE_PASSO

Click on the postcard :thumbup:


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## stovesax08 (May 3, 2008)

wow I have ED for june 6th and a PCD redilevery as well-I'll keep an eye out for you


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## maande10 (Nov 17, 2007)

I'll be going over the Pass on July 10, on the way to Como. Can't wait!


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## skywalkerbeth (Jul 19, 2007)

I've been watching the cam daily now. I find it hard to believe in barely three weeks that pass will be pass-able.. but I sure hope so!


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Some more progress 12 hours or so later. :bigpimp:


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## skywalkerbeth (Jul 19, 2007)

I am still skeptical that I'll be driving on it, in just three weeks time now. Sigh.


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Hope it looks like this in time for your trip


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## Accel Junky (Apr 16, 2008)

I plan to be driving the pass on June 12th morning-noonish, hoping it is clear by then


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## skywalkerbeth (Jul 19, 2007)

It's already looking a little better, but, not as I'd hoped. I am sure by June 12 it will look great though!


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## Accel Junky (Apr 16, 2008)

^^ Yeah, I looked at the webcams and they are clearing alot of the snow up in the town.

I'm a little puzzled with my plan now. I plan to stay in Bormio (hotel is booked) and then drive up the pass, eat lunch, drive back down (on a Thursday). But I didn't realize that the 48 switchbacks are on the north side, so now I'd have to drive up the south side from Bormio, eat lunch at the top, drive down the north side, turn around and drive back up and down to be able to do it all as my next desitination is the San Bernardino pass from there and I would be going the wrong direction coming down the north side of the Stelvio pass.


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## Tanning machine (Feb 21, 2002)

Accel Junky said:


> , so now I'd have to drive up the south side from Bormio, eat lunch at the top, drive down the north side, turn around and drive back up and down to be able to do it all as my next desitination is the San Bernardino pass from there and I would be going the wrong direction coming down the north side of the Stelvio pass.


Uh, this is a problem why?


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## chaz58 (Sep 11, 2007)

Interesting. I just realized my route takes me near this pass. Maybe I will drop down into italy, drive up the pass from the north east side, eat lunch, and then drive back down the north-east side to Austria. 

Is the north-east side the best side?


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## L Seca (Apr 22, 2005)

chaz58 said:


> Is the north-east side the best side?


Both sides are superb, but most visitors are more fond of the north-east side, It has more hairpins and more dramatic views. But the south side has a great waterfall, lots of hairpins, and some wild one lane tunnels - caution!:thumbup:


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

L Seca said:


> Both sides are superb, but most visitors are more fond of the north-east side, It has more hairpins and more dramatic views. But the south side has a great waterfall, lots of hairpins, and some wild one lane tunnels - caution!:thumbup:


LSeca... Who has right of way in the tunnels?


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## maande10 (Nov 17, 2007)

SJAPoc said:


> LSeca... Who has right of way in the tunnels?


If it's anything like hiking etiquette, the person going downhill has the right of way. Regardless, honk your horn before entering and flash your lights to be safe.


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## b-y (Sep 14, 2004)

SJAPoc said:


> LSeca... Who has right of way in the tunnels?


In California, the vehicle *heading uphill *has the right of way:



> On Mountain Roads
> When two vehicles meet on a steep road where neither can pass, the vehicle facing downhill must yield the right of way by backing up until the vehicle going uphill can pass. The vehicle facing downhill has the greater amount of control when backing.
> 
> Source: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/pgs16thru17.htm


(I could not find a similar statement for European countries.)


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

maande10 said:


> If it's anything like hiking etiquette, the person going downhill has the right of way. Regardless, honk your horn before entering and flash your lights to be safe.


That makes perfect sense... But hold on, this is Italy and Italian Driving "Rules" (or lack thereof) *rule*. So probably first one to make it more than half way through the tunnel "wins" :bigpimp: And any good Italian driver knows that you can actually squeeze two cars in a one lane tunnel, so problem solved. :thumbup:

:angel:


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## Asteroid (Aug 17, 2005)

maande10 said:


> If it's anything like hiking etiquette, the person going downhill has the right of way.


I think you got it backwards.


