Splugen

Splugen sits at fifteen hundred metres in the Rheinwald, at the junction of two pass routes to Italy - the Splugen and the San Bernardino - and for centuries it made its living from that traffic, with Walser families running transport and lodging. The village core survives in stone: massive houses with thick walls and small windows, quite different from the timber building of lower valleys, and protected as a site of national importance. Its recent history is a familiar Alpine story - when the San Bernardino motorway tunnel opened in 1967, the traffic stopped passing through and the village had to rebuild an economy around skiing and walking. The Splugen pass road remains one of the finest drives in the Alps.

What you actually see

• A stone-built Walser village - thick walls and small windows, nationally protected.
• Two pass routes meeting - Splugen and San Bernardino to Italy.
• The effect of the tunnel - traffic gone since 1967 and an economy rebuilt.
• The Splugen pass road - hairpins over to Italy, summer only.

When to go

June to October for the passes; winter for a small ski area. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The Splugen pass closes in winter, and the village is very quiet then. Facilities are limited. The motorway runs close by. It is a stop on a drive rather than a destination in itself.

Nearby

The Viamala gorge is north; the San Bernardino pass climbs south-west.