How to choose

The first filter, and the one nobody thinks about until the first morning briefing.

A tour runs on a language: the briefing, the WhatsApp group, the road book, and above all the radio. Every car carries a handheld and the leader talks all day — "roundabout, second exit", "slowing, tractor ahead", "regroup at the top". If you don't understand the radio, you are not on the tour; you are following it. On a mountain pass at speed, that is not just frustrating, it is unsafe.

So: a French operator runs in French, a British one in English, and the good ones say so on their site. If your French is so-so, choose an English-speaking tour in France rather than a French one — there are several. If you're comfortable in both, your choice just doubled.

Nobody publishes this, and it decides whether the week is a pleasure or a sentence.

If the group is made up of twenty men in their thirties, full of testosterone, and you are there with your wife — the week feels very long. If it is eight couples who have done this before, who wait for each other, who sit down to dinner as a table rather than a pack — it feels like a holiday with friends you didn't know you had.

Ask the operator, plainly: what's the typical group — couples, solo drivers, ages, how many have toured with you before? A good one answers in ten seconds because they know their tribe. A vague answer is an answer too. On this site we mark each operator couples-friendly, mixed, or young & fast — from what we've seen, not from the brochure.

Some tours are 100 % road: breakfast, drive, lunch, drive, dinner, sleep. Some weave in the rest — a factory visit, a car museum, a vineyard, a walk through a hill town before lunch. Neither is wrong, but look at it closely, because it changes everything for the person sitting next to you — and for you on day five when your back has an opinion.

Look at the itinerary for the words that matter: visit, tasting, free afternoon, museum. If none appear, it's a driving tour, and that may be exactly what you want.

Some operators put you in palaces. Others in good, comfortable four-stars where the car park matters more than the spa. Both are right; they are just different prices and different weeks.

Two things to know. First, the hotel is the biggest single variable in the price of a tour: a five-star with a starred dinner every night is what turns £6,000 into £12,000. Second, the level of the hotel sets the dress code — see the beginner's trap in section 12. On this site each operator carries a hotel level from 1 to 5. Decide what you want before you look at what they offer.

Most owner tours are own-car only. Some allow you to hire — either to come without your car, or, more interestingly, to drive something else for a few days. If you've always wanted a week in a car you'd never buy, that's the way to do it. It is not cheap, and the insurance excess on a hired supercar deserves a careful read.

The rest of the market — the hire-only operators — is a different product: they supply the car, the route, the hotels; you supply the driving. Excellent for a couple who don't own a supercar and want the experience. Not what this guide is about.

A category of its own. Short — usually two days — and the destination is not a road, it's an event: a race weekend, a brand's world finals, a festival. In 2026 the Ferrari Finali Mondiali are in Barcelona; the Ferrari network is running two-day drives down to it. You get the convoy, the roads, the hotel, and then the event itself.

This is the simplest kind of tour there is: short, structured, a fixed point at the end. If you've never toured, this is a good way to find out whether you like the format.

Everyone asks "how many cars?" The better question is "what are the rules?"

Here is a rule set that works: nobody overtakes inside the convoy, nobody drives like an idiot, and the leader always waits for the last car. There will always be one or two who can't — or won't — push their car like the rest, and on a spirited stretch they fall behind. On a well-run tour, everyone slows and waits. That is the whole culture of the tour in one habit — and it is only possible with ten or twelve cars. Beyond that, the group fragments, the leader can't see the tail, and the rule dies.

The opposite exists: big groups, everyone overtakes everyone, and the "convoy" is really a start time and a dinner reservation, with the day in between as a free-for-all. Some people love it. Know which one you're buying.

The luxury end gives you everything: a luggage van, a mechanic, a car closing the convoy. It's magnificent, and it's in the price. Independent operators vary — many run with a leader and a sweep, some carry luggage, some don't. Read the small print carefully, because "luggage transport" is the line that decides how you pack (section 12).

