Switzerland (all)

This is the report of a one week bicycle tour in the Swiss Alps and parts of the Italian and Austrian Alps I undertook in the ``summer'' of 1997. Complete with plenty of useful practical information. The itinerary was Zürich - Tannen - Grimsel - Furka - Hospental - Oberalp - Splügen (village) - Splügen (pass) - Maloja - Bernina - Poschiavo - Aprica - Gavia - Bormio - Alpisella - Ofen - Umbrail - Stilfserjoch - Reschenscheideck - Arlberg - Braz - Wildhaus - Ricken - Zürich

This short set of pictures can not exhaust all the passes in Switzerland because I've never been to some of them (Grosse Scheidegg, maybe in 1997 ?) or the camera went out of order at the moment of taking the picture (Susten Pass - July 1995) and also because of their number. Most of the passes are not so far each other and looking at a map is not so difficult to project a ``one day'' tour including the crossing of at least two passes. I think my personnel record is this tour including three crossings and a back and forward stretch to reach a fourth pass: that day.

3400km, 55337m, and 22 days on the road in rain, sun, and snow.

We set out toward Luzern and the central Alps in a cold rain, riding south across the Reuss valley to Merenschwand, in canton Aargau, with its slender church steeple and red tile roofed houses with window boxes of geraniums.

I looked out the window at first light and thought I was wearing red filters. After some more sleep and better daylight I checked again and it was true, it had snowed more than 15cm during the night. We got a good breakfast before heading up the hill on the freshly plowed road.

Only intermittent drops fell as my max speed record also fell, recording a speed that newscasters would have you believe occurs regularly in the TdF and on far gentler slopes. This is a 13% descent, perfectly straight into Ciapela (1450m) and smooth enough to reach terminal velocity. It was a gas.

Nice layout, good pictures, altitude diagrams, maps, useful information - well, the works. The route follows the rim of the Alps, crosses the Rhone valley close to Montelimar and enters the Massif Central to follow the gorges of the Tarn river. With an excursion to the Lacaune Mountains and Pic Noire we cross the Garonne valley and head the Pyrenees to climb the Mountains to Puerta Envalira and Andorra. After this excursion to big tourism we enjoy the quietness of the Sierra Cadi from where we visit the Monastry of Montserrat and finally ride down to Barcelona.

Mit dem Fahrrad von Bern ans Nordkap und über Finnland bis in die Baltischen Staaten. Mit vollbepacktem Drahtesel vier Monate unterwegs. Dabei ergeben sich interessante Begegnungen und eindrückliche Naturerlebnisse. Regentage, Fahrradpannen und andere Tiefpunkte sind schnell wieder vergessen. Einige Eindrücke (nicht nur) aus dem hohen Norden.

Complete with beatiful pictures: thumbnails on-line, with links to bigger off-line. This year, my wife Thea and I had planned a summer Alpine cycle tour, two weeks riding in the Northern French and Western Swiss Alps. Our proposed distances were less ambitious than some of the other tours described on this web site, with an average of around 80km per day, with no more than 2000 metres of climbing. We were planning to travel with one pannier each, and ended up with about 4.5 kilos of luggage per person.

This is a five week odyssey roughly following the Rhine River from its source in Switzerland to its junction with the Moselle River at Koblenz in Germany, with a little bit of the Netherlands tacked on for good measure. The original plan was to follow the Rhine from its source all the way to the North Sea, but, as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men... This is more a socio-historico-geographico-meteorological report on European holiday I never thought to experience - coming from Down Under, Europe is a distant ream for the average person.

A beautiful report, full of vivid details and useful information, and very nicely illustrated.

This year, my wife Thea and I had planned a summer Alpine cycle tour, two weeks riding in the Northern French and Western Swiss Alps. [...] Our proposed distances were less ambitious than some of the other tours described on this web site, with an average of around 80km per day, with no more than 2000 metres of climbing. We were planning to travel with one pannier each, and [...] ended up with about 4.5 kilos of luggage per person [...]

Sion is start and finish for this mountain bike tour through the cantons Valais og Graubünden. Most of the riding is on tarmac, but occasionally I leave the pack behind and go off-road. This turn into a tour across some of the highest passes in Switzerland with detours to Stelvio in Italy and the Silvretta ski arena in Austria. Primarily I camp, but because it is raining a lot I sometimes stay in hotels to dry my clothes.

