Trento to Graubunden in Switzerland via 2 passes
Thinking of returning from the Trento area of Italy via Passo Di Tonale to a campsite on the Tirano side of Poschiavo just at the foot of the Bernina Pass in a months time. Then either via the Bernina Pass and out via Chur into Switzerland, or via Lugano and the Gotthard. I know the route from Lake Como to Lugano is a bit width restricted in places and quite slow. Does anyone know what the Bernina Pass is like coming from Italy, and what the rest of the route to Chur is like. Are caravans allowed? What sort of gradient is it?
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My old copy of the Club's Touring Europe site guide has details of those passes. Do you want me to dig it out in the morning to see what it says, or do you have access to a copy? But are you driving in a car towing a caravan, or in what size of Motorhome?
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That would be good of you eurotraveller. I have a Disco 3 towing a Coachman VIP 545/4, so a good tow car but heavy caravan! Both passes are over 2000 metres I think but don't mind as long as gradients are reasonable and not too many hairpin bends. Car is old now and recently had gearbox overhauled as I had (foolishly) never changed the gearbox oil (LR said sealed for life - but that turns out to be rubbish!)
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A man of my own heart! Here are are the notes from the Club guide for your suggested route from Trento to Chur - actually three passes not two.
" Passo di Tonale - height1883 metres - from Edolo to Dimaro - minimum width of road 5 metres - a relatively easy road - steepest on the west, a long drag - fine views - max gradient 10%
Bernina - height 2330 m. - from Pontresina to Poschiavo - minimum width of road 5 metres- good with care on open narrow sections towards the summit on the south side - max gradient 12.5%
Julier - height 2284m. - from Chur to Silvaplana - minimum width of road 4 m. - well engineered road approached from Chur via Sils - negotiable by caravans preferably from north to south but a long haul and many tight hairpins. Max gradient 13%. Alternative rail tunnel from Thusis to Samedan."
But if you get to St Moritz you can drive solo to the top of the Julier, which is close, and consider the matter. Your escape route is all the way down the Engadine valley (which we did) to Landeck in Austria.
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PS. There will probably be You tube videos on line of people driving each of these passes.
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Hi euror, we considered the Maloja Pass as a route to Sorico on Lake Como from Prutz and found videos on YouTube but, when I looked again recently , could not find them so any opinions on this route would be welcome.
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We drove up the Engadine valley towards St Moritz and explored solo all the passes around there from a campsite base, but didn't tow over them.
From St Moritz (which is already 1800m.above sea level) to the top of the Maloja pass is a mere gentle slope, but looking down from the top it dives down over the other side into Italy twisting and winding steeply. We didn't go on down but tourist coaches were successfully coming up from Lake Como.
Incidentally that Graubunden area is a vignette free part of Switzerland as well as an area largely free of British visitors in summer.
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Four metres sounds a bit iffy with a caravan/MH at two point something wide or is that per carriageway?
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cyberyacht I think you are correct, and I have now watched a drive over both the Tonale and Bernina. The Bernina is OK along all it's length, but the Tonale has a number of lengthy sections which appear less than a full carriageways width, with no centre white lines. Might make taking the caravan that way quite tiring. Time wise, it is 40 mins longer to travel via the bottom of Lake Garda, distance wise, it's 60 miles further.
But might make for a less stressful journey.
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