Prosecco Ride

A long weekend from Budapest into Italy’s wine country, driving your own car. Three nights based at Castelbrando, a hilltop castle above Cison di Valmarino that has been turned into a hotel, with two full driving days built around it.

The route out runs through Slovenia into the Veneto, and then the trip settles. One day loops north into the Dolomites on the Grande Strada delle Dolomiti, the old road that links the passes between Bolzano and Cortina, with the Cinque Torri cable car on the itinerary. The other stays local, following the Strada del Prosecco through the UNESCO-listed hills between Conegliano and Valdobbiadene, where the vineyards are planted on slopes steep enough to be worked by hand.

This is a small-group touring weekend rather than a rally. There is no scoring, no checkpoints and nothing to win, which makes it a different proposition from the Balkan Rally the same operator runs: the driving is the pleasure and the evenings are the point. Winery visits, a Prosecco tasting with transfers laid on and a vineyard dinner all sit in the three days.

Go Beyond includes the three nights at Castelbrando with breakfast and dinner, the tasting and its transfers, secure parking, maps, car stickers and their own tour guiding. Lunches and insurance are separate, with a single room supplement, an extra night at Lake Bohinj in Slovenia and vehicle transport all available as add-ons. The return leg is left to the driver. For anyone with a car worth taking somewhere and a weekend to spare, it is an unusually civilised way to use both.