From Alpine switchbacks to Mediterranean coastlines, these expertly curated drives put Europe’s most thrilling roads in the fast lane.
The open road stretches out ahead, the sparkling blue of an Italian lake catching your peripheral vision as you round the corners. Or maybe the journey takes you through the loveliest villages in the South of France, the Mediterranean glimmering down below. Or perhaps it’s along the hairpin switchbacks of a high Alpine road, or the speed-limitless straightaways of the Autobahn. Europe has as many epic driving routes as it does cultural wonders or beautiful views.
Lots of companies will rent you a high-performance sports car for you to undertake explorations on your own. Social media, hotel concierges, and even Google Maps will point you toward the scenic route. And that’s a perfectly nice way to get to know a place. But a handful of travel companies take things a step further, combining access to the latest model vehicles with insider knowledge of the roads, as well as the best luxury hotels, restaurants, and attractions along the way.
Some offer fully bespoke, private driving experiences, while others organize group departures for like-minded travelers, but they all offer a complete package that’s much more than the sum of its parts. “While the cars are undoubtedly a highlight,” says Stephan Sickert, the founder of Epikdrives. “We believe the finest driving holidays are those where the roads, landscapes, hotels, and personal service become just as memorable as the vehicles themselves.”
HunterMoss
HunterMoss got its start nearly two decades ago (as Ultimate Driving Tours), when Australian supercar enthusiast Anthony Moss began taking small groups along on his annual driving trips around Europe. In the years that followed, Julie Hunter joined as COO and cofounder, and the two scaled their informal trips into a full-time global business that attracts clients from all over the world and organizes ultra-luxury trips across two continents. Last year, they changed the company name to reflect that shift to a broader vision of high-end travel, but small-group, hosted driving journeys across Europe are still a major calling card.
The fleet includes Ferrari, Lamborghini, McLaren, Porsche, and more, and the routes encompass the best of Europe. The best-seller is still the signature route that started it all, a journey from Zurich, across the Swiss Alps, through northern Italy’s most celebrated wine regions, across sunny Provence and the French Riviera, and into Monte-Carlo just in time for the Monaco Grand Prix (complete with megayachts, optional helicopters, and private audiences with the racers). The ever-growing calendar also includes adventures like ice driving in the Austrian and Bavarian Alps, an exploration of the Champagne region, and a week through Florence and Chianti, always with five-star hotels, superlative dining, and private access to spectacular places.
Colcorsa
Self-proclaimed “road trip enthusiast” Sara Norris founded Colcorsa 10 years ago to share her love for the world’s greatest driving routes in the world’s best cars. The company now runs luxury self-drive and guided driving tours in supercars and classic cars in most of Europe with a particular focus on iconic destinations like the south of France, the Alps, Tuscany, the Dolomites, and the Pyrenees. Carefully built partnerships give them early access to exclusive new models, which results in a clientele of return travelers (many of them enthusiasts and collectors) who want to experience the “latest and greatest” or even test drive a specific model before it’s released in their home country.
And while she prides herself on detailed knowledge of rare supercars, she maintains that “it is equally important to create holidays that appeal to passengers who might have less enthusiasm for fast cars — offering memorable culinary experiences, winery visits, world-class spas, and excursions outside of driving time.” She believes that the places for pausing between drives are just as important as the drives themselves, and she has made it her mission to introduce well-traveled clients to beautiful five-star hotels that they might have chosen themselves. Perhaps this helps explain why many of Colcorsa’s inquiries come from women — often as birthday or anniversary gifts — who also appreciate working with a female-founded company within an industry that’s typically dominated by men.
Epikdrives
There are no scheduled group tours or convoy-style experiences with Epikdrives. Rather, the company, which was founded in 2018 by Stephan Sickert in Zurich, prides itself on highly personalized service from the first inquiry to the final day of every self-drive journey. This is not an exaggeration: there’s an option on the website’s landing page to book a call with Sickert, who has spent the past 15 years traveling around Europe’s greatest driving roads (from the Black Forest to the Croatian coast) and has personally driven every road and visited every hotel on the itineraries he creates. He also remains each client’s single point of contact. Everything is private and tailor-made.
Along with years as a tour guide for another supercar driving company, his experience also includes stints in five-star hotels in Switzerland. This has given him an eye for hospitality and detail, as well as the operational considerations required to create a seamless multi-country driving trip. While everything is custom, he generally aims for two-night stays to create a relaxed rhythm and give clients time to appreciate the restaurants, spas, and surrounding areas of the hotels he selects — mostly independently owned five-stars with “exceptional service and hospitality” and ideally a mixture of the classic and the contemporary to wow guests throughout their journey. He says, “We are seeing increasing demand for complete travel experiences rather than simply access to an exotic car.”
Drive in Motion
One more personal passion project turned international brand, Drive in Motion was launched in 2014 by Daniel Fahr, a “lifelong automotive enthusiast,” as he calls himself, with more than 20 years in the industry. He began at Mercedes-AMG in Affalterbach, Germany, where he grew from a brand and product specialist into an internationally active trainer and event manager for the highest tier of automotive experiences. In 2023, he stepped away from that to devote himself to Drive in Motion — his way of “creating unforgettable moments behind the wheel, not just showcasing the car.” About 90 percent of his business comes from luxury travel agencies, but he also sells direct to consumers who share his appreciation for the good life.
Of course, the car also matters. Along with scenic-route tours using the latest models from Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, and so on, Drive in Motion also organizes adrenaline-fueled track days, winter ice training, and nostalgic classic car tours. While each format tells its own story, they can also be woven together.
Every trip is private and unique, he says, noting that he shapes each experience around the people driving rather than having any fixed itineraries. The routes span the continent, from Portugal to Montenegro (and also beyond, including England and Abu Dhabi) but the selection criteria remain the same: “An exacting standard of character, discretion, and quality.” That means extraordinary accommodations like Mo.he Boutique Hotel in Livigno, Italy, and Guarda Val in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, that go “well beyond the ordinary luxury hotel.”
Featured image courtesy of Colcorsa
