A genuine long-haul: Franche-Comté free night, a Swiss halfway hostel stop, then the Dolomites' most dramatic meadow beneath Sassolungo and Sciliar — with real cable-car access rules, real vignette costs, and real charging stops mapped out.
Alpe di Siusi (Seiser Alm) is the largest high-altitude alpine pasture in Europe — 56 km² of rolling meadow at 1,680–2,350m, ringed by the jagged spires of Sassolungo/Langkofel and the Sciliar/Schlern massif. It's genuinely one of the best hiking and mountain-biking plateaus in the Alps, not a photo-op detour. But at roughly 965 km from Meudon-la-Forêt — about 3x the distance of the Savoie lakes trip — this is not a normal weekend. On a 97%-SOH Model Y Premium with a realistic ~330–370 km range, that's 3–4 driving days each way once you account for charging stops, so this itinerary uses the same free-stay pattern as the Besançon trip for its first leg, then adds a second overnight waypoint roughly halfway across Switzerland before the final push over the Alps into South Tyrol. Budget the better part of a week: Thursday evening out, remote-work days built in, home the following Wednesday.
Meudon-la-Forêt → Alpe di Siusi is about 965 km / 11–11.5 hours of pure driving via the direct route (Rome2Rio/route planners put Paris–Seiser Alm at ~914–965 km depending on exact endpoint). Splitting it across two free/cheap waypoints keeps each driving leg well inside comfortable single- or double-charge range:
| Leg | Distance | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Meudon-la-Forêt → Besançon | ≈ 412 km | Same route as the Besançon trip — A6/A31/A36, one Supercharger stop near Dijon |
| Besançon → Lucerne (Stage 2 waypoint) | ≈ 250 km | Via Basel — crosses into Switzerland, vignette required |
| Lucerne → Alpe di Siusi (Seis/Kastelruth) | ≈ 330–350 km | Via Chur → Reschen Pass (no Austria) or via Sargans → Austria → Brenner — both cross the Alps; Reschen avoids the Austrian vignette entirely |
| Total one-way | ≈ 990–1,010 km (split route) | vs. ~965 km direct — the detour via Lucerne adds only ~25–45 km |
The whole point of Stage 2 is to break the ~550 km Besançon→Dolomites gap into two realistic charging days rather than one brutal one. Lucerne sits almost exactly at that midpoint (≈250 km from Besançon, ≈330–350 km on to Seis) and — unlike Zurich or Innsbruck — has genuinely cheap hostel beds close to the motorway, real Tesla-adjacent Supercharger infrastructure along the Gotthard/A2 corridor, and a worthwhile evening in its own right (covered bridges, Lake Lucerne, an easy walk after a long charging day). Innsbruck was considered but sits ~470 km from Besançon — too far for a comfortable single day with the bike loaded and a full charge budget — and would force the Austrian vignette regardless of the Reschen option. Zurich was considered too but Lucerne's hostel prices run noticeably lower and the town itself is smaller and calmer for a one-night stopover.
The practical upshot: don't try to drive onto the plateau midday. Instead, sleep down in the valley (Siusi/Seis or Fiè allo Sciliar) and ride the cable car up. Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway from Siusi: round-trip adult ticket €30 (Junior €18, Senior €26, dog €6, bike €12). The alternative Mont Sëuc gondola from Ortisei: adult round-trip €39 (Junior €27.30, dog €7, bike €7). Both have free or paid parking at the valley station — the Siusi cableway has a free outdoor lot plus a paid garage as overflow.
The honest free/cheap option is down in the valley, not on the plateau:
The Bolzano/Brenner corridor (A22 autostrada) has Tesla Supercharger coverage roughly every 60–90 km — plan a top-up stop around Bolzano itself (autostrada service-area sites near the Bolzano Sud/Nord exits) before the final climb up into the valley, and use the Brenner-corridor stations (e.g. near Vipiteno/Sterzing, further north) as a backup if you diverted via the Brenner route instead of Reschen. Confirm exact stall counts and live status on the Tesla app before departure, since South Tyrol sites get busy in peak summer weekends.
