Gotthard Tremola and Nufenen by Motorcycle: The Cobbles and the Highest Swiss Pass

Most riders cross the Gotthard on the modern road, fast and wide with long galleries. The reason to come here is the old one. Below the summit on the Ticino side, the Tremola road winds down the Val Tremola in a stack of hairpins paved entirely in granite cobbles. It is the longest historic road monument in Switzerland and one of the strangest and most memorable things you can ride in the Alps. Join it to the Nufenen, the second highest paved pass in Switzerland, and the Furka, and you have a compact loop of around 120 kilometres from Andermatt.

Planning the loop

Andermatt is the base. The loop works anticlockwise: Gotthard south, Nufenen west, Furka east. That way you ride the Tremola downhill, which most riders find easier on cobbles, or you can climb it from Airolo and ride the loop the other way if you prefer climbing on the stones. It is a half-day loop for a fast group and a full day if you stop at the museum, the summit lakes and the Rhône glacier. Pair it with the Furka, Grimsel and Susten loop for two days of passes from one base.

The route, section by section

Andermatt to the Gotthard Pass (about 15km). Ride south through Hospental and up the Gotthard on the main pass road. The northern side is short and fast, climbing across open moorland past the turn-offs for the ski area. The summit at 2,106 metres is a broad saddle with small lakes, the old hospice, a hotel and the National Gotthard Museum, which tells the story of the pass from mule track to rail and road tunnels.

The Tremola down to Airolo (about 13km). Just south of the summit, the old road branches off the modern one and drops into the Val Tremola. The cobbled section runs for around four kilometres, with two dozen hairpins stacked one on top of the other down the valley head and the stone walls of the original road alongside. Lower down it rejoins the main road above Airolo. The cobbles are laid well and give reasonable grip in the dry, but they are uneven, and in the wet they turn slick, especially on the hairpin aprons. Keep the bike upright, brake before the bends, and ride it in dry weather if you can. Some sections are narrow: give way to oncoming traffic on the bends.

Airolo over the Nufenen to Ulrichen (about 37km). From Airolo head west up the Bedretto valley, a quiet, green valley in Ticino with stone villages and almost no traffic. The Nufenen road then climbs in long loops above the treeline to the summit at 2,478 metres, the second highest paved pass in Switzerland after the Umbrail. The view west takes in the Gries glacier and the Bernese Alps. The road was only opened in 1969, so it is wide and modern, with good sightlines and smooth tarmac; the western descent to Ulrichen in the Goms is one of the most flowing in the country.

Ulrichen up the Goms and over the Furka to Andermatt (about 55km). Ride east up the Goms valley through Obergesteln and Oberwald to Gletsch, then climb the western side of the Furka past the Rhône glacier and the Hotel Belvédère hairpins to the summit at 2,429 metres. The eastern side drops past Realp and Hospental back to Andermatt.

The roads

The modern Gotthard and the Nufenen are wide and well surfaced. The Tremola is the exception: cobbles, hairpins with tight radii, low stone walls and some narrow passing places. Cyclists love it as much as riders, and you will meet them climbing very slowly. Postbuses run over the Gotthard and the Nufenen; they have priority on mountain postal roads. Fuel is easy in Andermatt and Airolo, and there are stations in the Goms; there is none on the Nufenen.

Weather on the Gotthard is famous for changing fast: it is the watershed between the cooler north and Ticino, and the summit is often in cloud or wind when both valleys are sunny. Take a waterproof even on a clear morning.

If the weather turns

Because the Gotthard divides two climates, it is common to find rain on one side and sun on the other. If Andermatt is wet, it is often worth riding over on the modern road to see whether Ticino is dry; if the Tremola is wet, skip the cobbles and take the main road down instead, which runs alongside it and gives you views of the old road from above. The Nufenen and the Furka are both high and exposed, and fresh snow can fall on either even in July. If one of them closes during the day, the Furka car train between Oberwald and Realp is the way home without a long detour.

When to go

The Gotthard pass road, the Tremola, the Nufenen and the Furka all close for the winter and usually open between late May and mid-June. The Nufenen, the highest of the three, is often the last to open and among the first to close, sometimes in early October. July to September is the reliable window. Check pass status with the Touring Club Schweiz (TCS) or the cantonal road services before you set off. If the pass is shut, the Gotthard road tunnel carries traffic under the mountain, but it is a long, busy motorway tunnel and no substitute for the ride.

The pass roads are toll-free. Swiss motorways, including the approach to the Gotthard road tunnel, need a vignette, motorcycles included. Speed and noise enforcement in Switzerland is strict.

Where to stay

Andermatt and Hospental are the natural bases; Airolo works if you arrive from Ticino or Italy, and Ulrichen or Oberwald suit riders coming up the Rhône valley. See our biker hotels in the Swiss Alps. From Airolo, Ticino and the Italian lakes are a short ride south, and from there it is a day's ride east to the Stelvio. Heading west down the Rhône valley, the Great St Bernard takes you over into Italy's Aosta valley. Riders crossing from northern Italy can browse places to stay in Northern Italy.