Driving through Greece with my mother this summer, I was struck by the singularity of her generation of women’s experience with cars, particularly driving abroad. Decades married to men who didn’t feel the need to put them on the holiday rental insurance fuelled nothing but apprehension for taking the wheel. A sense of it not being her territory, figuratively and literally. But it seems to me that there’s something vital about mastering it. Getting into the driver’s side of a powerful machine, with nobody exhorting you to stay in your lane from the backseat (important to pick a sports car for this alone), venturing into unknown territories. Over two weeks roaming the Peloponnese with my mum, I saw the transformative effect of a woman let loose in the wild. Years of quiet subordination coming undone at the seams; emboldened, empowered. A metamorphosis.
It’s for this reason that I urge every woman in possession of a driving licence and an income to get away - alone ideally, but with a kindred spirit if you tire easily of your own company - for the sort of road trip that will knock the breath out of you. Yoga retreats will remain the preserve of those looking for a spiritual cleanse, but if you want something to blast away the cobwebs and invigorate you from hairline to tippy toes, there’s nothing like it. A good drive cures a surprising multitude of ails.
There’s huge power in being in the saddle, whatever the mode of transport, but considering that horses share control, and motorbikes involve an awful lot of kit, I’d posit that cars, (especially a convertible two-seater Aston Martin, just a suggestion) hit the sweet spot. Built for the open road, but with enough shelter and luggage space to allow for great hair and an ‘out-out’ outfit for later. And just like the machine that propels you, the route itself requires thought. Nobody ever had any major life epiphanies on the M1 to Milton Keynes. On the drive of your life, scenery is of the utmost importance. Wordsworth had it right when he proclaimed that a ‘mighty mind’ is ‘one that feeds upon infinity’. In other words, experiencing the vast majesty of nature might be just the thing to make all your other strife pale into insignificance.
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With this in mind, let me counsel you to find a car journey that provides for superlatives in glitz, glamour, views, thrills and frills. And I have just the one. Three countries, three days, in the slipstream of a legend, but more than that… a landscape that changes with the contour lines, and offers both dead straight roads through rolling hills, as well as switchbacks up a glacier and cosseting curves back down again. The kind of drive that allows you to push the engine, enjoy the torque and use the breaks in the likely event you’re suddenly impeded by a herd of unbothered mountain goats.
The Route
Starting in the Rhône-Alpes region of France, in Crozet at the foot of the Jura mountains, stock up on snacks in the beautiful green surrounds of the Jiva Hill resort. Head across the border into Switzerland, circling north around Lac Léman. At Lausanne, head due north towards Lac de Neuchâtel and around it towards La Chaux-de-Fonds, where you can take a brief break to visit the gorgeous La Villa, owned by fine watchmakers Girard Perregaux. From there, drive down past national park Gruyère Pays-d'Enhaut, through Aigle and Martigny and into the canton of Valais, which plays host to the pyramid-shaped Matterhorn mountain, as well as chic alpine resorts in Crans-Montana, where you’ll stay the night.
In the morning, meander back down out of your little alpine oasis and hit the straights of Unterbäch and the foot of Bättlihorn, through rolling hills and the charming Swiss villages of Brig and Grengiols that will make you feel like you’re in The Sound of Music. After Obergoms, on the Furkastrasse is where the fun really begins, the terrain getting craggier as you ascend in hair pin turns towards the Furka Pass and the glacier at the top of it. From there, after drinking in views that will make your stomach drop, descend again in lolling turns through forests of clouds, tracing the same route that Sean Connery drove in his Aston Martin DB5 as Bond in 1964’s Goldfinger, past the aforementioned mountain goats, to eventually end up in the inconceivably beautiful surrounds of Lake Lugano, where you’ll rest your head again, before onwards into Italy and, if you time it right, Monza for the Grand Prix.
The Glitz
Don’t let the gentle slopes and quaint log cabins of Switzerland’s rural villages fool you, there’s plenty of sparkle in some of the rest stops along this route. If the grand spiral staircases of the Girard Perregaux villa sparked a fire in you for luxury living, the two hotels along the route will only stoke the flames. First up, the 5-star Crans Ambassador Wellness Hotel, perched in the treetops of the alps, in what would be a skiing town during the winter, but a lush alpine retreat in the warmer months. At the heart of the hotel is the Terrasse Valaisanne, a bar on a platform that offers a front row seat for everything that nature has to offer – in this case, snow-capped peaks and glistening conifers. On both the terrasse and downstairs in the equally attractive La Muña restaurant, your Prada heels and silk Harris Tapper blazer will blend right in.