The adventure has been born in circumstances having a little in common with generally conceived tourism or ``communing with nature'' pattern; namely, in front of the computer screen in which I tried to find through the Internet links something which could have become a seed of future voyages. And I did - hundreds of pages of stories written by people for whom the Alps and bike were something more than just a holiday idea. [...] Such stories are extremely infectious, therefore it wasn't long before I have sketched on the map of Switzerland my route of dreams. The idea was even more encouraging for me, as the tour was supposed to run very close to numerous summits which I read about so many times - symbols of pioneer and contemporary alpinism.

This is the great report of a tour in the Alps that Jobst Brandt did in the summer of '96.

Goschenen - Andermatt - Furkapass - Gletsch - Grimselpass - Innertkirchen - Sustenpass - Wassen - Goschenen, Km 120.

Thusis - Tiefencastel - Albulapass - La Punt - Zernez - Fluelapass - Davos - Klosters - Landquart - Chur - Thusis, Km 190.

This is the great report of a tour in the Alps that Jobst Brandt did in the summer of '95.

From Arrivèe On-Line, Audax UK's quarterly magazine.

A certain Frenchman, Georges Rossini of Thonon on Lake Geneva, has set up four testing Alpine routes, or 'Raids':

• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Antibes, 740km and 43 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Alpine - Thonon to Trieste, 1180km and 41 cols through the Swiss and Italian Alps and Dolomites.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Antibes, 894km and 47 cols through the French Alps.
• Randonnee Prealpine - Thonon to Venice, 1209km and 69 cols through the Italian Alps and Lakes.

One day: 6 September 1994 from 6:30 to 20:00. Chiasso-Airolo by train then: Airolo - Nufenenpass - Ulrichen - Briga - Simplonpass - Domodossola Domodossola-Vergiate by train then: Vergiate - Azzate - Vedano Olona Olgiate Comasco - Drezzo - Pedrinate - Chiasso Km 180 (only cycling). Find more of Marco Buffa's tour reports here.

One day: Tour 21 July 1994 from 8:00 to 20:20. Pontresina - Zernez - Ofenpass - S. Maria - Umbrailpass - Bormio - Passo Foscagno - Passo Eira - Livigno - Forcola - Bernina - Pontresina, Km 180. Find more of Marco Buffa's tour reports here.

This is the great report of a tour in the Alps that Jobst Brandt did in the summer of '94.

When Richard Freytag and I started planning this year's recumbent tour, the somewhat obnoxious idea of touring Switzerland on the outside came up. We liked it, although it was soon clear that we would not manage the complete round in the time we had on our hands so we decided to go for a semi-circle and save the rest for later. After contacting Andreas Fuchs (from the HPV mailing list) in Bern for help with some practical details, it was decided that we would start in Bern and thus get a couple of days of riding in Switzerland before entering France.

In mid-September 1993, a group of five Digital employees set out to ride from Geneva to Venice The planned route was 800km, and had > 10,000 metres of climbing, with pre-arranged hotel bookings at strategic points.

An excellent report, also from a technical point of view.

[...] I rode past the emerald Lago di Carezza in whose glassy surface the myriad spires of the Latemar (2846m) were mirrored. Then after passing the huge magnificent hotels with massive 1920's architecture near the summit of the Costalunga (1753m), I descended to Pozza di Fassa (1220m) and on to Canazei and turned up the Pso Sella (2257m), the Gardena (2121m), and the Campolongo (1875m) and onward to the Giau (2236m). The view from the Giau was magnificent with the great Dolomites, the majestic Le Tofane, Monte Cristallo, Monte Cadini and the Marmorola above Cortina, clear and bright in the afternoon sun while to the southwest, the glacier glistened on the Marmolada.

We are two friends bringing our mountain bikes on the plane to Genève. From here we go for a ride through the cantons Bernese Oberland og Valais. We carry full pack, i.e. tent, sleeping bag cooker etc. Occasionally we leave the pack behind and ride on the small hiking tracks in the mountains. The highlight of the tour is Pas de Lona (2787 m) on the last part of the Grand Raid Cristalp mountain bike route. We also find time for a few trips with some of the fascinating Swiss narrow-gauge railways.

The adventure of riding over Frut to Tannalp and Engsteln from Sarnen was out of the question because the snow level was about 1500 meters and I am not so hot on trails on cliffs in the snow. We rode over the Brunig (1008 m) and down to Meiringen, where we wolfed down some good bratwurst with potato(e) salad, hot soup, and good fresh whole-wheat bread.