Photographers are common; drone operators less so, and worth asking about. On a track day in Spain, our drone footage — the whole convoy on the circuit, fully edited — cost £400–600 per driver. It's the film you'll show for years. If the operator offers it, take it.

Everything exists: two to three hours' driving a day at the relaxed end, five to seven at the other, and long transfer days that go beyond. Some tours are scenic and gentle; some are fast and spirited; many are a mix — a spirited morning, a long lunch, a gentle afternoon.

The number to ask for is not kilometres, it's hours at the wheel per day — and whether the operator plans "driving roads" or "getting there" days. And be honest with yourself about your own appetite for driving. Seven hours a day in a fixed-back seat is a young man's idea of fun.

Usually included: hotels, lunches and dinners, the route, the radio and the app, the leader and support. Some UK operators include the ferry cabin (Plymouth–Santander for Spain and Portugal) — that's a real number, check for it. Some run out through Germany for the autobahn and into Switzerland for the passes; the transits are part of the product.

Some operators offer to transport your car both ways — you fly in, drive the tour, fly home. It's the most civilised way to do a long trip, and it's usually an option, priced separately.

Never included, in our experience:

• Coffee stops and aperitifs. Often the leader pays for the group each day and invoices at the end: £200–300 per couple for the tour.
• Fuel. Depends on your car's thirst and the roads, but budget £1,600–2,500 for eight days in a modern supercar.
• Tolls and vignettes, unless the itinerary says otherwise.
• The extras: drone film, the second track session, the bottle you couldn't resist.

The only way to compare a three-day tour at £4,000 with a seven-day tour at £12,000 is per couple, per day, then adjust for the hotel level. As a rule of thumb, from what we've paid:

• 3 days: £4,000–7,000 per couple
• 7 days: £10,000–12,000 per couple
• Top-end (brand tours, palaces): multiply by two. A brand-run three-night tour runs around €12,000 per couple — top luxury, everything included.
• Ice driving: the brand's two-day programme is about €25,000 for a driver and companion. A private two-day ice course in Sweden cost us €7,000. Same fun; different service; your call.

The variable is almost always the hotel and the dinner, not the road. The road is free.

Insurance: for a modern supercar, a proper UK policy covers you on public roads across the EU; you rarely need to do anything for a road tour. Check for track days — what your policy does and doesn't cover on circuit varies, and this is where people get caught. Then a word of experience: if you are not an idiot, driving on a race track is really quite safe. It's the road that bites.

Paperwork: green card if still asked, low-emission stickers for some cities, the ferry booking in your name. Operators send a checklist. Read it.

The beginner's trap isn't paperwork. It's the questions you don't dare ask: How do I dress for dinner? Will I keep up if they drive fast? Am I even legitimate in this car? Everyone has them; they fade with the second tour. Two practical answers: match the hotel — a palace expects a jacket, a four-star doesn't; and if there is no luggage service, remember a supercar has the boot of a handbag. Our co-driver became an expert in packing — and she takes the wheel some days too, which, on the tours we've done, roughly one partner in three does. We bought soft bags shaped for the front boot. Do the same.

Tours run from April/May to September/October; outside that, it's a drive-to-event (a race, a circuit) rather than a tour. Operators recce their roads and watch the forecast — but the mountain does what it wants. We woke one morning at the top of a Swiss pass to a road under snow, on summer tyres, with 600 horsepower. It was fun. It also requires you to drive like an adult.

Andalusia in August is 40 °C. The high Alps open late. Scotland is Scotland. Ask when the operator ran this route last, and what the weather did.

The brands — Ferrari, Porsche, McLaren, Lamborghini — run private tours for their own owners only. Everyone else opens the door to any qualifying supercar; check the list, it's usually generous. If you own a Ferrari you can do both; if you own something rarer, the independent operators are your world.

The tour ends 1,500 km from your garage. Options: drive back (some people love it — two more days of roads); take the ferry (Spain and Portugal, for UK drivers); or use the truck most operators offer to bring the car home while you fly. It's a real cost — allow for it in your budget (see section 11) — and it's the difference between arriving home tired and arriving home.