The Cross-Europe Porsche Journey Adventure

This is one of the most pleasurable adventures that money can buy.  Just imagine: driving in the world’s best vehicles and Europe’s best and most beautiful roads, sleeping at boutique hotels and stopping at the most prestigious restaurants in the continent.  Our reporter tried it and came back with unforgettable experiences

Like James Bond

Bond, like Bond, drive a very exciting sports cars, dined at luxurious restaurants, where he demonstrated pedantic gentlemanly gestures, and slept at extravagant and pampering hotels.  After all, one must sleep well before waking up to a morning of action. Here the Bond movie ends, and leaves the readers envious. If I could only enjoy – just for a short time – all of those pleasures.

Cross Europe Porsche Journey

Well, the Cross Europe Porsche Journey indeed makes good on that wish. The title tells us that the adventure involves a Porsche’s, a brand with exhilarating cars, and Luxury Europe from all aspects.  But that is absolutely not all.

The journey consists of a long convoy of open-topped Porsche 911’s or 718 Boxster GTS, revving their powerful engines to generate the horsepower of no less than 400 and up to 430 muscular and joyful horses, sounding wonderful among the mountains crossed throughout the journey, especially when pressing a charming button that increases the sound of the exhaust pipes.

As if that is not enough, you can stay at prestigious hotels, ranked among the best in the world, and dine at restaurants run by local chefs who won prestigious and desirable Michelin stars.  And, of course, to cross the countries and borders, you travel along beautiful routes and passages while driving with intoxicating pleasure.

The emphasis of this journey is not on race driving, not at all.  It goes through public roads and drivers must comply with the local laws.  Actually, it is the epitome of James Bond – gentlemanly, courteous, cultural and refined, but knowing how to be naughty, exciting and exhilarating.

In the Lobby with the Car

landing in Munich or elsewhere in Europe, welcome by a raining morning or sunny day always with the familiar European atmosphere.  The luggage will be load onto a commercial vehicle, driven by a member of the Porsche Travels team who is responsible, throughout the journey, for transporting the guests’ luggage from one hotel to the next, sometimes even all the way up to the room.

Telling from one of the client’s experience

We reached the hotel about 40 minutes later, where there was a rich breakfast waiting, during which Yaniv Bar, Porsche Travels’ Journey Director – who has an impressive record of winning international motor competitions – told us what we will be experiencing.

We then descended into the hotel’s parking lot, where we were welcomed by a fleet of about 15 black Porsche 911 cabriolet’s that, for just a moment, made us feel that we were cast in the upgraded version of The Italian Job.

Following a short explanation about the vehicle and about proper and safe driving, presented by George – one of the team members and a motor icon in his own right – we embarked toward the Tyrol Mountains in Austria.

The route is filled with breathtaking views of small and quaint villages, green mountains around us and snowy peaks on the horizon, which we could take in while driving on the network of autobahns (German federal highways) where there is no speed limit – just the place where vehicles like Porsche stretch out..

The destination was the Interalpen, an amazingly beautiful boutique hotel that welcomes its guests with their cars in the lobby itself.  The hotel operates a chef restaurant, awarded a Michelin star, and dinner – consisting of about eight courses – is a heavenly culinary experience.

The rooms are huge, fancy and fully equipped, the balcony reveals an amazing view, to which you’d want to wake up every morning.  The hotel also operates a large spa, if you are looking for total relaxation.

Following an exceptionally lavish breakfast, including no less than 150 kinds of hard cheeses (for cheese lovers), we set out toward the vehicles.  They were all placed in formation like soldiers at roll call, the key was waiting on the rooftop, the GPS was already calibrated to our next destination, the radio was charged and all that we had to do was sit down in the sports seats and enjoy the divine sound of the engine as it comes to life, ready for another day of adventure.

This was the first of few days of fascinating driving, the core of the current journey.  Driving roads through Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, going through beautiful passages and enjoying the unique view.  Without even noticing it, we crossed the border toward the Italian Alps where, just at the Swiss border, we arrived at the Passo dello Stelvio (Stelvio Passage), considered by many to be one of the most beautiful in the world and even described by “Top Gear” as one of the best continuous and sharp passages in the world.  We begin driving, ascending its dozens of curves (180° turns) and, using a car like Porsche 911, it is a scintillating experience.  The view from the snowy peak at 2,760 m, is like nothing you’ve ever seen before and our coffee break there was just on time, as the temperature was below zero.

Luxurious Davos

On the road to Davos, a small town known mainly for hosting the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, we crossed a fun mountain passage in “open” mode, making it clear why Porsche is a highly-admired motor icon.  When crossing the border to Switzerland, the team issued radio instructions to shift to a more serene and official mode of driving in order to avoid attracting the attention of the local police, which probably wondered why a loud Porsche convoy was interrupting the peaceful setting.  But have no worries, we crossed the Fluela Pass right before Davos, where we could let the engines roar a bit louder and become addicted to the endless urge generated by the boxer engines.

The day ended at the extravagant and super modern Intercontinental Hotel, which hosted quite a few presidents, politicians and celebrities.  The team can tell us how it feels to meet George Clooney on the way to dinner, wishing you a good evening.  Amusing.  This time, the hotel hosted a professional conference for our group – dentists, customers of Alpha Biotech, which specializes in dental implants and which organized the journey.

Bells Ringing

The next day was dedicated entirely to the charm of Switzerland.  We quickly passed the Oberalp Passage near the town of Andermatt and the Passo del San Gottardo, where the altitudes often took us above the clouds, replacing the pleasant sun with a wintry atmosphere.

The most beautiful pool in the world

We ended the day in one of the most enchanted hotels on earth, Villa Honegg – rated among the world’s 100 most prestigious hotels.  The hotel, founded in 1905 and completely renovated in 2011, is a boutique hotel of only about 30 rooms.  One of its main attractions is a heating swimming pool, with Jacuzzi jets and bar stools in the water, revealing a breathtaking view of a nearby Swiss lake and never-ending green fields.  The place is so quaint that, at night, the only sound that disturbs the absolute silence is that of the bells worn by the cows grazing nearby.  Indeed, a unique experience and one of the highlights of the journey.

A little History

We stopped in Stuttgart to visit the Porsche Museum, one of the most impressive museums in the world, displaying the brand heritage in a time tunnel – starting with the first car, manufactured in 1898 (of which Ferdinand Porsche himself made only four), through all of the vehicles manufactured by the iconic brand, and all the way to the cars sold today.  The museum proudly presents the brand values, including speed, power, intelligence and innovation.  Each value is well depicted by the vehicles on display.  The museum also displays the Beetle, perhaps the spiritual inspiration for the historical Porsche 356.

Closing the circle

The last day of the journey started early, with intense driving before returning to the hotel lobby in Munich, where we received the cars on the first day.

Half of the drive consisted of speedily cruising Germany’s amazing autobahns. From there, we went on to Munich and the airport. Ending our course and ending our journey.  The Porsche Travels team offered service at a level unknown in the field.  Their planning, execution and serenity emphasized the intensity of the experience in real time.

Perhaps their consideration of the fine details lacked just two things – tucking us in at night and a kiss on the forehead

Mission accomplished, James Bond would say after returning the keys of the car – we indeed accomplished a mission and fulfilled a dream – to live the good life, if only for a short time.

Yours sincerely

Mr. Tal Even 2015