Furka Pass

The Furka Pass is Swiss driving distilled: a cold, clean, high ridge between Uri and Valais, climbing to 2,429 metres with a sequence of hairpins that film audiences have known since 1964 — the Furka is where the Aston DB5 chases the Mustang in Goldfinger.

Drive it today and the experience is quieter than the legend suggests. The surface is good, the corners are honest, and the pass rarely feels crowded on a weekday outside July and August. The eastern ramp from Andermatt is the faster, more open side; the western descent toward Gletsch offers the Rhône Glacier viewpoint and the cluster of tight corners that make the frame in the Bond chase. Stop at the Hotel Belvédère bend — the most photographed corner in Switzerland — before the coaches arrive at 10:00.

Furka is seasonal. The pass closes under snow from roughly late October to late May; the exact dates shift by two or three weeks each year. Check the status before you come — a closed Furka rewrites a Swiss trip, and the alternative tunnel at Oberalp is not the same road.

The Grimsel and Susten sit to the west and north respectively. The Swiss Big Three — Furka, Grimsel, Susten — is the canonical one-day loop from Andermatt or Meiringen and is the reason most enthusiasts fly to Zurich in the first place. Drive Furka first, in the early morning, while the light is still low and the tourists are still at breakfast.