Mountain Passes in the Alps Worth the Drive

The Alps are the spiritual home of the mountain pass, and the problem with choosing which passes to drive is that the region is so dense with famous roads that a traveler could spend a month and still not cover them all. A shortlist of the essential passes, each with its own character, is the practical way to plan a driving holiday through the high country.The Stelvio Pass in Italy is the most famous, with its forty-eight hairpin turns climbing the eastern face in a tight, relentless series, and it is as much a driving challenge as a view. The Grossglockner High Alpine Road in Austria is the more scenic alternative, a toll road that climbs through the heart of the Hohe Tauern range with sweeping glaciers on either side, and the Furka, Grimsel, and Susten loop in Switzerland strings three legendary passes into a single unforgettable day of alpine driving.The passes are strictly seasonal, and the timing is the first thing to plan, because most open in late May or June and close again by October with the first snow, and even in summer the weather can close a