The St. Gotthard Pass (Italian: Passo del San Gottardo) connects south and north Switzerland, between Airolo in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino, and Hospental in the German-speaking canton of Uri.
You can cycle the new Tremola, but that has some (long) tunneled sections and often heavy motorized traffic.
However, the far more interesting option is the old Tremola road.
With a summit at 2,106 meters1, the Gotthard Pass doesn’t earn a high ranking in the European list of ‘highest passes’, but the old Via Tremola is a more than fair compensation.
The Tremola road is Switzerland’s longest memorial road construction. It snakes up the slopes of the Val Tremola as a light-coloured ribbon from Airolo and offers impressive views.
In the most spectacular section, the road climbs up 300 meters over a 4 kilometer stretch, incorporating no less than 24 hairpins, each with its own name. The Tremola road today still largely retains the appearance of the reconstruction completed in 1951.
1 Coming from Airolo, when you arrive at the Guex memorial, you’re not quite there yet. There’s a sign to be found, reading 2,091 meters, but it’s not the summit. Follow the main road past the Lago della Piazza and you’ll bump into the official sign…
Airolo
The profile card on CyclingCols.com shows the southern ascent as starting in Biasca.
While this allows for a (probably) splendid prelude or warm up, Airolo is more frequently referred to as the start of the climb.
As mentioned, from Airolo you have the choice of taking the old or the new Tremola road.
So, while the latter can be cycled, it’s also the ‘fast lane’, meaning lots of traffic, passing at high speed and there are a couple of tunneled sections, one of them quite long, that will not be enjoyable.
Your far better option is the old Tremola road, if only for the spectacular cobblestone section(s) and the breathtaking views along that road.
I should note that, at least as I experienced it and you might know, cycling cobblestones is harder than smooth asphalt.
It’s not as bad as (much) of the cobblestone sections in Paris – Roubaix, but still.
Anyway, it is well worth the extra effort 🙂
This climb is 12.7 kilometers long, with an elevation gain of 932 meters (7.3%).
After the relatively easy start, you’ll only have a short moment to catch your breath when passing the Motto Bartola intersection, with the entrance/exit to the new/main road.
The steepest stretch is in the middle of the main hairpin section, but here you’ll enjoy an ever more spectacular view, so it won’t hurt that much.
Or, you might even get off your bike to take in those views and shoot a picture or two.
Once at the summit, you can pay a visit to the Gotthard museum there, or have a break at the ‘ospizio’.
On your way down to Andermatt, the new Tremola is the faster option and you will have a fantastic “Stelvio like” view on the old road.
Tha is just before the entrance to the gallery/tunnel and it is the background image of this page.
I cycled the Gotthard’s Tremola road as part of the ‘Swiss Stage’ at the end of my Giro d’Italia 2015 – report here.
In 2019, during my ‘Tour de Suisse’, I revisited this climb unplanned, as my trip from the other end was supposed to continue to the Nufenen, but as that was closed, I returned the way I came – report on that here.
Andermatt
The other end from Andermatt, is officially starting in Amsteg, north of Andermatt. From there, it’s 33 kilometers, with just over 1,600 meters of elevation difference.
Between Göschenen and Andermatt is the toughest part: 7 kilometers at 7.4%, with a 9.5% stretch.
You will be diverted from the main road to follow a bicycle path, which is more quiet and safe, but has some bad patches.
It’s in this part of the route that you will pass through the ‘Schöllenen Gorge‘ with the famous Teufelsbrücke (Devil’s Bridge), before you join the main road again.
If you start in Hospental, the ascent is 8.6 kilometers long, with 610 meters of elevation (7.1%).
This part offers nothing special – besides the grandeur of the landscape – and follows the main road.
It’s only at some three kilometers from the summit that you can leave the main road and take the old cobblestone road, the Strada Vecchia.
It’s worth taking that little detour, although at 7% – 8% it’s not easy to cycle, bouncing off the cobbles.
(If you do, look for the official summit sign on the main road to your right, as mentioned above)
You may want to avoid this ascent during the weekends in the summer/holiday season, as traffic can be pretty bad and the road is used as an alternative to the weekly traffic jams before the Gotthard tunnel.
I had no problem from this end during my ‘Tour de Suisse 2019’, when I started in Wassen, to cycle through the famous Gorge – report on that here.
As the Nufenen was closed, I then returned and cycled the Gotthard from Airolo again…
Alpenbrevet
The Gotthard is part of two of the Alpenbrevet courses combining it with several passes:
- Plantina course CCW Andermatt – Susten – Grimsel – Nufenen – Lukmanier – Oberalp – Andermatt; 267 km, 6,800m of D+
- Gold course: CW Andermatt – Oberalp – Lukmanier – Nufenen – Furka – Andermatt; 212 km, 5,000m of D+
- Silver course: CW Andermatt – Gotthard – Nufenen – Furka – Andermatt; 108 km, 3,100m of D+
- Bronze course: Ulrichen – Nufenen – Gotthard – Andermatt; 68 km, 2,100m of D+
There’s also an Extended event: as far as I understand it, this involves cycling 3, 5 or 7 of these passes, the latter giving you “Alpenbrevet Legend” status.
The official event does not count for this. You can collect these in the order you want and in more than one ride, but pay attention to which end counts.
Sounds like the Swiss equivalent of the Brevet des 7 Cols d’Ubaye…
For stage 9 of my ‘Tour de Suisse’, I started in Wassen and cycled the Susten – Grimsel – Furka loop.
I did not finish in Wassen, as that was a detour going home and between Andermatt – where I finished – and Wassen, it’s downhill anyway.
Background picture: StudioJS, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
