The 'Three Passes' are the Sustenpass (2224m), Furkapass (2436m) and Grimselpass (2165m) just a little south of Luzern or east of Interlaken depending on you point of view. Also hit this weekend are the Brnigpass (1007m) and St. Gotthard Pass (2108m).
Attempting to make the trip down, around, and back, never touching an Autobahn - I started off heading south out of Tbingen on the B27, all the way down to the Swiss border. At Zollhaus turned onto the B312 along the border further south to Waldshut-Tiengen and hopped over the border onto the Swiss B5. Around about Wildegg picked up B26 over Lenzburg and down between two beautiful lakes to Luzern. From Luzern on the B4 in and out of small towns to Giswil where I discovered an nice little hotel (with swimming pool) turning off the main road at Giswil in a small town called Kleinteil (single with bath and breakfast SF80).
Sat - 08Jun
Foot peg scraping, gear shifting, ear popping heaven of a
day. This not for the faint of heart. Most hair pin turns have
no guard but come complete with precipitous drop offs. The Furka
leg is often only 1.5 cars wide. With bus, car, and motorcycle
traffic the merely breath taking becomes adrenaline pumping exciting.
The number of motorcycles substantiates the popularity of this
triangle (look into getting a fake waving left arm so you can
shift and wave).
The weather was fantastic. I got started early heading south over the Bruenigpass to Meiringen and opting for the Grimsel/Furka leg first. Tough to think of having a lake at this altitude but I suspect a couple of damns help the Grimselsee just short of the top. Grimselpass is pleasant, but an even a better place to stop is just past the top looking down into the further valley. Spectacular. Complete with glaciers on the left and hairpin turns all the way down (Grimsel down toward Furka). Traveling this direction, just up from the lowest point there are a number of places to stop and take another couple pictures, including the better part of the Furkapass ascent (valley veiw of Furka Pass). In Andermatt I got some more gas before heading up the St. Gotthard pass via the old cobblestone stage coach road (catch the San Gotthardo turn off to the right). Lunched at the top of the St. Gotthard and down to return 'home' via the Sustenpass. Just past the Sustenpass I took another rest for a couple more pics. I found myself back on the Luzern side of Bruenigpass looking for another hotel in the late afternoon. Quite a day. Had to stop for the night, and a beer, to reminisce the highlights of the day. Truly a dream come true.
Sun - 09Jun
On the road again (sung to Willy Nelson). Another beautiful
day ahead and thank-god, no saddle sores. I begin my return after
breakfast pretty much along the lines of my trip down (one of
the problems of copying strip maps for the tank bag - not much
latitude for alternates). Luzern was a bit complicated and I detoured
east a little before picking up the trail. (Note: look for Brugg/Gelfingen
'shortcut' through Villmergen and Wohnen). Back in Deutschland
I avoided the short cut by Zollhaus and in Rottweil departed again
to drive B14 back to Vaihinen.
Note about gas: I discovered that many of the gas stations in these parts are all automatic often with no attendants. The minimum Swiss Franc (SF) denomination accepted is SF10 (unless you have a credit card and can figure out the pumps). If you are traveling alone, know exactly how many litres you will need and the current price per litre. In June 96 it was SF1.24/litre. That means I could stop anytime after my tank could take 8 litres. Traveling in a group of course mitigates the need for such attention.
Weathers nice and bike is ready. Another weekend motorcycle adventure, this time with a friend from work, David Dee. In addition to as many windy roads as possible, part of our objective for this weekend was to hit three countries: Germany, Austria, and Italy. In retrospect it was a little long, but I won't trade in any one part.
Fri -14Jun - Starting mileage 8565
Again keeping off the Autobahns, we leave work about noon heading
south and east to the German/Austrian border at Bregenz. Still
keeping to back roads we wind down to Rankweil and Bludenz, opting
for a southern detour to hit the Silvretta - Hochalpenstrasse
and 30 (numbered) switchbacks with complimentary cows (toll AS125
or about $12). With a few pictures up and down the mountain pass
we wander into Kappl before stopping for the night. In Kappl we
discovered, quite by accident, a "Motor Bike Hotel".
