The Gotthard is the heart of the Alps. Travellers who drive through the tunnel, do miss some important sights. The Devil’s bridge, the Schöllenen Gorge, the Suwarow monument, the Urnerloch (the oldest tunnel in the Alps), the Swiss National Redoubt, the Roman Tremola road – all historical places that you wouldn’t see if you drive through the tunnel.
It’s worth to consider the Gotthard alpine pass as an alternative.
The panoramic main roads connect Altdorf in Canton Uri with Biasca, Canton Ticino in 110 kilometres and is the easiest way to escape queues at the Gotthard tunnel. You can exit the highway A2 in Erstfeld, Amsteg or Wassen and follow the road to the Gotthard Pass. You will drive through picturesque villages, open flowering pastures and impressive gorges.
On top of the massive there are a little mountain lake, an hospice and a restaurant. From the top, on the Southern side of the 2,100 meters high Gotthard, the Tremola winds its way down. This cobbled road is a challenge for all those who dare! Motorbikers consider this, the most famous of alpine passes, to be the ultimate experience and hold it in far higher regard than the shorter and more direct A2 highway.
Visitors who want to reach Lake Lugano or Lake Maggiore as fast as possible, can enter the highway in Airolo. Should you keep following the main road South, you can stop for a visit at the old customhouse (Dazio Grande) in Rodi Fiesso, the narrow Piottino Gorge by the Ticino River. Take time for a visit to the Romanesque San Nicolao Church in Giornico; the Merlot grapes growing around the village are the proof that you are in Ticino!
Gotthard Pass
Altitude: 2108 m a.s.l.
Connects: Uri and Ticino
Valley locations: Andermatt and Airolo
Built: 1830
Max. gradient: 9%
Winter closing: November - Mai / Tunnel A2 open all year long
