giants of switzerland
In september 2019 my wife, Judith and I went to southern Switzerland to ride some of the most epic mountain roads. We started in Airolo from a cheap but decent hotel with it's own Italian style restaurant called Arlbergo delle Alpi. First climb was the Gotthard Pass (Tremola San Gottardo), an old cobblestone road up to a small lake through some sort of valley. There is also a modern road for cars aside, so there wasn't that much of traffic on the cobbled road. From the top of the climb we descended down to Hospental. We did switch to the newer, paved road therefore. At Hospental we went on to the Furkastrasse which leads to the Furka Pass. This road is kind of famous because they shot the car chasing sequence of James Bond Goldfinger there back in the days. Also, the train named "glacier express" to Switzerlands probably most known landmark, the Matterhorn rides side by side to this road. Once we've reached the top we had a little snack and coffee right next to the well known "Hotel Belvedere" which looks like out of a Wes Anderson movie. After the little break we went down to Gletsch with the Rhone & Mutt glaciers surrounding us. From Gletsch we climbed up the last few switchbacks to the Grimselpass and even a bit further following the Panoramastrasse Oberaar until it's dead end. After enjoying the last rays of sun we stayed overnight at Hotel Grimsel Passhöhe, to continue our loop on the next day. On the next morning we descended the Grimselpass the same way we went up the day before and then continued to go downhill until Ulrichen. From Ulrichen we went onto the road up to Nufenenpass (Passo della Novena), which for us seemed to be the hardest one because of it's long straight ramps. But on the way up we got to see some cute valais black nose sheep and the downhill from the pass back to Airolo was extremely long and fast. So that definitely did compensate for the suffering up the climb. And back in Airolo there is a wonderful cheese factory just next to the cable car up the mountain. Our conclusion from the trip was, that you could defiantly do the loop with Gotthard, Furka & Nufenen in one day too if you are in good shape. But for us it was the right decision to split the route into two days, add the short part of Grimsel to it and just take our time to enjoy. All the roads are very epic but Gotthard with the old cobbles and Furka especially once you've reached the top with the glaciers shining and the old hotel as well as the James Bond history and the glacier express train were our favorites I would say. The cool thing is also that you ride through three different districts (Kanton) of switzerland. You start in Tessin which is Italian speaking, then go to Uri where they speak German and the over to the Wallis where they speak French. Weather wise we had absolute blue bird conditions, but as you are climbing up altitude up to 2500 meters above sea level. So even if it was still summer with the wind it got rather cold, and we could definitely take use of our wind jackets. Therefore, I would totally recommend checking the weather forecast precisely and to bring enough clothes. If you interested in riding there too, here is the strava roadmap.
giants of switzerland
In september 2019 my wife, Judith and I went to southern Switzerland to ride some of the most epic mountain roads. We started in Airolo from a cheap but decent hotel with it's own Italian style restaurant called Arlbergo delle Alpi. First climb was the Gotthard Pass (Tremola San Gottardo), an old cobblestone road up to a small lake through some sort of valley. There is also a modern road for cars aside, so there wasn't that much of traffic on the cobbled road. From the top of the climb we descended down to Hospental. We did switch to the newer, paved road therefore. At Hospental we went on to the Furkastrasse which leads to the Furka Pass. This road is kind of famous because they shot the car chasing sequence of James Bond Goldfinger there back in the days. Also, the train named "glacier express" to Switzerlands probably most known landmark, the Matterhorn rides side by side to this road. Once we've reached the top we had a little snack and coffee right next to the well known "Hotel Belvedere" which looks like out of a Wes Anderson movie. After the little break we went down to Gletsch with the Rhone & Mutt glaciers surrounding us. From Gletsch we climbed up the last few switchbacks to the Grimselpass and even a bit further following the Panoramastrasse Oberaar until it's dead end. After enjoying the last rays of sun we stayed overnight at Hotel Grimsel Passhöhe, to continue our loop on the next day. On the next morning we descended the Grimselpass the same way we went up the day before and then continued to go downhill until Ulrichen. From Ulrichen we went onto the road up to Nufenenpass (Passo della Novena), which for us seemed to be the hardest one because of it's long straight ramps. But on the way up we got to see some cute valais black nose sheep and the downhill from the pass back to Airolo was extremely long and fast. So that definitely did compensate for the suffering up the climb. And back in Airolo there is a wonderful cheese factory just next to the cable car up the mountain. Our conclusion from the trip was, that you could defiantly do the loop with Gotthard, Furka & Nufenen in one day too if you are in good shape. But for us it was the right decision to split the route into two days, add the short part of Grimsel to it and just take our time to enjoy. All the roads are very epic but Gotthard with the old cobbles and Furka especially once you've reached the top with the glaciers shining and the old hotel as well as the James Bond history and the glacier express train were our favorites I would say. The cool thing is also that you ride through three different districts (Kanton) of switzerland. You start in Tessin which is Italian speaking, then go to Uri where they speak German and the over to the Wallis where they speak French. Weather wise we had absolute blue bird conditions, but as you are climbing up altitude up to 2500 meters above sea level. So even if it was still summer with the wind it got rather cold, and we could definitely take use of our wind jackets. Therefore, I would totally recommend checking the weather forecast precisely and to bring enough clothes. If you interested in riding there too, here is the strava roadmap.