Alpenstrasse question. How windy (twisty) is it?

So I picked up my 550i on Wed and spent 2 nights in Munich. I'm currently now in Fussen at the Hotel Sonne and loving it. I told my wife we would drive the Alpenstrasse to Salzburg tomorrow and when she saw it on the map said, "I don't think so". She gets car sick if there are too many twists and turns. So how bad is it? Thanks!

Originally Posted by trencher

So I picked up my 550i on Wed and spent 2 nights in Munich. I'm currently now in Fussen at the Hotel Sonne and loving it. I told my wife we would drive the Alpenstrasse to Salzburg tomorrow and when she saw it on the map said, "I don't think so". She gets car sick if there are too many twists and turns. So how bad is it? Thanks!

It varies. It's twisty in some places and not so twisty in other places. The elevation changes. It's steep in some places and flat in others. It's an Alpine Road (hence Alpenstraße and it's fun to drive. How does one gauge the "twistiness" of a road?

If she looked at the map and said "I don't think so", it's probably too twisty for her.

Leave the wife at the hotel. Problem solved :-)

You'll be cleaning those new car seats before you reach Salzburg if she's got a queasy stomach. It's not scary with steep precipices or such, but it is a lot of twists, turns, rises and falls. Very scenic and pretty. Maybe give it a try with frequent stops. Nice spots along the way would be near the many lakes, Benediktbeuren Abbey and the towns of Bad Tolz and Rottach-Egern. Because of time constraints we only drove the section from Fussen to Oberaudorf, then headed South into Austria. From there we drove through Walchsee, down to Erpendorf, then the B178 to Sankt Johan in Tirol, Lofer and then up into Germany near Ramsau. That way you still do the Tatzelwurm portion and eventually get on straighter two lane roads. Walchsee looked pretty impressive as a touristy spot and Lofer was a nice spot for tanking up on cheap Austrian gas before you get up to Ramsau and its much-photographed old church.

Originally Posted by trencher

So I picked up my 550i on Wed and spent 2 nights in Munich. I'm currently now in Fussen at the Hotel Sonne and loving it. I told my wife we would drive the Alpenstrasse to Salzburg tomorrow and when she saw it on the map said, "I don't think so". She gets car sick if there are too many twists and turns. So how bad is it? Thanks!

How easily does your wife get motion sickness. Meine Frau gets motion sickness if I drive the curves aggressively, so when "we" drive the curves, and we drove from Alpenstrasse from Garmisch-Partenkirchen to Bad Reichenhall, I moderated my urge to drive like Sebastian Vettel. We stopped along the way for breaks - so we compromised. You can always route up to the A8, if necessary, as there are numerous possibilities along the way. Try the portion from Fussen heading to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, if she can't take that portion, head North to the A8 via Bad Tolz.

Originally Posted by HerrK

Try the portion from Fussen heading to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, if she can't take that portion, head North to the A8 via Bad Tolz.

That's a good solution. It would be a shame to miss it.

Drive the road but stop for breaks. On our recent ED, my wife got queasy on the windy stretches of the road. Moderating my speed and taking breaks on the side of the road did the trick. The entire road is not windy, only some segments. The question to ask would be, do you have enough self control to slow down when all of your senses say go faster!