Varenna to Innsbruck by car

Google maps will tell you: Varenna - Chiavenna - St. Moritz - Landeck - Innsbruck. While this itinerary is the shortest one by distance, and very scenic, in real life it takes much more than the 4 hours 30 minutes Google declares. The stretch between Chiavenna and St. Moritz is very steep and the road between Scuol and the Austrian border will make you think your GPS navigator is taking you for a ride. But if you have time to spend - a lot - and the weather is good, you may even consider it.

In real life, the most practical itinerary is Varenna - Lecco - Bergamo - Verona and the A13 up to Brenner and Innsbruck. Have a lunch stop at Isera, near Rovereto, where the food and the wine are to die for (and food is relatively cheap). And get to Innsbruck before the sun falls down.

Remember than on Swiss and Austrian highways you need a sticker. The Swiss road between Castasegna and Martina is not an highway and the sticker is not required (if asked by a custom officer, say you are going to Innsbruck).

Thank you. Taking the Varenna-Lecco-Bergamo-Verona-A13 route...how long do you estimate travel time between Varenna and Innsbruck?

Use https://www.viamichelin.com/ to get a travel time estimate. Also will show tolls. show an intermediate stop in Trento to get that route.

I would say, if you leave at 9.00 or 9.30am, you should be at Rovereto or Trento at lunch time (my suggestion of having lunch at Isera is very serious, I often stop at the De Tarczal winery/restaurant, or at Casa del Vino, slightly more expensive). Leaving after lunch you can be in Innsbruck say at 4.00 or 5.00pm. - If you rush, you can do the trip in something like 5 hours.

There is a detour exiting at Peschiera and cutting on a regional highway to Affi, it saves about 15 minutes - but only if there is not a queue exiting at Peschiera. In October queues are unlikely, but are very frequent in summer - in which case going all the way to Verona is probably quicker.

Thank You

I was so serious that two days ago, driving from Florence to Salzburg, I stopped for lunch at Casa del Vino at Isera near Rovereto. Sublime.