Sports Cars road trip | Vršič Pass and about all the Italian Dolomites Passes one can drive!

Eight days. 1,000 miles. Four countries. 27 sports cars aimed at the greatest AND the quieter mountain passes in Europe. This is Alpine Apex 2026 — Edizione Dolomiti. We started in the Bavarian Allgäu, crossed the Alps into South Tyrol over the Timmelsjoch, spent two days deep in the Dolomites, slipped into the Carnic Alps and Slovenia, and finished on the Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße with 30-plus 3,000 m peaks standing around us. From baroque abbeys to glacier panoramas. From silk-smooth Italian hairpins to a cobbled climb where Russian POWs built the road by hand. This is what the drive looked like. 🏔️ THE PASSES Timmelsjoch / Passo del Rombo (8,232 ft) — one of the most spectacular border crossings in the Alps Passo di Giau (7,336 ft) — for many, simply the most beautiful pass in the Dolomites Passo Pordoi, Sella, Gardena & Campolongo — the full Sella Ronda Passo Duran & Staulanza — the Dolomites' best-kept secrets, empty and narrow Vršič Pass (5,285 ft) — Slovenia's highest, with its famous cobbled hairpins and the Russian Chapel Mangart Saddle (6,742 ft) — the highest asphalt road in Slovenia, carved through tunnels in the rock face Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße — the 1930s masterpiece, plus Edelweißspitze (8,435 ft) and Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Höhe Hahntenjoch, Namloser Sattel, Riedbergpass, Jaufenpass, Plöcken Pass, Wurzen Pass, Tre Croci, Falzarego, Valparola 🗺️ THE STAGES Stage 1 — 175 mi through the Allgäu and Bregenzerwald Stage 2 — 227 mi over the Timmelsjoch into the Dolomites Stage 3 — 165 mi, the Dolomites loop, nine passes in one day Stage 4 — 156 mi east to the Carnic Alps via Cortina d'Ampezzo Stage 5 — 145 mi into Slovenia: Vršič, the Soča river road, Mangart Stage 6 — 142 mi finishing on the Grossglockner 🚗 THE CARS Lotus country. Elise S1 through S3, Exige, Evora, Emira, even an Emeya — joined by Porsche 718s and 911s, a Jaguar F-Type, a TVR Griffith and a Ginetta G33. 27 cars, 39 people, one obsession. Along the way: the Pasterze glacier, the emerald Soča in Slovenia, Lago di Alleghe, the Weissensee, the WWI tunnels at Lagazuoi, and a coffee at the F.A.T. Mankei at 7,421 ft — the spot where Ferry Porsche once tested cars for overheating. Organised by Bends & Curves Road Trips. Not a race, no competitive element — spirited where possible, always in control, and always within the limits. 🐾 We drive with a mission. Every tour supports Axarquia Animal Rescue, a volunteer charity rescuing and rehoming abandoned animals in southern Spain. This year we drove for Alba. → www.axarquiaanimalrescue.com/donate.php 👍 Subscribe to see where we go next. #Dolomites #Grossglockner #Timmelsjoch #PassoGiau #Vrsic #Mangart #AlpinePass #DrivingRoads #Lotus #LotusElise #LotusEmira #Porsche718 #RoadTrip #SellaRonda #Slovenia #BendsAndCurves #CarCulture