The rain lifted in the morning as we rode up the Grosse Scheidegg (1961m), directly beneath the face of the Wetterhorn that was making artillery like sounds as enormous icefalls crashed down its walls before we broke out of the clouds. By the time we could see the mountain, the show was over. About 15 cm of new snow made a beautiful spring scene as we reached the summit where Eiger, Moench, and Jungfrau with their glacial appendages made a striking appearance in spite of grey skies.

The climb [up the Izoard] crosses a false summit from which the rest of the road is visible on the opposite side of the canyon. After stopping at the Coppi memorial for a picture I found mysterious power for the last two kilometers and rode like 30 years ago feeling no limits but the size of the carburetor bore as I breathed at max volume. Marc asked, ``what happened back there?'' when he arrived at the top. It was great!

In the morning we headed back up the hill in a light drizzle that turned to snow just below Gletsch. But wait there's more. As we entered the high valley below the Rhone Glacier and Furka Pass (2431m), we saw snow blowing about in brilliant sunshine on the summit. It was so cold and dry our clothes were completely dry as was the road where the snow just blew to the gutter. The drifts of powdery snow on the summit were so deep that my bicycle would stand alone in it. It was an exhilarating climb with storybook weather.

I passed the closed Lingotto FIAT plant, with test track on the roof, that is being refurbished as an automotive trade center. The modern streetcars with antique trolley poles and bronze trolley wheels wend their way between ancient buildings on narrow streets paved with 0.5x1.0m red and tan granite plates set at a 45 degrees. The rushing sound of the trolley wheel on the wire is truly a sound from the past for me, reminiscent of four trolley tracks on San Francisco's Market Street in my youth.

The Iseran probably earns the ``highest pass in France'' title, being actually higher and because it is steep, spectacular, and is surrounded by glaciers and snow. When you're there you know there's a There there. This is truly the haute Savoie, whose red and white emblem was the inspiration for the emigrants who took their red flag with the white cross along as they founded Switzerland.

The Stelvio may not be the hardest, longest or anything else, but it has a special place in my heart for its magnificent and exquisitely orchestrated landscape. It seems to have its own Wagnerian accompaniment, magnificent and grand. I have ridden it in every weather and it is always an emotional moment at the top with the ice caps of the Ortler and snowfields of the Gran Zebru as a backdrop to the road that drops 1000m into the canyon in the Shadows of this deep ravine. Forty nine numbered hairpin turns and 2000m below lies the valley.

Dem Hitzschlag nahe erreichen wir nach rasanter Fahrt Passau. Der erste Eindruck ist hervorragend, eine alte. schön gelegene Stadt am Zusammenfluß von Donau, Inn und Ilz. Wir fahren durch die Altstadt, um erst einmal ein Getränk zu bekommen, denn heute ist Maria Himmelfahrt, ein Feiertag in Bayern. Ein großes Spezi rinnt die Kehle hinunter.

Wir fahren durch die ganze Stadt zurück zur Jugendherberge. Unten steht ein Schild: 22%ige Steigung, Autos kommen kaum hinauf, ich probiere etwa 10 Meter, Torsten vielleicht 30, dann geben wir auf.

Schieben, schieben in der Hitze bis ganz nach oben auf die Burg. Die Rezeption liegt nochmals 20 Meter höher und schließlich unser Zimmer im vierten Stock des Burgturmes - kann es schlimmer kommen? Wir schleppen alles hoch, das Zimmer hat zwanzig Betten und bietet als Entschädigung ein toll es Panorama.

First I took the train back to Andermatt, then west to Oberwald where I got off and started climbing up the mountains. I rode parallel to the old abandoned railway (the new stretch runs in a long tunnel under the mountain) up to Gletsch. It felt very unreal to think that I'd ridden a train on that very track in 1981, shortly before the tunnel was opened. Now the rails were all rusty and rocks had fallen onto the railbed in several places. I saw that there's work going on to re-open the Furkapass-bahn. I hope they succeed!

After my first ride through the Alps the previous year, I had the opportunity to go with a friend, Jobst Brandt, who had been riding in Europe since 1959. We would brave fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant meltdown in Russia. A plume of radioactive dust blew over the Alps while we were there, so here's my glowing report.

