Rhine Gorge, Viamala and San Bernardino to Bellinzona

Route description

From Chur drive west on road 19 to Flims, about 20 km. Leave the car at Flims Waldhaus and walk through the forest to the Caumasee, a turquoise lake with a lido. From the same car park a path leads by Conn to the Il Spir platform, which juts out over the Ruinaulta, the Swiss Grand Canyon of the Rhine. The round trip takes about two to three hours.

Return towards Reichenau and head south to Thusis. Just beyond the town, turn off the A13 motorway onto the old road into the Viamala. Here the Hinterrhein runs through a gorge only a few metres wide, and 321 steps lead down to the water. A little further south, the church of St. Martin in Zillis has a painted wooden ceiling from the 12th century.

Continue on the old road through the Rofla Gorge to Splügen, a village of stone houses where the old routes over the Splügen and San Bernardino passes split. Take the San Bernardino pass road, which climbs in hairpins to 2,065 m, while the A13 passes below in a tunnel. The pass road is closed in winter, roughly November to May. The A13 motorway needs a Swiss vignette.

The southern side drops into the Italian-speaking Mesolcina valley past the castle ruin of Mesocco. At Bellinzona, about 55 km from the pass, three castles guard the valley on the route to Italy; Castelgrande, reached by lift from the old town, is the largest. The old roads are fine for motorhomes but narrow in the Rofla. Go between June and early October.