And for almost the polar opposite experience – less cosy, more showy – in Lake Lugano, the Swiss Diamond hotel serves the poseur within with perfect opportunity. Right on the lake itself, with a grassy sunbathing terrace punctuated intermittently by step ladders leading down into the water, you’ve the opportunity either to milk the Dolce one-piece for all its ability to draw glances, or take it for a dip in either the lake or the pool.
The Glamour
It doesn’t get much more glamorous than that cat-and-mouse Goldfinger car chase scene that this exact road down the back of the Furka Pass played host to. Sean Connery’s Bond cruising through the Swiss alps on Auric Goldfinger’s tail is when the Bond-Aston Martin partnership made its debut, with the snow shadow grey DB5 soon becoming an icon in its own right. As Tilly Masterson in her cream Ford Mustang convertible lurches around one of the famous bends, piquing Bond’s interest, we begin to get a glimpse of the famous Q Branch customisations, including in this instance a tire shredder to slow her down.
Fun fact, in 2020 Aston Martin worked with EON Productions and a special effects supervisor to produce a further 25 for-sale limited edition Goldfinger DB5 continuation cars, complete with functioning gadgets like spinning number plates, so in theory, you could just about re-enact the whole thing if you wanted to. For those of us that feel the tropes of physically impeding a woman’s progress for the purpose of hitting on her might be a touch dated, perhaps emulating Lashana Lynch’s 007 is more appealing. Lynch, as secret agent Nomi, with an Aston Martin DBS Superleggera, is a whole different kick-ass vibe and one that’s definitely fit for purpose on this particular trip.
The Views
We’ve covered the stomach-drop views across the valley from the top of the Furka Pass, but these aren’t the only stimulation for a ‘mighty mind’. Switzerland’s many lakes are of stunning significance and this drive allows you to take in a few of them. Lake Geneva (officially Lac Léman) is a croissant shaped feature of incredible natural beauty, with the palm-spangled Swiss Riviera of the north shore paving your drive. Hitting this part of the route in late afternoon allows for a low sun to peep warmly between the mountains, glinting off the water to magical effect. Definitely a brain massage, if ever there were one.
The cloud forests of day two’s track back down into the valleys afford you more than just a sense of height – the shadows cast over the scenery bring the sort of drama that’s perfect for the catharsis of a clattering soundtrack. Strauss’ ‘Sunrise from Also Sprach Zarathustra’ or Rihanna and Eminem’s ‘The Monster’, either will do. And finally, to soothe the soul, the tranquillity of Lake Lugano is a visual dish best served on a sun lounger with a glass of rosé.
The Thrills and Frills
As you’ll have surmised, when I did this trip I was lucky enough to be invited to do so in an Aston Martin. A DBS Vantage F1 edition to be precise. And probably the most exciting car I have driven or will ever get to drive, such is its status as Formula One’s safety car. A 4-litre V8 engine (a.k.a. extremely big and powerful) with a top speed of 195 mph that makes you feel like every road is your own personal racetrack. Thrilling doesn’t even cut it. Even if you don’t have access to one of these, a sports car is a must. A sensational drive requires a sensational set of wheels, to be sure, but all that mastery of the male domain and blasting away the brain fog can’t easily be done in a little two-door family car at 60mph.
As for the frills? You could easily bring the trip to a close languishing by the pool in Lugano, and nobody would blame you. Quiet, lush, pool- and lakeside drinks service, there are plenty of ‘frills’ in that alone and for those who’ve left kids at home, it’s a distinctly and pleasantly adult predicament to eke out. But for those looking for further kicks, you’re just a hop, skip and a jump across the border from Italy’s Monza and, at the right time of year, the Italian Grand Prix. Frills-wise, as if the Formula One race itself wasn’t enough, you’ve a chance of seeing Aston’s safety car in action, heading to the paddock club to rub shoulders with superstar drivers like Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll and, if you’re boujie-level 1000, taking a helicopter transfer back out again at the close of play.
Driving through the gentle foothills of the Peloponnese was transformative for my mum, such was her tentative starting point – baby steps into the bold new world of adventuring abroad without chauffeur or chaperone. But for those, like myself, with a higher baseline – confidence, but a whole lot of stereotypes to shake off – in the pursuit of a more epic kind of freedom, the trip demands a more challenging terrain and different tire tread. With sweeping vistas, scabrous peaks, plunging drops, demanding turns and several climates to pass through, if it’s possible for a drive to change your life, it might just be this one.
Natasha Bird is the Former Executive Editor (Digital) of ELLE.
