Italy, South Tyrol
The single best base for the Dolomites, with four legendary passes inside an hour.
First instinct from Bolzano: head east onto the Great Dolomites Road.
Scored roads in range
12
Nearest great road
19 mi
Best rated nearby
9.9 / 10
Shortest full loop
1 hr 18 min
Checked by the Drivers Atlas desk
Scored and written by the Drivers Atlas editorial desk, drawing on driven routes across the UK and Europe, mapping data and member road reports. Every road in the library carries a driving and scenery score set by the same method. How we score roads.
Last reviewed 22 March 2026
Under 60 km from the centre
Close enough for an evening run or a Sunday morning before the traffic wakes up.
Roughly 3 hr 10 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
19 mi away · Trentino and South Tyrol, Italy
Sheer Dolomite towers on both sides make this short link one of the world's great scenic drives.
11 km · 6.8 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
33 mi away · Veneto, Italy
Twenty nine hairpins climb to a wide open saddle ringed by the jagged Cinque Torri.
17 km · 10.6 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
22 mi away · Trentino and South Tyrol, Italy
Twenty eight numbered hairpins climb to the highest paved point of the Dolomites road network.
13 km · 8.1 mi · Atlas rating 9.5 / 10
30 mi away · Tyrol and South Tyrol
A high toll road crossing into Italy with a dramatic glass museum perched at the summit.
30 km · 18.6 mi · Atlas rating 9.5 / 10
60 to 150 km from the centre
Far enough to feel like a proper trip, close enough to be home for dinner.
Roughly 9 hr 46 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
43 mi away · Lombardy and South Tyrol, Italy
Eighty four hairpins stacked above the treeline make this Europe's most theatrical mountain pass.
49 km · 30.4 mi · Atlas rating 9.9 / 10
82 mi away · Salzburg and Carinthia, Austria
Austria's grandest high alpine road climbs to Franz Josefs Hohe beneath the country's tallest peak.
48 km · 29.8 mi · Atlas rating 9.8 / 10
42 mi away · Lombardy, Italy
A narrow, unguarded ribbon past Lago Nero that feels wilder than its famous neighbour.
31 km · 19.3 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
87 mi away · Bavarian Alps, Germany
The western German Alpine Road weaves past castles beneath jagged limestone peaks.
90 km · 55.9 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
64 mi away · Graubunden, Switzerland
Glaciers hang over the road as it threads past turquoise Lago Bianco to the Poschiavo valley.
33 km · 20.5 mi · Atlas rating 9.3 / 10
150 to 400 km from the centre
Leave early, take the long way back and make a day of it.
Roughly 24 hr 6 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
221 mi away · Savoie, France
The roof of the Route des Grandes Alpes, a stark granite amphitheatre above 2700 metres.
16 km · 9.9 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
132 mi away · Ticino, Switzerland
A cobbled historic switchback climb that predates the modern Gotthard highway entirely.
13 km · 8.1 mi · Atlas rating 9.5 / 10
98 mi away · Bavarian Alps, Germany
Sweeping alpine curves link lake resorts on the way to the Austrian border.
150 km · 93.2 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
139 mi away · Bern and Uri, Switzerland
A flowing, beautifully engineered road beneath the Steingletscher ice cliffs.
47 km · 29.2 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
140 mi away · Valais and Uri, Switzerland
Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
16 km · 9.9 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
248 mi away · Dalmatian Coast
The Magistrala hugs bare karst cliffs above island studded blue water for hours.
180 km · 111.8 mi · Atlas rating 9.4 / 10
Longer
187 km · 4h 15m
Four legendary passes strung between limestone cathedrals, the definitive alpine day.
49 km · 1h 30m
Forty-eight numbered hairpins stacked like a staircase into the sky.
142 km · 3h 20m
Gardesana corniche tunnels, then a climb into olive terraces above the water.
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