Passo dello Stelvio · SS38 · Italy

Stelvio Pass

The Stelvio is the alpine pass everyone pictures: a wall of stacked hairpins climbing to 2,757 metres. This is the climb from the Prad side, called the way a rally co-driver would read it.

Where is the Stelvio Pass?

In the Italian Alps, on the SS38 between Prad am Stilfser Joch in South Tyrol and Bormio in Lombardy, inside the Stelvio National Park. The route on this page climbs the north-eastern (Prad) side from the valley below Trafoi to the summit at 2,757 m.

Why the Stelvio Pass is famous

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. Top Gear once named it the greatest driving road in the world, before handing the title to Romania’s Transfăgărășan.

Turini calls a turn a hairpin when the map shows it doubling back on itself, so its count can differ by one or two from the numbered signs.

Stelvio Pass hairpins

Over 15.7 km Turini calls 47 hairpins and 118 corners graded 1 to 6. That is 165 calls in all, one every 95 metres on average. Grade 1 is the tightest, 6 is nearly straight (how to read pace notes).

Elevation profile

From 1,442 m at the start to 2,757 m at the finish, with a highest point of about 2,780 m. Red marks are the hairpins.

Stelvio Pass pace notes, first few km

The first 25 calls, exactly as Turini reads them, with the distance from the start.

That takes you to 2.79 km. 140 more calls follow over the remaining 12.9 km.

Before you go

The pass is closed in winter. It usually opens in late spring or early summer and closes again in autumn, depending on snow, so check before you travel.

In summer it is very busy with cyclists, motorcyclists and camper vans, and the upper hairpins are tight enough that larger vehicles need the whole road. Expect to stop and give way.

How to drive the Stelvio Pass with Turini

Set the route before you leave and Turini saves its notes on the phone, so it works with the screen off and no signal. On the road it reads each call about 4.5 seconds before the corner, timed to your speed, and you never touch the phone. It also works through Android Auto. If pace notes are new to you, start in Simple mode (Easy, Medium, Hard) and switch to the 1–6 scale once it feels natural.

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

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