Same drive as the standalone Besançon trip. Leave Thursday evening, charge near Dijon, roll in late.
Full remote workday. Short walk along the Doubs loop or up to the Citadelle ramparts at lunch. Free night again at the same free spot.
Morning drive out via Basel into Switzerland — buy the vignette before you touch a Swiss motorway. Arrive Lucerne by early afternoon: a wander along the Chapel Bridge, a swim or walk along Lake Lucerne, real dinner out if you want a second treat (otherwise cook at the hostel). This is the comfort-night stop of the outbound leg.
Longest single driving day of the trip — cross the Alps via Chur and the Reschen Pass (avoids Austria and its vignette entirely), charge near Bolzano, then up the valley to Siusi allo Sciliar or Fiè allo Sciliar. Don't try to drive onto the Alpe di Siusi plateau itself today — arrive, settle into the free/cheap valley spot, and save the meadow for tomorrow morning via cable car.
Take the Alpe di Siusi Aerial Cableway up from Siusi to Compaccio/Compatsch. Walk the Alpe di Siusi Meadows Circuit Trail (~14.4 km, ~4h25, easy) or the Hans and Paula Steger Trail (~14.6 km lollipop, ~4h30, easy) — both stay on the plateau, roll across the meadows with constant views of Sassolungo/Langkofel and the Sciliar/Schlern massif, and pass alpine pasture huts (Schwaige) for lunch. Ride the cable car back down before dark — remember the road is only open to cars again after 5pm if you need to reposition.
Alpe di Siusi is genuinely one of the best biking plateaus in the Dolomites — wide gravel farm tracks crisscross the meadow with relatively gentle gradients, and you can link into higher singletrack via the Sciliar plateau if you want more climbing. Bring your own bike up on the cableway (€12 round-trip) rather than renting — it's already loaded in the car per the Car Camping & Bike Guide, no rack, no range hit on the drive down. If you'd rather hike again, the Compaccio–Rifugio Bolzano–Rifugio Alpe di Tires loop (21.6 km, ~8h, moderately difficult) is the full-day option for strong legs, summiting the Sciliar plateau with Catinaccio/Rosengarten views.
Given the distance, treat the return as a mirror of the outbound: a driving day back to Lucerne or straight through to Besançon depending on how early you start, then the final leg home. If your schedule allows, add a second free night at Besançon on the way back rather than pushing the whole ~990 km in one push — this is the same discipline that made the outbound split necessary in the first place.
Bike travels inside the car (front wheel off), same as every other trip in this series — no roof or hitch rack, no range penalty on the long autoroute/motorway legs, which matters enormously over a ~1,000 km one-way trip. On the plateau itself, you'll pay a small bike surcharge to bring it up the cable car (€12 on the Siusi cableway, €7 on the Ortisei gondola) rather than needing to rent — Alpe di Siusi's network of farm-track gravel roads is considered one of the best alpine biking areas in the Dolomites, wide and rideable for a confident intermediate rider without needing a full-suspension rental rig.
| Category | How it's calculated | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Tolls (French autoroutes, round trip) | A6/A31/A36 + A22 Italian autostrada sections | ≈ €70–90 |
| Swiss vignette | CHF 40 flat, 14-month validity | ≈ €43 |
| Charging | ~1,980 km round trip × ~0.17 kWh/km ≈ 337 kWh × ~€0.40/kWh | ≈ €135 |
| Lodging | 2 free nights Besançon + 1 Lucerne hostel dorm (~€50) each way + 3 valley nights near Siusi (mix free/paid, ~€20 avg) | ≈ €160 |
| Cable car (Alpe di Siusi, round trip + bike) | €30 adult + €12 bike, used at least once | ≈ €42 |
| Specialty meal (alpine hut lunch) | South Tyrolean plate + drink at a Schwaige | ≈ €25–30 |
| Food, self-cooked (remaining days) | ~7 days × €10–12/day | ≈ €75–85 |
| Total | €480–560 | |