We are back! Yes, for real. In June I went for a short trip through the alps (unfortunately without my drivescape partner Elena – she couldn’t join due to work shedule). On my todo-list I had a few passes, mainly in switzerland – few I had not yet driven (such as Klausen pass, Sustenpass, St. Gotthard pass und Stelvio pass), others, such as Grimsel pass and Furka pass I had not yet driven with my BMW. Because I got so much blog material, I decided to split the journey into 3 parts – and this is the first. But before we begin let us check the trailer:
I started my journey in France near basel, were I spent the night at a friends house. The first of the 3 stages led me through the beautiful, regional nature reserver Thal, where I had planned to drive the Passwang street – it’s basically a mini-pass. But due to rockfall near the tunnel of the street, I was not allowed to cross, therefore taking a detour through field (as suggested by the nice police woman, who stopped me from going further the Passwang street). It was definately worth it!
After the small detour, I was able to continue my journey. Next stop – Glaubenberg pass.
The weather west of the Glaubenberg was rather streaky, but thankfully it wasn’t raining too much (rain came the next day – all the time!). The Glaubenberg pass is a beautiful road with few traffic – but it’s littered with cattle grid. And that totally stops a nice flow when going up there. When going too fast over those cattel grids (meaning > 30 km/h), the tires basically scream at you to stop.
After a short lunch break at the top, I continued west towards Lake Samer – and towards beautiful weather:
You can see those cattle grids on the lower left in the photo.
Todays milestone was Klausen pass – specifically Hotel Klausenpasshöhe. My initial plan was to go over Glaubenberg pass and then head over Pragel pass, so that I could eventually climb the Klausenpass from the west. But because I misjudged time and I didn’t want to spent time in the car until the sun sets, I skipped Pragel pass and went straight up to Klausen pass.
And that pass definately does not dissapoint!
What a pass – both ramps are completely different. The west ramp is a thin road carved into the mountain, the east ramps winding roads are a work of art.
The west ramp
The east ramp
Hotel Klausenpasshöhe mit it’s “nostalgic” rooms is an adventure itself. Because the mountain is pushing a few centimeters each year, the hotel is skewed. As are all its rooms. And the stairwell. They already started building a completely new hotel, which will be finished in 2020. So if you still want to experience the “original”, hurry up!
Facts
- Start: Near Basel
- First Milestone: Hotel Klausenpasshöhe
- Length of the trip: about 220 km, through the regional nature park Thal, the Glaubenberg pass and after passing Lake Lucerne up to Klausen pass.
- Special: Diverse landscape, from the hilly nature park up to the alpine passes
Where to next?
- Part takes us to Susten pass, Grimsel pass and Furka pass, with the next milestone being Airolo, right after St. Gotthard
- From Klausenpass, it is also possible to go east towards Walensee/Lake Zurich or towards Chur
eine google maps karte oder ähnliches zum nachvollziehen der route wäre jeweils klasse. sonst ist das nachvollziehen des weges sehr mühsam. danke dir!
Hallo Mark,
danke für dein Feedback. Bei den anderen Touren hatte ich das ja immer gemacht, hier dann aber weggelassen weil sie einfach länger waren. Ich schau’ mal, dass ich das demnächst mal nachhole.
viele grüße,
David