Graubünden
Albula Pass
Little known and narrow, the Albula makes the visit worth a trip for the Unesco World Heritage landscape
History
The Romans may have used this route to trade corn for beeswax but other more travelled routes took precedence even back then. In 1695 they used gunpowder to create a tunnel and in 1866 the road was widened to 4m to let horse-drawn carriages and the post coach get through. Other than tarmac, the road has seen little further development, mostly thanks to the 1903 opening of a scenic railway line - The Rhätische Bahn.
Notes
The Albula is one of the less developed of the Swiss passes, in part it is singletrack and in Bergün it still runs on cobblestones. In winter Bergün becomes home to one of Europe's most scenic sledge runs when the pass road closes to traffic and gets taken over by schussing wooden toboggans. Bobsleds now use the railway to get access to the pass road/toboggan run.
Map
Statistics
| Summit coordinates | 46°35’07.9”N, 9°51’09.2”E |
|---|---|
| Summit Altitude | 2315 metres |
| Distance | 23 kilometres |
| Start | Begun 1367 metres |
| End | La Punt 1687 metres |
| Opens | June to mid-October |
Swiss Passes
- Index
- Albula pass
- Bernina pass
- Col de Champex
- Col de la Croix
- Col de la Forclaz
- Col du Marchairuz
- Col des Mosses
- Col du Pillon
- Flüela pass
- Furka pass
- Great Saint-Bernard pass
- Gotthard pass
- Grimsel pass
- Jaun pass
- Julier pass
- Klausen pass
- Lukmanier pass
- Majola pass
- Nufenen pass
- Oberalp pass
- Ofen pass
- San Bernardino pass
- Simplon pass
- Splügen pass
- Susten pass
- Umbrail pass