5 roads · Switzerland

Best driving roads in Switzerland

5 famous driving roads in Switzerland, each called corner by corner by Turini’s pace-note engine. On the routes here, the Gotthard Pass via the Tremola has the most hairpins (38); the Klausen Pass is the longest at 45.7 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.

Switzerland, by hairpins

1. 1
   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.

2. 2
   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.

3. 3
   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.

4. 4
   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.

5. 5
   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.

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.

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