Switzerland, Bern and Valais, Switzerland
Granite reservoirs and stark rock walls line this dramatic climb from the Bernese Oberland.
Length
26 km
In miles
16.2 mi
Driving time
49 min
Atlas rating
9.2 / 10
The run
Innertkirchen to Gletsch. Drive it in either direction, though the views usually favour the climb.
Season
Closed roughly October to June
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 16 May 2026
Nearby
1 km away
Grimsel and Susten Circuit
Three of the best passes in the Alps stitched into one loop back to the same valley.
6 km away
Furka Pass
Bond film hairpins skirt the Rhone Glacier on this high, exposed Alpine crossing.
11 km away
Nufenen Pass
Switzerland's second highest paved pass, wide, smooth and gloriously empty.
18 km away
Tremola, the old Gotthard road
A cobbled historic switchback climb that predates the modern Gotthard highway entirely.
19 km away
Susten Pass
A flowing, beautifully engineered road beneath the Steingletscher ice cliffs.
21 km away
Schollenen Gorge Road
Through a granite slot past the Devil's Bridge, the approach every Gotthard driver knows.
Drive here from
Plan around it
Longer journeys
55m
Furka Pass
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.
1h 05m
Grimsel Pass
Granite, reservoirs and a surface that flatters every car.
1h 15m
Susten Pass
Built for the view rather than the shortest line, and the finest surface in Europe.