The Alps have long been a summer and winter playground for vacationers around the world. They ski, they hike, they ride bikes. What better venue for the Tour de France than the Alps? After many years of reading, seeing, and dreaming, I had an opportunity to see Europe by bike. As a free-lance writer working part-time at Palo Alto Bicycles, I had no commitments. It was 1985. Greg LeMond had nearly won the Tour de France and was competing in the World Championships in Italy. I decided to go see him race. A friend who was familiar with riding in Europe gave valuable advice.

On these pages we will show you the cycling pursuits of John and Daniel Gould (from Australia) and our friend Peter (from Japan).Our challenge will be to ride from London to Istanbul through 12 countries in 2 months while having a great time and seeing the sights. Peter should be there to Italy and then its just 2 unless anyone else wants to join us. For father and son John and Daniel the quest will also try to raise money for Odyssey House.

Many tour reports:

• 2005 - Von Den Haag nach Berlin - unterwegs auf dem Europaradweg R1
• 2005 - Quer durch den Thurgau nach Rohrschach
• 2005 - Flotte Fahrt zum Bodensee
• 2004 - Entlang der Flüsse Naab, Main, Tauber, Altmühl und Donau
• 2004 - Von Zürich aus nach Aigues-Mortes ans Mittelmeer
• 2004 - Mal eben um den Bodensee...
• 2003 - Bretagne...ausnahmsweise mal mit Auto und Ferienwohnung
• 2003 - Von Zürich nach Würzburg - Siebene auf einen Streich
• 2003 - Neckarttalradweg
• 2002 - Das Loiretal zum Atlantik
• 2002 - Through the Valley of the Loire to Brittany (english version)
• 2002 - Tour de Hessen
• 2002 - Spritztour ins Elsass
• 2001 - Von Zürich aus ins Loiretal
• 2001 - Von Lausanne nach Olten
• 2000 - Von Oberviechtach ins schweizerische Solothurn
• 1999 - Fränkische Schweiz, Aischgrund, Taubertal und Jagst
• 1999 - Von München nach Oberviechtach
• 1999 - Stein am Rhein und Bodensee
• 1998 - Bodensee und Hochrhein
• 1997 - Fulda- und Weserradweg
• 1997 - Von Zürich aus um den Bodensee und wieder zurück
• 1995 - Von München aus ins Markgräfler Land
• 1995 - Von Erlangen nach München
• 1994 - Rundfahrt Altmühltal und Donau
• 1994 - Donauradweg von Donaueschingen bis Regensburg

iVoyage en bicyclette de Losone (Locarno) à Palerme via Bologne, Florence, Bolsena, Rome, Naples, Pompei, Paestum, Taormina, Cefalù.

L'idea di questo viaggio è da attribuire a Pietro Angeloni di Golino per degnamente festeggiare i suoi 50 anni. [...]
Il tempo è sempre stato molto clemente, senza pioggia, la temperatura sino in Calabria è stata piuttosto fresca ed il vento generalmente in nostro favore. La foschia e la parziale mancanza di sole ha un po' penalizzato la qualità delle fotografie (in particolare le vedute della Costiera Amalfitana) ma non si può avere tutto!
Man mano che si andava verso Sud il traffico diventava più caotico, il lato stradale meno pulito, i prezzi più abbordabili e la gente più calorosa.

L'idée de ce voyage est à attribuer à Pietro Angeloni de Golino qui désirait fêter dignement ses 50 ans. [...]
Le temps a toujours été clément, sans pluie. La température jusqu'en Calabre a été plutôt fraîche et le vent généralement en notre faveur. Le manque de soleil et une légère brume ont un peu pénalisé la qualité des photos (en particulier sur la côte Amalfitana), mais on ne peut pas tout avoir!
Plus nous nous dirigions au sud, plus le trafic devenait chaotique. Les bords de routes étaient moins propres, mais les prix plus abordables et les gens plus chaleureux. Cela se confirmait, on ne peut pas tout avoir!

Passes in Switzerland, in France and in Italy are described on this site. The most important information for cyclist in figures and texts, of course some pictures and partly historical backgrounds. In addition tips to accommodations, maps and (at the moment mainly german) links.

Tabular data and altitude profiles of mountain passes all over Europe.

A photo album of mountain passes in the Alps

From the cycling pages of Karl Brodowsky: see the German Version for plenty of interesting reports in German.

A great photo archive. Each page includes no more than 3 photos, on average, 25,000 bytes. We hope you enjoy them. There is a help page if you are having difficulty viewing the images. The photos are not of printable quality - if you wish to use any of these pictures in a hardcopy publication, please contact us and we will supply a high-resolution file.