Luxury travel has long understood the pleasures of arrival. Increasingly, however, it is the journey itself that commands attention. This summer, Preferred Hotels & Resorts seeks to make the road as seductive as the destination with the launch of The Preferred Experience: a five-day motoring itinerary through Germany and Austria designed for travellers with a taste for velocity, scenery and polished hospitality.
Created in partnership with InRadius, the programme is limited to just 20 participants and offered across four departure dates in July 2026. Guests will navigate some of Europe’s most dramatic mountain passes in premium sports cars, while bedding down in a quartet of distinguished hotels drawn from the Preferred portfolio.
The route begins and ends in Munich, tracing a cinematic arc through Bavaria, Tyrol, Styria and the Chiemgau region. Along the way come hairpin bends, emerald lakes, grand dining rooms and restorative spas — a study in contrasts that feels distinctly modern in its approach to indulgence.
Where Performance Meets Panorama
The experience opens in Munich with a stay at the venerable Hotel Bayerischer Hof, where guests are transferred from the airport and invited to settle in with spa time before an elegant welcome dinner and driver briefing.
The following morning, after a visit to Motorworld Munich, engines start in earnest. Participants take to the road for their first Alpine drive, heading towards Austria via Lake Plansee and the celebrated Hahntennjoch Pass — a ribbon of tarmac beloved by driving enthusiasts for its dramatic switchbacks and commanding views. That evening concludes at Interalpen-Hotel Tyrol, where panoramic mountain vistas and a five-course dinner await.
Day three continues through the Gerlos Pass and past the thunderous Krimml Waterfalls before a leisurely ascent to a traditional alpine hut in Maria Alm for lunch. Later, guests arrive at IMLAUER Hotel Schloss Pichlarn, a stately resort where a championship golf course and expansive grounds provide ample reason to linger.
The New Grand Tour
By the fourth day, the convoy crosses into Bavaria’s Chiemgau region, arriving at Das Achental. Here the pace softens: spa treatments, tennis and golf replace hairpins and horsepower. A farewell dinner offers the chance to reflect on a journey where each mile has been considered as carefully as each menu.
The final leg returns travellers to Munich, with onward airport transfers or the option to extend their stay within the wider Preferred Hotels & Resorts collection.
Included in the package are four days’ use of a premium sports car, guided routes, luxury accommodation, dining, transfers and travel insurance — practical details that allow guests to focus on the pleasures of the road.
Pricing begins at €11,290 per person for single occupancy with a shared car, or €10,990 per person for double occupancy. What emerges is less a driving holiday than a contemporary grand tour: one where the Alps provide the theatre, the car the instrument, and hospitality the defining note.
