The best driving roads in Touring Routes

A touring route is a multi-day, multi-road sequence — a curated string of passes, scenic roads and overnight stops that adds up to more than the sum of its parts. The Grand Tour of Switzerland, the Route des Grandes Alpes from Lake Geneva to Nice, the Sella Ronda loop in the Dolomites: these are the foundational long-form drives of European motoring culture.

Driving a touring route is different from picking off individual passes. It demands planning — hotels, fuel stops, daily distance, fatigue management — and it rewards the discipline. The classic European tour is five to ten days, anchored on a strong base city (Geneva, Munich, Bolzano), and built around two or three signature roads with connecting transit through worthy secondary terrain.

The routes listed here are the canonical sequences — the ones that any serious enthusiast eventually drives. We've assembled them with the practical constraints in mind: where to overnight, how long the daily legs really take, and which segments are worth detouring through. Build a touring route into your trip and the trip stops feeling like sightseeing and starts feeling like an expedition.