The Furka Pass

The Furka carries the road from the head of the Valais over into Uri at about two thousand four hundred metres, and snow closes it for roughly half the year. The Valais side climbs in long stacked hairpins past the Rhone Glacier, which once filled the valley floor and has pulled back far up its bowl within living memory. Photographs at the roadside show where the ice stood. A tunnel is cut into the glacier each summer and lit inside, and parts of the surviving ice are covered with white sheets in an attempt to slow the melt. Over the top the road drops towards Realp, where volunteers work a restored steam line across the old mountain railway route in summer.

What you actually see

• The Rhone Glacier - the source of the river, now well back up its own valley.
• The ice grotto - a tunnel recut into the glacier every summer and lit inside.
• The hairpins - the road stacked in tiers on the Valais side of the pass.
• The steam railway - the old mountain line over the pass, worked on set days in summer.

When to go

The pass opens when the snow clears, usually in June, and shuts again in October; the dates move each year and are announced at short notice. Mornings are calmer, since motorcycles and coaches fill the road later in the day. The steam trains run only on fixed dates in high summer and need booking well ahead.

Honest expectations

There is little at the top beyond a car park, a stall or two and wind. The ice grotto is a short walk down a cold tunnel that many find thin value for the price, and the glacier's retreat is plain and rather bleak. The road is narrow, with blind bends and heavy motorcycle traffic. In poor weather the whole crossing is fog.

Nearby

The Grimsel pass turns off at Gletsch, and Andermatt lies over the top on the Uri side.