Switzerland, Zurich
Klausen, Susten and Furka are all reachable before lunch, which is a rare privilege.
First instinct from Zurich: head south towards the Klausenpass.
Scored roads in range
12
Nearest great road
39 mi
Best rated nearby
9.9 / 10
Shortest full loop
6 hr 35 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 15 May 2026
60 to 150 km from the centre
Far enough to feel like a proper trip, close enough to be home for dinner.
Roughly 11 hr 46 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
57 mi away · Bernese Oberland
Three of the best passes in the Alps stitched into one loop back to the same valley.
120 km · 74.6 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
58 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
45 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
56 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
89 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
150 to 400 km from the centre
Leave early, take the long way back and make a day of it.
Roughly 11 hr 1 min of driving if you string the lot together and come back the way you came.
107 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
165 mi away · Dolomites
Four Dolomite passes in a single circuit of the Sella massif, the finest loop in Europe.
55 km · 34.2 mi · Atlas rating 9.7 / 10
116 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
147 mi away · Gran Paradiso
The road from the Italian Job, hairpins to a lake plateau at 2600 metres.
20 km · 12.4 mi · Atlas rating 9.6 / 10
153 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
163 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
Longer
32 km · 55m
Furka takes about fifty five minutes end to end, longer if you stop at the Belvédère, and it is open from roughly June to October depending on snow clearance. It is not dangerous if driven with sense, the road is wide and immaculately surfaced, but the drop below the Belvédère hairpin is real and the weather can close in fast above 2,000 metres.
38 km · 1h 05m
Granite, reservoirs and a surface that flatters every car.
46 km · 1h 15m
Built for the view rather than the shortest line, and the finest surface in Europe.
Plan it