Furkapass | 2436 METER | Hospental Ulrichen

The Furka Pass is a 2,436-metre-high Swiss Alpine pass connecting Valais with the canton of Uri. The almost 40-kilometre-long road with a width of at least 4.20 metres from Hospental to Oberwald was built between 1864 and 1866. The route is very well paved and closed to traffic from October to May.

The Furka Pass is particularly well known for the numerous photographs of the Hotel Belvédère. It is located in a 180-degree bend just below the actual pass summit. There is a car park here, which is the starting point for a visit to a beautiful ice grotto. The Rhone Glacier is located slightly west and above the hotel. This is also the source of France's most water-rich river, which flows into a lake here and then plunges into the valley via a gigantic waterfall.

The pass summit is less interesting, offering only abandoned houses that bear witness to better times. The south-western ramp, from Goms, is the more interesting route to drive. There are several bends here, interrupted again and again by long, straight climbs.

The Furka Pass shares the lower part of the ramp with the Grimsel Pass. It is not until you reach the village of Gletsch – located in the high valley below the pass – that the route to the Grimsel Pass branches off.

A recommendation for motorbike tours: The Furka Pass is in close proximity to the Grimsel Pass and the Oberaar Panoramic Road. In combination with the St Gotthard Pass and the Nufenen Pass, this makes for a relaxed but very varied motorbike tour, which could start in the region around the medieval town of Brig, for example.

Our tip for motorbike tours suitable for this Alpine pass – tour description, roadmap and GPS data here ...

Just try out the interactive Alpine Passes Atlas ... With tips on sights and hotels, it is an ideal tool for planning motorbike tours. Plan, share, create a roadmap and download GPS data.