Alpine PassGrimsel Pass
Bern / Valais
The Grimsel connects the Bernese Oberland to the Valais over 2,164m of granite and reservoir lakes.
Region guide
The best driving roads in Swiss Alps
11 roadsAll best drives →
The Swiss Alps are the most concentrated good driving terrain on Earth. Inside two hundred kilometres you can drive the Big Three (Furka, Grimsel, Susten) in a single day, ride the Klausen and Pragel as the warm-up, and finish on the Sustenpass back to Andermatt by sunset. No other region puts this density of world-class roads inside a single base camp.
The character is precise and engineered. Surfaces are uniformly excellent. Hairpins are well-cambered. Sightlines are honest. The Swiss approach to alpine roads — keep them open as long as possible, maintain them properly, sign them clearly — produces the most predictable high-quality driving environment in Europe. The trade-off is traffic on the famous passes (Furka in particular) on summer weekends; drive midweek or early.
Andermatt is the obvious base. Its position at the confluence of the Furka, Susten, Gotthard and Oberalp makes it the alpine equivalent of being parked at the centre of a steering wheel. Interlaken works for the western end (Grimsel, Sustenpass, Brünig). For the eastern Alps — Bernina, Albula, Flüela — base in St. Moritz or Davos.
Alpine Pass
Alpine PassGotthard Pass (Tremola)
Uri / Ticino
The Tremola is Switzerland's most famous cobbled road — 24 hairpins on original granite setts climbing from Airolo to the Gotthard summit at 2,106m.
Alpine PassOberalp Pass
Uri / Graubünden
The Oberalp at 2,044m links Andermatt to Sedrun and the start of the Rhine valley.
Alpine PassJulier Pass
Graubünden
The Julier is one of the few Swiss alpine passes that stays open year-round, thanks to its comparatively gentle gradient and efficient snow clearance.
Alpine PassMaloja Pass
Graubünden
The Maloja is an oddity — you're already at 1,815m on the Engadin side, so the north approach is almost flat.
Alpine Pass
Alpine PassSplügen Pass
Graubünden
The Splügen at 2,113m crosses from Graubünden into Italy through some of the tightest hairpins on any Swiss pass.
Alpine Pass
Alpine Pass
Alpine PassKlausen Pass
Uri / Glarus
The Klausen at 1,948m is one of Switzerland's oldest pass roads — narrow, twisting, and untouched by modern widening.
Alpine PassAlbula Pass
Graubünden
The Albula climbs to 2,312m through some of Graubünden's best engineering — both the road and the railway viaducts alongside it are UNESCO-listed.
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