This Hotel Auhof, is a member of a new formed, loosely affiliated
group of hotels through central Europe catering to motorcycles
riders. The owner, himself a motorcycle rider (a requirement for
the affiliation), insisted we park our motorcycles in the garage
and provided us with maps of the area, marked for motorcycle tours.
Good hearty dinner and bed for a good nights sleep.
Drive times: depart Vaihingen, 12:00; meet Dave Dee and depart Moehringen, 12:30; just short of Zwiefalten, 13:30; short of Ravensburg, 14:30; Kessbronn for gas and short break, 15:30; Bregenz border crossing, 16:00; stop for rest south of Rankweil toward Bludenz (gas in Bludenz), 17:00; Schruns, 18:00; Silvretta - Hochalpenstrasse Pass, 19:00; stop for night in Kappl, 19:30.
S-15Jun - starting mileage 8808
This morning we head north toward Imst and then cut south on the
B186 heading to St. Leonardo, Italy - and lunch. This is another
toll road over the Timmelsjoch (toll road - AS50) to St Leonardo
(AS 50). We take a rest just short of the toll booth and border
crossing for a couple of pictures. From St. Leonardo the drive
down to Vipiten is very scenic. Across this northern corner of
Italy on B49 was a little too much like a highway to my liking,
but the views of the Dolomites were unforgettable. We made reasonably
good time to Lienz, Austria and the Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse
National Park. The park entrance fee (toll) was less after 17:00
so we paid only AS180. Sadly, also due to the lateness of the
day, we had no time to explore to spur roads zig-zagging up and
down mountains off to the side of the main road. Just north of
the tunnel is a beautiful scenic overview.
From the north end of the park we turned west at Bruck on the
B168. At Mittersill this turned to B169 and we continued west
until stopping for the night in Neukirchen.
Here again we were fortunate to find a hotel with some local color. On the terrace was a band of a couple of accordions and tuba adding some livelihood to small group. It turns out the woman had announced an engagement or something and as part of a tradition had been wisked away by this group for a few hours of fun; drinking, singing, and telling jokes. Quite entertaining. We order and eat dinner before turning for the night (in a ferrien suite for about AS400 each ?).
Drive times: depart Kappl, 09:00; Imst, 10:00; enter Italy, 11:00; St. Leonardo, lunch (1 hour), 12:00; ~Vipiten (A22), 14:00; Brunico, 15:00; Austria border crossing, 16:00; Lienz, 16:30; enter Grossglockner Hochalpenstrasse National Park, 17:00; Hochtor, 18:00; Neukirchen (near Wald ) and stop for the night, 19:30.
S - 16Jun - 9088 miles to start
Today we begin early as we have a lot of ground to cover to get
home. From Neukirchen we continue west through Gerlos Pass, a
little park with a big waterfall, and on to Innsbruk. Still keeping
west and back roads we continue to Seefeld turning off onto B189
to hit the Fern-Pass stopping in Reutte for lunch. After lunch
we head south on the B198 and west of the B199 to cross into Germany
at the Oberjoch-Pass. This stretch of road was beautiful packed
with lakes between passes. This must be a popular (and dangerous)
motorcycle tour. Billboards along the way reminded motorcyclists
to be careful with a picture of a motorcycle, angel, and caption,
"Give your Guardian Angel a Chance". From here we wound
our way back via Immenstadt to Wangen and home.
Drive times: depart Neukirchen, 07:45; Salz, 09:00; Innsbruk and break, 10:00; Reutte & lunch (1 hour), 12:00; Immenstadt (detour so via Wertach), 14:30; Ravensburg, 15:40; Zwiefalten, 16:40; Reutlingen and gas (115miles on 8 litre), 17:40, Home, 18:00.
This was an exceptional tour covering over 800 miles in 2Å“
days (9,383 end - 8,565 begin). Not unmanageable, but a lot of
miles. Had we more time however we probably would have added a
section of road recommended by some bikers near St. Leonardo.
From Barbiano (just north of Bolzano) toward Cortino is a section
of road that has more bends per mile than any other on the map.
Definitely a future trip.
© J Goulet, 1996
