Ride over the Lukmanier Pass
I love driving over mountain passes. It is precisely this passion that makes every trip from Germany to Italy an experience for me. No matter whether you go through Austria or Switzerland, the landscapes are breathtaking. Every time I feel like a little child building an electric train for the first time. You know, the great Märklin model trains with the stylized landscapes that look so real. Tunnels, mountains, lawns, houses – it’s all there. But just in miniature. And that’s exactly how driving over mountain passes works for me. Everything is a little unreal and at the same time so peaceful and beautiful that I want to linger in the wonderland of rolling hills and majestic mountains.
The Lukmanier Pass
Our discovery this year was more a coincidence. But wait, there are no coincidences. So it should be like that. On the way to Italy we want to avoid toll roads. It’s simply not worth buying a vignette for a week. Furthermore, the year 2023 is almost history. We drive our four-wheeled vehicle from Lake Constance towards Austria. Near Bregenz, the navigation system directs us onto a motorway. Yikes, that’s a toll road now. We leave the highway at the next exit. We discover that the pilot made an error in the route guidance. It was stated that we have a plaque for Austria. We quickly remove the tick. Now we continue along country roads at a snail’s pace. From Austria we drive to Lichtenstein, from there we go to Switzerland.
Disentis is the name of the valley town at the foot of the Lukmanier Pass. And here it starts: The landscape becomes more and more fascinating, more and more lovely and at the same time rougher. We are very lucky with the weather. The azure sky and sunshine bathe the landscape in the most beautiful colors. I feel like I’m on a model train ride. Nature rushes past me on my right and left. On the way to the Lukmanier Pass we keep stopping and taking photos. The beauty of this route is difficult to capture in words or photographs. You should just let the moment take effect. At the crossroads of the Lukmanier Pass at 1,920 meters we leave Graubünden and reach Ticino. For me, the journey over the Lukmanier Pass was a very special experience.
Back over the Brenner
For the way back from Italy to Germany we choose the journey over the Brenner Pass. We leave Lake Garda in beautiful weather. Shortly before Bolzano we get a German-language station. The news worries us a little. It must have snowed quite heavily in the higher altitudes during the night. What will it look like on the passport? The mountains around us are covered in a layer of powdered sugar. It doesn’t seem to be that bad. Visibility is very poor on the Brenner Pass, but the roads are clear. We get through the fog well. When we arrive in Tyrol the sun is shining again.