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## skywalkerbeth (Jul 19, 2007)

SJAPoc said:


> That makes perfect sense... But hold on, this is Italy and Italian Driving "Rules" (or lack thereof) *rule*. So probably first one to make it more than half way through the tunnel "wins" :bigpimp: And any good Italian driver knows that you can actually squeeze two cars in a one lane tunnel, so problem solved. :thumbup:
> 
> :angel:


unless it's my new convertible!


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## lilskel (Jun 10, 2005)

Where is this?


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## CrazyBimmer (Jul 1, 2002)

Ah i had thought the green arrow meant it was open.


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Looking good for a May 30 opening for the Stelvio Pass. Here is a photo for today, May 28 :thumbup:


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

*The Stelvio is open!*

Well.. it's official! The Stelvio Pass is open 










Enjoy the "drive" and please post your experience so that we may share :thumbup:


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## stlmco (Apr 12, 2009)

Bummer. Drove by on Wednesday and was still closed. I had expected it since the project opening date was today, but I was hoping I would get lucky. Still had fun driving the surrounding area and on to Davos.


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

We (wife + child and our tuned, 530d M-Sport Touring) will *FINALLY* be driving the Stelvio Pass in a few weeks. :clap:

We will be departing from Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 15 June, and heading for Bormio, Italy, via Stelvio. I cannot wait!

From Bormio, we will follow *SJAPoc's* ED route past Livigno, over and down (through Switzerland) to Menaggio on Lake Como. Two nights there at the Hotel Du Lac, followed by three nights in Salò (Lake Garda) at the Hotel Du Lac...

Two nights at the Planet Hotel in Maranello to witness the British Grand Prix live on TV at the heart & soul of Ferrari. :smokin:

Other highlights of our 25 day European road trip will be driving the famed Großglockner (north-bound), on our way to the Grand Hotel Zell am See.

We are going to Die Welt (E60/61 meet), Dingolfing, AC Schnitzer way up in Aachen and a bunch of other places along the way.

Thanks to SJAPoc and skywalkerbeth for their excellent ED threads and pics... They were a serious help! :thumbup:


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## vern (Apr 19, 2002)

Patrick said:


> We (wife + child and our tuned, 530d M-Sport Touring) will *FINALLY* be driving the Stelvio Pass in a few weeks. :clap:
> 
> We will be departing from Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 15 June, and heading for Bormio, Italy, via Stelvio. I cannot wait!
> 
> ...


Are you going to Dingolfing to take the factory tour?
cheers
vern


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Patrick said:


> We (wife + child and our tuned, 530d M-Sport Touring) will *FINALLY* be driving the Stelvio Pass in a few weeks. :clap:
> 
> We will be departing from Garmisch-Partenkirchen on 15 June, and heading for Bormio, Italy, via Stelvio. I cannot wait!
> 
> ...


You HAVE to post pictures and give us a report! To watch the British GP in Maranello will most certainly be exciting  Have fun and enjoy ther Stelvio


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

vern said:


> Are you going to Dingolfing to take the factory tour?
> cheers
> vern


Yes.


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

SJAPoc said:


> You HAVE to post pictures and give us a report! To watch the British GP in Maranello will most certainly be exciting  Have fun and enjoy ther Stelvio


I will do it for sure. I will also upload some video to youtube.

My wife and I have read through your ED report many times while we have been planning our trip, and your pics + info really were an excellent source of inspiration to us!

And I guess that it was about a year ago that you and your wife were on your ED! 

If we had more time, we would also have liked to go farther west, but we need to meet friends in Jesolo and Trieste on certain dates.


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## vern (Apr 19, 2002)

Patrick said:


> Yes.


IMO realy check into it before you waste your time taking the tour. We took the tour, English, 3 of us on May 11 at 5 pm. Because of the economy problem they cut down from 5 to 1 english tours a week and at least 50% of the line was stopped, the only part of the line that was realy operaring was the stamping section and you could see where the rear axel gets mounted the rest of the line you couldn't see. We took the tour back in January 2005 and it was great, everything was operating.
chers
vern


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Patrick said:


> I will do it for sure. I will also upload some video to youtube.
> 
> My wife and I have read through your ED report many times while we have been planning our trip, and your pics + info really were an excellent source of inspiration to us!
> 
> ...


