Tremola Road

The Tremola climbs from Airolo, at 1,175 metres, to the Gotthard Pass at 2,106 metres; on its central four kilometres it gains 300 metres in twenty-four hairpins, and much of it is still paved with granite setts - the longest road monument in Switzerland, listed in the national inventory of historic roads. Built in the 1830s and rebuilt in the 1950s, it was the main southern approach until the modern road took a straighter line above it, and the old route was then left as it was rather than resurfaced. Driving or cycling it is slow and noisy on the setts, which is the point. It closes with the pass each winter and is used for classic-car and cycling events.

History

The road between Göschenen and Airolo was built between 1827 and 1832 to the design of the engineer Francesco Meschini, as part of works begun in 1810 to widen the route from Basel to Chiasso. What you drive today is the road as it was rebuilt by 1951: six to seven metres wide, held up by retaining walls up to eight metres high, with parts of the old dry-stone walls, much of the granite paving and the stone markers still in place. The two road-keepers' houses are gone: an avalanche wrecked the upper one, under Voltone, in 1874, and it was never rebuilt because the Gotthard rail tunnel was about to open in 1882, and the lower one, at the entrance to the Val Tremola, was pulled down in 1989 (Wikipedia, Tremola San Gottardo).

What's there

• Twenty-four cobbled hairpins - granite setts on the steep central four kilometres.
• A protected road monument - the longest road monument in Switzerland.
• The old main route - superseded and then simply left alone.
• Slow, noisy going - granite setts underfoot and wheel.

When to go

June to October. Half a day.

Before you go

It closes with the Gotthard pass for winter. The setts are hard on cars and bicycles alike and it is genuinely slow. Motorcycle traffic is heavy on summer weekends. There are no facilities between Airolo and the summit.

Nearby

The Gotthard summit and its museum are above; Airolo is below.