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15 roads · Alps

Best driving roads in the Alps

15 famous driving roads in the Alps, each called corner by corner by Turini’s pace-note engine. On the routes here, the Passo di Giau has the most hairpins (53); the Grossglockner High Alpine Road is the longest at 48.5 km; the Grimsel Pass has the biggest climb, about 1,770 m in all. They are listed by the number of hairpins Turini calls, then by length: a count from the map, not a verdict on which road is best.

The Alps, by hairpins

  1. 1
    Passo di GiauSP638 · Italy19.8 km · 182 calls · 53 hairpins · ↑690 m

    The Selva di Cadore side alone has 29 hairpins and three avalanche galleries; this route crosses both sides.

  2. 2
    Stelvio PassPasso dello Stelvio · SS38 · Italy15.7 km · 165 calls · 47 hairpins · ↑1,350 m

    At 2,757 m it is the second-highest paved pass in the Alps, and the Prad side is known for its numbered hairpins, 48 of them, stacked one above another up the mountainside.

  3. 3
    Grossglockner High Alpine RoadB107 · Austria48.5 km · 355 calls · 38 hairpins · ↑1,510 m

    It opened in 1935 as a scenic toll road across the main ridge of the Alps, with numbered hairpins and a high point of 2,504 m at the Hochtor.

  4. 4
    Gotthard Pass via the TremolaTremola · Switzerland13.6 km · 109 calls · 38 hairpins · ↑930 m

    Its tightly stacked hairpins are paved with cobblestones, a rare sight on an alpine pass.

  5. 5
    Klausen PassRoute 17 · Switzerland45.7 km · 377 calls · 36 hairpins · ↑1,620 m

    It hosted the Klausenrennen, a historic hill climb almost 14 miles long, in the 1920s and 1930s.

  6. 6
    Passo SellaSS242 · Italy22.4 km · 227 calls · 32 hairpins · ↑800 m

    Driving the four passes around the Sella group, Sella, Gardena, Campolongo and Pordoi, is known as the Sella Ronda, and in winter the same circuit is a well-known ski tour.

  7. 7
    Passo di GaviaSS300 · Italy32.0 km · 334 calls · 29 hairpins · ↑1,420 m

    It is a regular climb in the Giro d’Italia and sometimes the race’s highest point.

  8. 8
    Timmelsjoch High Alpine RoadSS44bis · Austria / Italy40.7 km · 351 calls · 27 hairpins · ↑920 m

    Lorries and trailers are banned, so it stays far quieter than the Brenner Pass nearby.

  9. 9
    Col de la BonetteD64 · France23.1 km · 250 calls · 27 hairpins · ↑1,470 m

    A short loop round the Cime de la Bonette takes the road to 2,802 m and is often described as the highest paved through route in the Alps.

  10. 10
    Col du GalibierD902 · France27.0 km · 225 calls · 25 hairpins · ↑1,250 m

    It is often the highest point of the Tour de France.

  11. 11
    Furka PassCol de la Furka · Switzerland22.9 km · 185 calls · 24 hairpins · ↑730 m

    The hairpins climbing from Gletsch past the Rhône Glacier are among the best-known views in the Swiss Alps, and the road was a filming location for the James Bond film Goldfinger.

  12. 12
    Grimsel PassCol du Grimsel · Switzerland38.2 km · 227 calls · 23 hairpins · ↑1,770 m

    It is the only direct road pass between the cantons of Bern and Valais across the Bernese Alps.

  13. 13
    Col de TuriniD2566 · Alpes-Maritimes · France12.6 km · 153 calls · 19 hairpins · ↑1,060 m

    The climb has been a stage of the Monte Carlo Rally for decades, often run at night and in snow and ice.

  14. 14
    Susten PassRoute 11 · Switzerland45.7 km · 336 calls · 18 hairpins · ↑1,640 m

    It was built as a motor road and officially opened in 1946, with 26 bridges and tunnels along its length.

  15. 15
    Col de l’IseranD902 · France29.9 km · 235 calls · 15 hairpins · ↑1,010 m

    It is part of the Route des Grandes Alpes and has been crossed by the Tour de France several times since 1938.

Counts are from Turini’s pace-note engine on the route shown on each road’s page, which is often one side or one stretch of the road. Climbs come from terrain data.

What the numbers mean

Each corner is called as a direction and a grade from 1 (tightest) to 6 (nearly straight). Hairpins are the turns that double back on themselves. The counts come straight from Turini’s engine reading the OpenStreetMap road, the same calls you hear in the car. The climb (↑) is the height gained over the route, from terrain data. New to it? Read how to read pace notes.

Always drive within the law, the conditions and what you can see. Turini tells you what the map says; the road is what counts.

More driving roads

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