Glad you like our report. We had a great time and yes, ED pick up was June 9, 2008 and we are coming up to the anniversary. To celebrate, Mrs. Poc and I will be taking our BMW from Florida to Vermont, through the Blue Ridge parkway and many other fun driving roads on the way. I'll post some pix and a report as well


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## Hans Delbruck (Jun 9, 2002)

:clap: wooohooo! We are staying a night in the town of Stelvio and will make our journey across the next morning, on 9-9-09 :yikes:


We've got our ED trip pretty planned out at this point but I still don't know what car I'll be purchasing... :fruit:


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

Hans Delbruck said:


> :clap: wooohooo! We are staying a night in the town of Stelvio and will make our journey across the next morning, on 9-9-09
> 
> We've got our ED trip pretty planned out at this point but I still don't know what car I'll be purchasing...


Cool. You're finally getting your trip to Europe!


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## Hans Delbruck (Jun 9, 2002)

Jon S. said:


> Cool. You're finally getting your trip to Europe!


Yeah, I had to throw in a racing event to get the Spousal Unit to comply.  But, it was my idea since I love F1! We are going to Monza :drive: "wOOt"!


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## SJAPoc (Apr 14, 2007)

Hans Delbruck said:


> :clap: wooohooo! We are staying a night in the town of Stelvio and will make our journey across the next morning, on 9-9-09 :yikes:


Drink a couple of espressos before you take off  And have some dramamine and a bag for the Spousal Unit : puke:

:angel:



Hans Delbruck said:


> We've got our ED trip pretty planned out at this point but I still don't know what car I'll be purchasing... :fruit:


Why... M3, of course :thumbup:


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

*Oh no*

It snowed at the top of the pass last night.


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

*Greetings from Bormio, Italy*

I am not sure what was more fun: going up from the north, or going down toward the south.

What an insane drive from Garmisch-Partenkirchen! :yikes:

Here are a few pics. When I get back to Finland in three weeks, I will edit my vids and upload them to youtube.


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## wmo168 (Mar 26, 2009)

Question,

I am doing ED and how do I guide the BMW nav to go thru Stelvio Pass? I afraid it is going to point me into the major highway or something. I am new to ED.

I am planning to go Fussen to Lake Como....


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## Patrick (Dec 23, 2001)

wmo168 said:


> am planning to go Fussen to Lake Como....


You can probably do it one day, but it will be a lot of driving, and there is quite a bit of road construction at the moment.

From Fussen, take the 179 south (some fun twisties on this road around the Fernpaß), all the way to Nassereith (there is tunnel/road construction here).

Then take the 189 down to Imst. Then follow the A12 southwest until you get the Rechen-Bundesstraße (180) or drive to Landeck. There is a 7km long tunnel from Landeck that is quite interesting.

Then follow the 180 - really, a lot of fun - past Nauders (going uphill) until you cross into Italy. The 180 becomes SS40 once you are in Italy.

Follow SS40 until you see the signs for *STILSERJOCH PASSO STELVIO* and SS38, then turn right! After that, it gets fun!

Our drive from Garmisch to the top of Stelvio Pass was about 160km, but it took almost 4 hours with stops for pics and general sightseeing. There are a lot of cool things to see on the way to the start of the road up, but you have to keep your eyes open to catch them.

Coming down to the south was also a lot of fun. Eventually, the road ends in Bormio. We were still on the SS38, when our NAV said that we had 1.5km to go to our hotel here - I thought that there was a problem, but she was correct.

A few more pics before we take off (in 30min) for Como via Livigno:

1. Straßensperre Nauders (this was apparently a museum)
2. T34 tank at the same place
3. Marienberg Abbey (Abbazia Monte Maria, or Kloster Marienberg)
4. Bunkers at Burguso, Italy


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## wmo168 (Mar 26, 2009)

Thank you for your help, I am going in August so not sure if the construction is completed yet.

Since you mention it is a long drive, is there are any Affordable hotel that I can stay in between like some town with hotel that I can book in advanced?


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